Obama emphasizes unity, promises to return to Indiana

Plainfield, Ind. - Sen. Barack Obama campaigns on a platform of unity. But maybe he didn't take into account the strength of the IU/Purdue University rivalry.\nScattered but audible boos greeted the Democratic presidential candidate Saturday at his first major Indiana campaign stop when he thanked a group of union workers who turned out to support him and called them "boilermakers."\n"This is mostly an IU crowd, I guess," he quipped, bringing out a raucous cheer from the Hoosier fans in the audience.\nDespite the gaffe, Obama's speech to some 2,000 supporters who packed into the Plainfield High School gymnasium received loud and energetic cheers. The Illinois senator focused much of his 45-minute speech on the importance of unity and his ability to bring the country together, though he also tackled the rising cost of health care and outlined a plan to make college more affordable.\nEvoking a speech presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy gave in Indianapolis after Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed, Obama said the American people have a choice between rage and bitterness and unity.\n"We have different stories, but we have common dreams and common hopes," Obama told the crowd.\nTickets for the event were available online through Obama's Web site, though all of them were spoken for within 30 minutes of being made available, a campaign spokeswoman said.\nIf elected, Obama said he plans to institute a federal program that will pay for the first $4,000 of a student's college education in exchange for community service.\nObama also said one of his first moves if he is elected will be to instruct his Attorney General to review all of President George W. Bush's executive orders and reverse the ones that he deems unconstitutional or restrictive to civil liberties.\nIn a potential blow to Indiana's burgeoning biofuels industry, Obama called corned-based ethanol "sub-optimal" and suitable only for a transition away from fossil fuels. Other fuels made from crops - like Brazil's sugar-based ethanol - are more practical substitutes.\nThe senator fielded several questions from audience members and answered questions on issues ranging from domestic violence to the economic implications of America's foreign policy with China.\nThis was Obama's second stop in the Hoosier state since announcing his run for the White House, though he promised many more campaign stops.\nWith its late May 6 primary and 84 delegates, Indiana could be on of the last major battleground states of a hard-fought Democratic primary season.