Well, I think they really are running scared.

I mean, now the crazy religious nuts here in Indiana are resorting to making things up.

I've been blogging my experiences with the Obama campaign and I've been sitting on this one for a week as I tried to put it together. But today is Sunday, the day the faithful take to their pews so it seemed appropriate to get this out there this morning.

Two weeks ago I sent an email about Obama to a group of 50 women who are in my circle as "friendlies", women I see regularly in a sports venue but we don't know one another all that well.

I received about a dozen replies from women asking me to add them to the short list. It was great fun to connect.

One woman gently let me know that she supported Hillary and we agreed to friendly disagreement until this thing is settled.

The only 2 negative responses I received were about religion.

We need to figure out how to address this because this is what Obama is facing in the Heartland. Follow me ...

Wow. I attended Obama's Townhall today in Muncie, Indiana.

The crowd was electric. Obama was articulate and personable. The crowd was hopeful and excited. The crowd was cynical and bitter. Those are not mutually exclusive emotions for many regular, middle class, working Hoosiers.

I have never seen an American Presidential candidate in person, let alone a American President. I daresay most in the audience were having the same virgin experience.

The whole thing was a grand Saturday morning adventure. I came away with a big black Obama hoodie, some very cool buttons, lots of great pictures and a new appreciation for Presidential contests that reach ALL Americans in EVERY state of the Union.

Thank you Howard Dean.

Thank you Barack Obama.

So, what was it like? Follow me ...

Exciting times around here. We haven’t seen a local presidential contest like this since 1968 when Robert F. Kennedy actively courted Hoosier voters.

In 2004 there wasn’t a single Kerry for President office in Indiana. This morning Obama is opening regional HQ #17 in Hamilton County, north of Indianapolis where I live.

The regional field director opening that office is living with me through the May 6th primary. Obviously, I supported Obama before my guest arrived 11 days ago. But this past 10 days has been an amazing peek behind the curtains for me and I am really excited about what I’m seeing.

Today we have 32 days to go before the May 6th primary and I intend to blog my experience with the campaign. I live in Hamilton County, Indiana. This is a solidly Republican county but it is also an important Clinton stronghold, with a dozen Democratic super donors who have been Clinton supporters for years.

I have several things I’d like to share with you so follow me over the jump ...

Suddenly we matter

Indiana will have at least 12 superdelegates to the Democratic Convention in Denver, 11 of whom have been named.

Two have committed to Obama:

Connie Thurman, a political representative for the United Auto Workers who also is a superdelegate because she's a Democratic National Committee member, recently committed to Obama and plans to stick with him.

Cordelia Lewis-Burks, the vice chairwoman of the state Democratic party, is supporting Barack Obama.

Five others - Evan Bayh plus 4 members of the DNC - made early commitments to the Clintons, presumably following the lead of Evan Bayh, widely rumored to be on Hillary's short list for VP.

Four more remain uncommitted and the 12th delegate has yet to be named.

In an interesting NYT's article Competing Prescriptions Jacob Hacker, a professor of political science at Yale, describes the Republican (McCain) and the Democratic (Obama & Clinton) prescriptions for health care reform.

Very well written article, worth reading in it's entirety. But it was the first comment that really got my attention:

Given Senator McCain’s history of health problems. if he went to purchase a non-group health insurance plan, he would be unable to do so in around 45-46 states. Those states allow insurers to reject applicants because of pre-existing conditions, age and a host of other reasons.

Is Indiana's presidential primary open or closed?

Since Indiana's primary election may actually make a difference in 2008 - and there appears to be some controversy about who can vote in the primary - I decided to see if I could get a definitive answer to this question.

I had to call around, but I finally spoke to a very knowledgeable and helpful person at the State Election Commission here in Indiana.

The answer is: neither open or closed. So what's with that?

Over the weekend the most amazing thing happened here at dKos. A trilogy of diaries inspired events that led to what I have dubbed The Stone Soup Project, but is officially known as the Congressional Committees Project and has shown up in the Open Threads as Adopt a Congressional Committee!

A band of hungry Kossacks wandering around the thickets of Kossackistan, bumped into one another over the weekend. Discovering our mutual hunger, we have thrown together our meager offerings and are cooking up a big, delicious pot of soup that smells like it's going to satisfy many, many growling bellies.

Amazingly, within 48 hours the  Congressional Committees Project was launched with it's own  dKosopedia site and dozens of volunteers.

Follow me over the jump to hear the tale and join the fun as we collectively cook up this big old pot of stone soup.

A brief comment on the news last night ...

TSA announced that a registered flyer program was cleared for implementation nationwide June 20, 2006. I did a bit of research to learn more.

For just $79.95 per year you too can submit your fingerprints and iris scans to a private company for the privilege of being whisked through a private line for "registered" flyers. Does that give anyone else the heebie-jeebies???

More ...