what happened in Indiana towards the end that helped Obama ?

[JI7]

i'm more surprised at the results than if he had lost it with double digits.

i think Clinton's gas tax holiday thing lost some support for her. many people saw it as pandering. they may have thought she was experienced before and liked Obama but thought he wasn't ready yet. but they saw him differently after this. someone ready to actually deal with the problem rather than just say whatever is politically helpful at the moment. you have to remember that they are used to politicians doing this and when Obama didn't they noticed.

Evan Bayh is one of the top elected officials in the state so the accusations of "elitist" don't work so well. if that was really a concern for them he wouldn't be so popular in the state. and we all know Obama hasn't had the privileged life that Bayh has had.

people took the Hillary supporters talking about needing someone with balls, testicles etc literally.

many people actually took the time to listen to Obama themselves. whether it was attending an event, looking up info on him or anything else. i heard about people who were supporting Hillary but after they heared Obama they moved in the undecided category.

Obama never took the bait and attacked Hillary. the Clinton people wanted Obama to hit back at them so they could either portray Hillary as a victim being attacked unfairly by Obama or accuse him of not being able to handle a tough election. they did this in pennsylvania. but Obama stayed on message and didn't let them get to him. Obama's calm cool style works for him.

[still_one]

1. He might have won if it wasn't for limbaugh /nt

[Jawja]

10. It occurred to me last night that

when there was still a Rethug race between McCain and Romney and Huckabee, Obama did very well - remember the 11 State run where he won decisive victories?

Then after the Rethugs got their nominee and their vote didn't matter in their contest, the Democratic race really tightened. I can't believe that Republican votes for Hillary did not influence her results in Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania and Indiana.

[barack the house]

2. Indiana did us proud even witha 2nd place they clearly worked hard. Well don e IN.

[dkf]

3. I bet his Meet the Press apperance made an impact.

I thought he hit everything perfectly.

[TexasObserver]

4. She won because of Limbaugh's Operation Chaos.

A small army of old, white Republicans crossed over to vote for Hillary with no intention of voting Democratic in the fall, and those old folks gave her the only victory she had.

THAT is the main story that media and superdelegates will take from this contest.

She lost, because even with the Limbaugh army, she barely won. Every network has discussed the Limbaugh Effect and credited his voters with changing the outcome.

[RazBerryBeret]

5. from what I heard yesterday,

the state had tried a temporary drop in the gas tax years ago...so people knew it really wasn't going to work...I'm surprised Clinton made that her big stand...

[JVS]

6. She didn't drink enough Crown Royal at that bar

[Kahuna]

7. Morphing into bush. nt.

[dbmk]

8. Gas tax and reality kicking in for many Hillary supporters

I think both North Carolina and Indiana overperformed the polls for Obama because many might answer what they WOULD vote on the phone - but actually voting could have been affected by the growing, and realistic, impression that Hillary stood little to no chance of pulling it off.
That combined with a good GOTV effort could be the reasons.

And yeah, the gas tax thing backfired - and sort of played into my first point I think.

[izzybeans]

9. Monroe and Lake counties were late tallying votes because of high turnout.

Two of 5 liberal strongholds in the state.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

11. The cool style will be very helpful in the GE

when we can show McCain to be a hothead--and do we really need a hothead in the White House?