(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-04-24 08:44

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana - The longest nomination race in US presidential history has moved on to a new and unlikely key battleground -- the oft-ignored midwestern state of Indiana.

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton waves to photographers on her plane as she flies to Indianapolis, Indiana, for more campaigning after her primary win in Pennsylvania. The longest nomination race in US presidential history has moved on to a new and unlikely key battleground -- the oft-ignored midwestern state of Indiana. [Agencies]

With the latest polls showing Democratic Illinois senator Barack Obama narrowly in the lead, a stiff battle is expected in a state best known for its massive steel mills, its millions of acres of flat farmland and its iconic automobile race -- The Indianapolis 500.

"Now it's Indiana's turn," said Joe Hogsett, a longtime Indiana political strategist and officeholder who is helping lead Hillary Clinton's effort here.

"And it comes at a critical time, with our state facing job loss, high home foreclosure rates, rising costs for everything from gas to health care, and falling wages."

The candidates are not wasting any time. Obama traveled late Tuesday to the southern Indiana city of Evansville to be greeted by thousands of screaming supporters.

Clinton was holding a rally of her own in downtown Indianapolis Wednesday only hours after claiming a 10-point victory in the blue-collar state of Pennsylvania, and she was due to spend Thursday in the state too.

The state, which has 72 delegates at stake, holds its primary on May 6, a date so late in the process that presidential nominees are already typically selected long before Indiana voters have their say. In fact, it's been 40 years since an Indiana primary mattered.

This year's primary, though, arrives at a crucial time with neither candidate set to reach the 2,025 pledged delegates needed to win the nomination outright.

Adding to the importance of the timing is Indiana's size. It is the nation's 15th largest state, and it is the largest of the states still to vote.

The state of 6.3 million people has a diverse population -- from Gary, the largely black steel town that in many recent years has been rated the nation's "murder capital" -- to dusty and economically struggling small towns that contrast with the wealthy white suburbs surrounding Indianapolis.

A small-town feel permeates much of Indiana; it is a state where hundreds of thousands attend the annual State Fair and where high school and college basketball are treated with near-religious reverence.

It's also a place where Obama's recent remarks about bitterness in small towns could hurt him.

Like many Midwestern states, Indiana has seen slow population growth in recent years while suffering from tens of thousands of lost jobs in the hard-hit manufacturing sector.

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