Talk about a close race. Hoosiers kept the entire nation tuning in late to see whether Hillary Clinton could hold on to the slimmest of leads. I spent the evening at Senator Clinton’s victory party in downtown Indy mingling with her supporters and members of the press as the returns came in.

 

To be honest it was a pretty mellow gathering for a victory party. The night got off to a slow start when the networks called North Carolina for Senator Obama right when the polls closed.

 

Early returns showed Clinton with a sizable lead in Indiana but as the evening wore on it became clear that Obama was gaining. As Senator Clinton’s lead dwindled to about 4 percentage points it began to look like everyone was in for a long haul.

 

Outside of the main room I managed to catch Senator Obama’s victory speech in Raleigh, North Carolina where he congratulated Senator Clinton on her “apparent” victory in Indiana. Members of the press were surprised to see him concede seeing as the districts most favorable to the Illinois Senator had barely started reporting.

 

After what seemed like an endless wait Senator Clinton came on to thank her supporters and declare victory in Indiana. The crowd cheered loudly as she promised to continue working for the Democratic nomination.

 

However, her speech began right as Lake County, a largely African American district right in the heart of Chicago’s media market, began to report its final tallies. When Senator Clinton finished speaking her lead had dropped to a mere 18,000 votes.

 

For about an hour it seemed like the impossible was possible. Senator Obama needed about 67 percent of Lake County’s vote total to pass Senator Clinton. He finished with approximately 56 percent of the vote but the residents of one single district sure managed to give the entire Clinton campaign some major heartburn. The Lake County returns had stopped just short of turning the whole evening upside down.   

 

-Clinton supporters are pretty hardcore. Her fans will follow her to the ends of the earth. Some of the voters I spoke with were moderate Democrats who say they will vote for McCain if she fails to win the nomination. Others promised to vote for Senator Obama if he comes out on top. 

 

-Senator Clinton may owe her Indiana victory to conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh. His “operation chaos” probably contributed to the Senator’s strong numbers in several Republican leaning districts.  

 

-If you have never been to a primary night gathering then you should definitely put it on your list of things to accomplish. Since much of the evening is spent waiting around you get to interact with really interesting people. While waiting for Clinton to speak I met a documentary film maker who has trailed the candidates since the build up to Iowa. Her insights were fascinating and she even gave me a vintage campaign button.