Despite a deepening despair among Democrats that the never-ending primary season is severely damaging the eventual nominee, Dan Parker, chair of the Indiana Democratic Party, is almost gleeful about what is happening in his state in advance of next week's presidential primary. "Anybody who tells you different doesn't know anything about politics," he said, "This is a good thing for the Indiana Democratic Party."
Parker, a Hillary Clinton supporter, is doing everything he can to help her win on Tuesday. But whether she pulls it off or not, Parker and his party are already reaping big rewards in a state that is closely divided between the two parties below the presidential level. No one is predicting that the Democratic nominee will beat John McCain in Indiana in November, but down the ballot, where the races will be much closer, the infusion of Democratic money, energy, and organizing infrastructure could pay great dividends this fall and beyond.
"Close to a million people are going to be voting on Tuesday, that's a good thing" says Parker.
Together, the Clinton and Obama campaigns have opened 50 field offices across the state, trained thousands of volunteers, and spent millions of dollars. And while Parker admits that the presidential primary is currently overshadowing the races for governor, Congress, and the state legislature, he emphatically declares the primary "a net plus."
Minority state parties -- red state Democrats and blue state Republicans -- are fond of complaining that they would be more successful if the national parties and the national candidates devoted more time, attention and money to them. This primary is certainly delivering all three in vast amounts.
Red-state Democratic parties are also receiving unprecedented support from DNC chair Howard Dean who has been devoted to building up party operations across the country, and has had moderate success in boosting party strength in previously ignored places with his '50-state strategy.' The most effective tool in advancing that ambition may be the very long primary season that has caused him so much heartburn, and which some worry may cost the White House in the fall.
In swing states like Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, the organizational benefits of the primary campaign are even more obvious. Democratic presidential campaigns usually start building organizations in these states in June or July, but the tight primary race has forced them to start far earlier. There are now Democratic field coordinators on both sides who know every town, volunteer, and local leader in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and almost every other state that will be competitive in the fall.
Indiana may still have a hard time getting a lot of attention from the Democratic nominee this fall, but this is a state where Democrats control the State House with 51 seats to Republican's 49. Some polls show the governor's race as a dead heat between the Republican incumbent, former Bush White House budget director Mitch Daniels and his likely Democratic challenger former Rep. Jill Long Thompson, who is expected to win the Democratic primary on Tuesday.
And, and usual, there will be a fierce battle for congressional seats as well. When Democrats took control of Congress in 2006 they picked up three House seats in Indiana. Protecting those three seats is a priority for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which finds itself in hand-to-hand combat in Indiana every two years.
There are some indications that the presidential primary is also shifting the political tone in Indiana. This week Rep. Baron Hill, one of the Indiana Democrats who defeated a Republican incumbent in 2006, endorsed Barack Obama. Hill represents Indiana's 9th District in the southeastern part of the state near the Kentucky border. The District is 94.8 percent white with a median income of less than $40,000. This is Clinton country.
There was no political reason for Hill to make such an endorsement, particularly given the competitive nature of his district. Hill defeated incumbent Mike Sodrel in 2006 50 to 46 percent of the vote. But that was the third time they had faced each other for the seat. First elected to the House in 1998, Hill defeated Sodrel in 2002, but lost to him in 2004, only to regain the seat in 2006. Sodrel and Hill will face off again this November.
So when Dan Parker of the Indiana Democratic Party says that the primary contest is helping the party grow, he is thinking of Baron Hill and others like him.
"There are 200,000 new Democrats and no one has to worry about getting out the vote. People are energized," says Parker. "I've been telling people for years that if you want to compete in Indiana, you have to show up. Well, they're here."
