TIME Magazine: Can Obama win Indiana?

While the blogosphere has been tossing around the possibility of an Obama win for sometime now, it seems the national media has finally bought into the reality presently encompassing Indiana presidential politics. And not just any national media either, but the establishment of the establishment elite, TIME magazine.

You can read the entire article here, but with two succinct paragraphs, TIME pretty much sums up why Indiana is a key battleground state this year:

The key factor driving the desire for political change here is economic pain — even in traditional Republican bastions like Elkhart County, in the state's Northeast corner, where the closure of several RV plants has pushed the unemployment rate to 9.3%. Even incumbent Republican governor Mitch Daniels is presenting himself as an agent of change.

...But Obama has other factors working in his favor: His campaign has built an extensive grassroots network with 32 field offices in the state. He is familiar to voters in Indiana's Northwest corner, which falls within the Chicago media market. And he is also expected to perform well in Indianapolis, given its large black population. Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita expects 65% voter turnout — the highest since 1992 — largely because of more than 230,000 newly registered voters, many of them signed up by the Obama campaign in college towns such as West Lafayette, South Bend and Bloomington. Obama has visited the state five times since July.

All this may or may not just be wishful thinking on the part of restless Bloosiers. No one can truly be sure. However one thing I do know for certain is that I have spent a lot of time phone banking, and for what its worth, a large portion of the people I speak with are still on the ropes. And when it comes down to it, and undecideds openly seek out a candidate who will help them personally, I like Obama's chances at winning these voters over.