Congressional Quarterly says Indiana is still likely to go Republican in the presidential race:
Indiana is one of 11 states that have voted Republican in each of the past 10 presidential elections, with more electoral votes than any state in that group except Virginia (13) — and McCain appears highly likely to extend the GOP's winning streak this November. Though its sits geographically alongside the mostly Democratic-leaning states of the industrial Midwest, heavily rural Indiana has been nearly as Republican in presidential contests as the Plains States of Kansas and Oklahoma.
Though Obama's home state of Illinois, a Democratic lock in November, shares a long border with Indiana, it will be very difficult for the Democratic nominee to capture a state that four years ago backed Bush by a 21-percentage-point margin over John Kerry .
Don't know about that "heavily rural" stuff -- if that influenced the thinking at CQ, maybe they should reconsider. Yes, our land is mostly rural -- about 65 percent agricultural, compared to around 50 percent for the nation as a whole. But land doesn't vote. Our population is only about 23 percent rural.
