Obama campaigns in Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ind. – Columbus residents Stan and Mary Ellen Miller live in a house divided. \nMary Ellen, 62, is a staunch supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama. Before the Illinois senator rose to prominence, she was a Republican who voted twice for President George W. Bush. But Obama’s presence and charisma convinced her to switch sides. \nHer husband Stan, 64, isn’t convinced, but a sprawling national debt and economic problems have forced him to keep and open mind about Obama, he said. \nThe Millers were among the 2,500 people who stood in long lines to see Obama’s speech Friday morning in the gymnasium of Columbus East High School. \nObama focused on his ability to change the nation and combat problems such as the growing number of uninsured Americans and the slowing economy. He talked about his ability to unify a fractured country, even as he emphasized what he sees at the difference between him and his opponent, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. \n“She is of Washington,” he said. “She thinks that lobbyists are not the problem.”\nObama went on the say he has worked to limit the influence that special interests have on his campaign. \n“If you elect me, we can tell the lobbyists who work in Washington that their days of setting the agenda are over,” he said.\nObama’s campaign also appears to have made some progress in courting one of Indiana’s 11 so called “superdelegates.” \nU.S. Congressman Baron Hill, D-Ind., who represents Columbus, Bloomington and New Albany, Ind., introduced Obama to the cheering crowd. \nHill, who like several other Indiana superdelegates has not come out in support of either presidential candidate, told the Indiana Daily Student that he is still undecided. However, he said he has never seen so much excitement about politics in Indiana.\nObama and Clinton are locked in a tight battle for the Democratic presidential nomination. Currently, Obama leads the race with 1,631 delegates, including superdelegates – party leaders such as elected officials and state party chairs who can vote independently of their state’s allotted delegates. Clinton has 1,501 delegates and both senators are well short of the 2,024 they need to lock up the nomination, according to The Associated Press. As a result, superdelegates such as Hill could ultimately decide who becomes the Democratic nominee.\nObama stayed with his message of change, though he also outlined several policy positions, including his plan to improve health care in America by making insurance available to everyone. \n“We don’t have a health care system, we have a disease care system,” he said.\nBy emphasizing preventative medicine and working to eliminate inefficiencies in the system, Obama said his plan will generate the money needed to make coverage universal. \nThe senator also said he plans to roll back the Bush tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans and cut taxes to the middle class. \n“When you have a CEO making in a day what many of their workers make in a year, you’ve got a problem,” he said. \nIn response to a question about gay rights, Obama said he does not support gay marriage, but is for “strong civil unions” that guarantee many of the partnership rights of legally-binding marriage. \nObama’s speech in Columbus was part of a three-day tour of the Hoosier state in advance of its May 6 primary. The tour also took him to Terre Haute, South Bend and Muncie, with a brief stopover Friday afternoon in Bloomington at the women’s Little 500 race.