Lively crowd greets Obama's return to Indiana

By TOM DAVIES, Associated Press Writer

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By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Apr 4, 2008 at 11:53 AM EST

Story Updated: Apr 4, 2008 at 5:31 PM EST

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — The crowd started chanting 45 minutes before Barack Obama walked onto the gymnasium floor Friday and interrupted him with applause and cheers several times as he spoke for an hour.

Obama's campaign will need all that enthusiasm to help boost the Illinois senator as he vies with Hillary Rodham Clinton in the weeks leading up to Indiana's May 6 primary.

A new poll shows the two are about even among Indiana votes, and Fort Wayne could well be one of the most hotly contested parts of the state. Its Rust Belt economy is similar to many cities in Ohio, where Clinton won handily in that state's primary a month ago.

Former Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard, who is backing Obama, said he expected Obama to gain popularity even though the state's second-largest city would seem to be natural Clinton territory.

"I think he's got a message that resonates very effectively, very powerfully," Richard said.

Obama took questions on topics such as gun violence and defense spending from the crowd of about 2,500 people at Wayne High School. The crowd cheered as Obama criticized the war in Iraq and linked it to the nation's troubled economy.

"We are spending $400 million a day, $10 billion a month — money that could be invested right here in Fort Wayne, right here in Indiana, right here in the United States," Obama said. "Putting people back to work, rebuilding our infrastructure, rebuilding our schools."

Friday's visit was Obama's first to Indiana in nearly three weeks. The Clinton campaign also is paying close attention to the Fort Wayne area. Both Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton have made stops in the city in the past few weeks as they have crisscrossed the state.

Phyllis Bush of Fort Wayne, a retired English teacher, said she liked much of what she heard Obama say, but also liked Clinton. When asked how she might make up her mind, she said it might be a toss-up.

"Probably just depends on who can keep from falling, keep from stumbling," Bush said.

Much of Friday's crowd wore Obama shirts and buttons. Josh Peconge, a 22-year-old Ball State University student from Fort Wayne, was attending his second Obama event, having seen a speech earlier in the year in Dayton, Ohio.

He wasn't sure, though, whether all the campaign trips already would turn the tide among voters toward Obama.

"I'd like to think so, but you never know," he said.

Obama already had the support of Jean Page, who said she was familiar with most of his talking points from watching several of his campaign speeches on television.

Seeing him in person left the retired travel agency owner smiling and saying that she hoped to see him back in the area often in the coming month.

"I don't care how many times I hear it," she said. "He's invigorating and uplifting."

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