All last weekend, I was anxious about my opportunity to vote first thing Monday morning. The fact that my home state of Indiana is being contested for the first time in my life is invigorating. I still have a hard time believing it because of the history of this state, as well as from my own personal history.
As far as I know, I am the only person in my family that is not a Republican. Ms. Urban Indy's family is much the same, although her mom is a Dem who lives in Florida. I was raised in Huntington County, proud home of Dan Quayle. As a kid, I collected articles from newspapers about George Bush's selection of Quayle. Bush's visit and speech in Huntington is still remembered today in Nick's Kitchen, (reported) birthplace of the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich.
My family now resides in Fort Wayne. If Obama hopes to win Indiana, he will have to do well in Allen County, which has the 3rd largest population of any county in the state. Fort Wayne has elected 2 straight democratic mayors, however, as a whole, Republicans win Allen County. Almost all of Fort Wayne's suburbs are within the county, and these suburbs are very, very red. Including the burb where my family lives. The fact that Obama won the primary there shocked me. He would not have won that county without significant support from suburban voters.
The counties where Obama fared the worst in Indiana are near the Ohio River, as well as the rural counties in the West along the Wabash river. There is one exception: Starke County way up north. What do all of these counties have in common? These are counties with a longer history of electing Democrats, as well as counties with little demographic diversity. Obama's key for victory in Indiana is to bring these Hillary voters in line with his strengths among Suburban Independents/Conservatives, Bloomington and Indianapolis liberals, new voters, and African Americans.
So, what is happening in my original hometown of Huntington, in one of the most heavily Republican Counties in the state? Obama has it on his radar. Last weekend, his team joined forces with the Democratic Office. We've come a long way in Indiana in 20 years.