Indiana voters in unexpected political spotlight

By Andrea Hopkins

RUSHVILLE, Indiana (Reuters) - Florist Lori McCullar barely remembers the last time Indiana really mattered in a U.S. presidential primary. Now the 45-year-old is relishing her state's place in the political spotlight.

"I'm old enough to know we've never made a difference before -- well, not in a long time," said McCullar as she fielded telephone calls and took orders at her flower shop on the main street of this southeast Indiana town.

This year, Indiana's primary on Tuesday looms as the possibly decisive battle between Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama over who will represent the Democrats in the November presidential election.

While the conservative Midwestern state is solidly Republican and unlikely to be heavily contested in November, polls show the Democratic primary race between Clinton and Obama is tight. With Obama ahead in the polls in the North Carolina contest, also held on Tuesday, the major focus has turned to Indiana, where Clinton needs a victory to continue her fight.

The former first lady trails Obama in both the popular vote and number of delegates who select the party's nominee at its August convention.

McCullar said she's pulling for Clinton, but her college-aged daughter is an Obama supporter -- and the two joke about hoping the other is too busy to vote on Tuesday.

Voters are excited, said Russell L. Hanson, a political science professor at Indiana University Bloomington.

"There's been a dramatic increase in voter registration," said Hanson. "People are gratified by it, interested in the race and paying attention, and they rather like the idea that they might determine the outcome -- or at least influence it in some important way."

REPORTERS AND CAMPAIGN ADS

The U.S. primary election process has long made some states more important than others, with earlier-voting states generally picking the early favorites. Few thought Indiana, with its late primary, would play much of a role this year.

In Shelbyville, homemaker Ginger Smith, 48, turned out to see former President Bill Clinton campaign for his wife over the weekend. "It's great. I think the campaigns are aware that little towns may be more important than big towns, because Indiana is a lot of little towns," the Clinton supporter.

Cafe owner Shirley Bailey, 70, another Clinton backer, said she's enjoying the surge in political talk among patrons at her diner and was pleased Clinton campaign staff stopped by.

"I consider it an honor to have an ex-president in town," she said. Bailey said her daughter made it out to see Bill Clinton at the campaign stop and was now a die-hard backer of his wife.

"And that girl didn't vote in her life until this time," she said.

But not everyone was as happy.