Clintons turn Indiana into presidential battleground

Indiana is shaping up as a potentially pivotal battleground in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, with early observers thinking Barack Obama from adjoining Illinois starts out with and edge but seeing Hillary and Bill Clinton make a strong effort, especially in the state's smaller cities and towns. Indiana's population is almost 30 percent rural.

Yesterday, the New York senator visited two cities with almost identical population and trends -- Anderson and Terre Haute, both with about 57,000 people by 2006 Census Bureau estimates, almost 4 percent fewer than the census counted in 2000. The Herald-Bulletin of Anderson said in an editorial that Clinton's appearance there was "electric with hope."

The Tribune-Star of Terre Haute, also part of Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., focused on Clinton's staged, sit-down discussion "with several invited Wabash Valley citizens who described some of the challenges they or family members face in today’s economy," reports Sue Loughlin. (Read more)

The paper's coverage also includes an interview Loughlin got with Clinton, a crowd story, and video of Clinton speaking, with Sen. Evan Bayh at her side. (Photo by Charles Dharapak, Tribune-Star)

The Herald-Bulletin posted a short story about Clinton's speech there and another short piece about the crowd. By far its longest story was about two bomb threats against the event, one called in to its own newsroom. The story quoted an unnamed staff member who took the call as saying, “I don’t remember precisely the words, but essentially it was, ‘Listen carefully, there’s a bomb set to go off at the Wigwam at 3:40 p.m. I thought it was a joke.”

The story continued, "He said at first it sounded like a coworker was playing a prank, but when he looked around the empty newsroom — cleared of photographers, editors and reporters busy covering the campaign stop — he realized the threat could be real and immediately called 911. Police dispatchers told the staff member they would relay the threat to officers at the scene." Police said the arena had been swept five times and the event was not disturbed.