Published: May 07, 2008 12:16 am         

Clinton supporters cheer Indiana primary results

TERRE HAUTE — Mulligan’s Pub at Terre Haute’s Fore Seasons Golf Complex erupted into chants of “Hillary, Hillary!” when one national news organization declared Hillary Clinton the winner of the Indiana primary late Tuesday evening.

Around three dozen Clinton campaign volunteers clicked champagne glasses and exchanged hugs when, with around 65 percent of Hoosier Democratic primary votes counted, it looked as if their candidate was the winner.

As of press time late Tuesday, many news organizations still called the Indiana race too close to call. Clinton led with 52 percent to Obama’s 48 percent with 86 percent of the vote counted.

“It’s a great relief after all the work,” said Tressman Goode, an ISU graduate student and Clinton campaign volunteer. “In the end, it paid off.”

Before the end of voting Tuesday, many of the same people celebrating at Mulligan’s Pub were making last-minute phone calls to likely Clinton voters urging them to cast their ballots. Others were going door to door drumming up votes for the New York senator.

“We all made a difference” in the Indiana primary race, said Donna Adams of Terre Haute, a mother of three and first-time campaign worker. “With so much at stake, [Clinton] had to win.”

Alexis Mundnis, a Clinton campaign field organizer, thanked the volunteers at Mulligan’s after announcing that at least one news organization declared Clinton the winner of the Indiana primary around 9:15 p.m. “We survived fire … and an earthquake” to win Indiana, Mundnis told the volunteers. “In the general election, I’m going to be calling you again,” she said.

Clinton’s first campaign headquarters in Terre Haute suffered damage from a fire in April and moved to North Third Street near the Indiana State University campus.

As the Clinton workers celebrated in Mulligan’s, Clinton’s primary rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, spoke overhead on the pub’s large-screen TVs. Obama was thanking supporters after being declared the winner of the North Carolina primary.

Clinton supporters at Mulligan’s already were looking forward to a race in the fall for the White House for their candidate.

“I will do it all over again,” said Stephanie Tallon of Terre Haute. “This has been the time of my life.”

Many Clinton supporters said this was the first campaign for which they had volunteered. Many also said they made many new friends during the past few months.

“It’s been wonderful,” said Marilyn Wheeler of Terre Haute. Wheeler, like several other volunteers, said she was inspired to work for Clinton after the New York senator’s visit to the Saratoga Restaurant in Terre Haute in March. “She just blew me away,” she said.

The Clinton campaign headquarters on North Third Street is set to be cleaned up Wednesday and the well-organized campaign will move on. The volunteers made calls to potential voters in North Carolina after Indiana’s polls were closed. Volunteers said their efforts made a difference in Tuesday’s result, as did frequent visits to the Terre Haute area by Clinton or members of her family.

“It showed that she cared about the Wabash Valley,” Goode said. “I think it really showed that the Wabash Valley mattered.”



Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.