Senate contenders continue the fight

Months of campaigning have all boiled down to this. Tomorrow, one of the three candidates for U.S. Senate will win the honor of representing Indiana in Washington, D.C., for the next six years. But today the race is still on. Democratic candidate David Johnson hit the campaign trail last week to press palms in the southern part of the state. Johnson spent the weekend campaigning with Gov. Frank O'Bannon. "We were down in Southern Indiana doing media interviews (last) Monday, and he has been on a bus trip with the Baron Hill campaign," said Doshia Stewart, Johnson's press secretary. "He's been trekking all over the state." Stewart said the Johnson campaign has also been calling registered voters to remind them to vote in tomorrow's election. "We have phone banks running right now, Stewart said. "That's the main part of what our volunteers are focusing on." Incumbent Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., hasn't been able to campaign in person because the Senate is still in session in Washington, D.C., but his campaign staff has been working overtime on his behalf. "What's being stressed is to turn out Republican voters," said Gail Lowry, Lugar's campaign press secretary. Lowry said the campaign is relying heavily on volunteer support to get out Lugar's message. "We have 2,800 precinct captains poised to make hundreds of thousands of phone calls," Lowry said. Although most pundits have already called the election in Lugar's favor, the two campaigns have been working long hours for the last seven days, trying to talk to as many voters as possible. Libertarian candidate Paul Hager said he is still standing firm on the issues he believes are important to this election. Hager said he knows he cannot win against either of the major party candidates, but said he would like to win his goal of 2 percent of the vote on Election Day. David Johnson, Democrat: "I believe very strongly that it's important for hardworking citizens to offer themselves for public service. I don't think that politics ought to be simply carried out by politicians." Paul Hager, Libertarian: "I see the major threat to liberty coming from the federal government, which is out of control and operating outside the Constitution." Gail Lowry, Lugar's campaign press secretary: "Lugar always runs his campaign in a very organized, frugal way. You never take anything for granted. And Lugar just isn't like that."