Obama supporters optimistic despite Indiana loss

After a day when many Democrats thought they saw an end in sight, the race churns on.\nAround 1 a.m. Wednesday, victory in the Indiana Democratic primary was given to Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, though an acceptance speech in Indianapolis around 10:30 p.m. suggested she had won much earlier.\nClinton beat Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois by a slim margin of about 18,000 votes in Indiana, 51 percent to 49 percent. \nIn Bloomington, about a hundred local volunteers and supporters of the Obama campaign held a watch party at Opie Taylor’s restaurant. They spent the evening watching the results pour in and remained optimistic despite the Indiana loss. Indiana has 72 delegates up for grabs, in addition to 13 superdelgates. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton won 37 delegates while Obama won 33, according to CNN. Most local Obama supporters were content with the outcome, as Obama’s win in North Carolina carried more weight, with 115 pledged delegates. However, a victory for Clinton gives her the momentum to continue.\nIn Monroe County, Obama won by a larger margin, 66 percent to Clinton’s 34 percent, according to CNN. \nAround 9 p.m. Tuesday, Obama gave a speech in North Carolina accepting his win there. He also conceded defeat early to Clinton, congratulating her on her victory, despite the fact that most TV networks had not given her the victory. He then gave a message while Bloomington’s supporters looked on at the TV in admiration with beaming smiles, excited about his victory in North Carolina. Supporters clapped and cheered, many chanting “Yes we can” repeatedly along with supporters on TV. \nObama described the race between himself and the former first lady as “one of the longest, most formidable contests in American history.” He spoke about some of the same themes he emphasized at a speech in Bloomington last week, including hard work and equal opportunity for all. \n“They are not liberal values, they are not conservative values, they are American values,” Obama said. “I love this country too much to see it divided and distracted at this critical moment in history. I know the promise of America because I have lived it.”\nFor IU senior and Obama volunteer Rose Byrne, the speech couldn’t have hit home more, as she watched while smiling and crying. Byrne has felt the personal effects of two of Obama’s issues: the war in Iraq and college tuition. While out campaigning Friday afternoon for Obama, Byrne heard the news that one of her good friends from high school was killed while serving in Iraq.\n“I didn’t really wanna go home and mourn it,” she said. “I wanted to knock on doors ... get someone in office who would change it.” Since her sister is also in the Army, she added that her family that typically votes Republican voted for Obama in Tuesday’s primary. \n“None of us wanna see her in Iraq,” Byne said. “(My friend) gave his life. It’s time to question why we’re there.”\nByrne also identifies with Obama’s pledge to help make college more affordable. Byrne has worked since she was 16 to pay her way through school and has taken out several loans. In addition to school and work, she has volunteered locally, recruiting and registering Obama voters.\nLarry Friedman, a professor who has taught history at IU and Harvard University and is also a member of the national campaign staff for Obama, said the Obama campaign reminds him of the Kennedy era of the 1960s. He spent the primary night with other Obama supporters at Opie Taylor’s. He called young people working on the campaign the real “heroes” and said this campaign has exuded “a sort of magic charisma that we can somehow make change.”\n“Everyone I talked to is very happy because we basically couldn’t have gotten better than a split in Indiana and a win in North Carolina,” Friedman said. \nHe added he thinks Obama has secured the nomination but he expects Clinton to continue until the end.\n“She knows it’s a one in 50 shot, but she’s gonna hold out for that,” he said.\nBy the time Sen. Hillary Clinton began her speech in Indianapolis around 10:30 p.m., most of Obama’s local supporters had cleared out of Opie Taylor’s, a few yelling “It’s not over,” at the many TVs in the restaurant on their way out.\nPaul Case, a Bloomington resident and local volunteer for the Obama campaign said the Illinois senator is farther ahead than he was, but the race for the Democratic nomination will continue to crawl on, mostly because of Hillary’s persistence.\n“I don’t think it’s over for Hillary but she needs to do rethinking about how she proceeds,” he said. “(Obama) doesn’t have it sewn up yet but he’s made it a couple steps closer,” he said.