Obama to make B-town stop Friday

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama will stop in Bloomington on Friday, according to multiple sources.\nThe Illinois senator is crisscrossing Indiana on a three-day bus tour of the Hoosier state starting Wednesday.\nObama’s stump speech will focus on improving the economy and stimulating job growth, said Nick Kimball, a spokesman for Obama’s Indiana campaign.\nKimball would not officially confirm Obama’s visit Friday, but the campaign has already confirmed stops in South Bend, Gary, Muncie and Lafayette. \nHowever, IU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger said members of the U.S. Secret Service met with local law enforcement officials earlier this week and told them that the senator plans be in town Friday.\nA source close to the campaign said Obama will visit Friday but the campaign has yet to finalize any details of his stop.\nIndiana has found itself in the spotlight as a key battleground in the contentious Democratic presidential primary. The Hoosier state’s May 6 primary, with its 84 delegates at stake, looms as one of the biggest remaining contests after Pennsylvania’s April 22 vote.\nA recent poll commissioned by the South Bend Tribune and three Indiana television news stations puts New York Sen. Hillary Clinton ahead of Obama in Indiana 49 percent to 46 percent, with a 5 percent margin of error.\nBoth campaigns have paid for commercials to run on Indiana television stations and have opened numerous campaign offices.\nThis is Obama’s third trip to Indiana and his first to Bloomington. On Sunday, his campaign sponsored a free concert at Assembly Hall with musicians Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds. \nPrior to that, former President Bill Clinton stumped for Hillary Clinton in front of an audience of about 6,500 at Assembly Hall. It marked the first visit to campus by a current or former president since Teddy Roosevelt delivered the 1918 commencement address.