Indiana Results Live Thread: Cliffhanger!

12:25 a.m. Signing off. The tone is sounding more ominous for Hillary Clinton as her lead diminishes. NBC's Tim Russert said "we all know" who the Democratic nominee is going to be - Barack Obama. "It's very much like being on life support," he said, referring to reports that Clinton will have to loan her campaign more money when the writing is on the wall that it's time to pack it in. She's canceled her morning appearances.

"The only way she can win this thing is if something terrible happens to Obama or something miraculous for her," said Mort Kondracke on FOX News Channel.

Clinton has 51%, Obama has 49% with 92% of the precincts reporting. It's going to be a cliffhanger. Many absentee votes likely won't be counted until tomorrow. I can't stay awake until then. I do have some day jobs I have to get out of bed for in the morning. Thanks for reading.

11:50 p.m. Clinton is now only ahead of Obama by about 20,000 votes as results from Lake County begin to come in. Everyone's wondering what the heck is taking so long. Can Obama win?

11:40 p.m. More than 200,000 ballots from 12% of the precincts are still uncounted. Clinton still has a 4 percentage point lead. Not only is that lead not hugely decisive, but the 14% point differential Obama won by in North Carolina pretty much erases any gains Clinton made in Pennsylvania.

MSNBC's Chuck Todd says Clinton's margin of victory in Indiana could be, at most, 10,000 votes. That means Obama will still have at least 160 more pledged delegates, and a 700,000 popular vote lead, not counting Florida. If Florida and Michigan are counted in Clinton's favor, Obama will still be ahead in the popular vote.

There are rumors Obama's camp is having informal talks about who to put on the ticket in the vice president slot.

10: 41 p.m. Clinton speaks as Indiana is still too close to call for most. "Not too long ago, my opponent made a prediction," she says. "He said I would probably win Pennsylvania, he would win North Carolina and Indiana would be the tiebreaker. Well, tonight we've come from behind, we've broken the tie and thanks to you, it's full speed on to the White House." She also talks about home foreclosures, economic pressures on the middle class, Myanmar, etc... Bill's standing behind her, looking a little more red-faced than usual. Maybe it's the reflection of the red visor and red boxing gloves Hillary supporters are wearing all around him. My husband just said he looks like an oompa loompa.

Although there seemed to be a little lack of emotion, she showed no sign of letting up. "I'm gonna work my heart out in West Virginia and Kentucky this month, and I intend to win then in November in the general election."
Clinton also referenced how Florida and Michigan's votes are not being counted, since they moved up their primary dates. She won both of those states. "It would be a little strange to have a nominee chosen by 48 states."

Now, please donate your money because she's gonna need it.

10:30 p.m. Obama's people in Chicago say they're willing to talk about a deal over the Florida and Michigan delegates at the May 31 Democratic Party rules committee meeting. Newsweek's Deputy Washington Bureau Chief Howard Fineman says Obama's camp thinks he will have the delegate majority by then and won't need delegates from either of those two states to clinch the nomination. Clinton hopes the seating of those delegates at the convention gives her a much-needed boost.

2 minute warning before Clinton speaks...

10:16 p.m. Just over 40,000 votes lie between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, with 82% of Indiana's precincts reporting; Clinton is leading. From inside the Clinton camp, NBC's Ron Allen reports that staffers are sending a memo around, quoting Obama saying that Indiana would be the tiebreaker in the nomination process. Lake County won't be counting its ballots until after midnight tonight. Oye...

Clinton needs a decisive victory in Indiana to justify carry on, particularly in light of what appears to be a very clear victory for Obama in North Carolina.

9:41 p.m. Obama is gaining on Clinton. The New York senator is now only 4 percentage points ahead of Obama, with 74% of the precincts reporting. MSNBC says about 350,000 votes are still floating around out there. Todd says the Obama camp thinks they will be 10,000-15,000 votes short of what they need to beat Clinton.

9:14 p.m. Still no one else is calling Clinton the winner of Indiana and its 72 delegates. Most are saying it's too close to call. Did CBS speak too soon? With 68% precincts reporting, Clinton has 53% of the vote, Obama has 47%. Obama takes the stage in North Carolina after his victory there and congratulates Clinton on "what appears to be" her victory in the Hoosier State.

8: 58 p.m. CBS is calling Clinton the projected winner of Indiana.

Other networks say 57% of the precinct reports are in and Clinton is leading Obama by 8 percentage points. They are hesitant to call the race because many counties that haven't reported yet are heavily populated with black voters, which could work in Obama's favor.

CBS News exit poll results show that only 17% of Indiana voters decided who to vote for within the last three days; 24% decided in the last week. Late deciders backed Clinton, 62-38%. 65% of voters said the economy was the most important issue; 50% said Clinton would be more likely to improve it and 46% said Obama would.

8:22 p.m. Almost half of the precincts have reported, and Clinton is ahead of Obama, 55-45%. Exit polls show Clinton is winning two-thirds of the "white-no college" vote (what many are referring to as "working class voters), while she and Obama are just about splitting the vote among white college grads. Although Clinton has the advantage, there's still some ballot-counting to do, including in areas like Bloomington, which have heavy college populations. Obama so far has those Millennial voters in his corner.

There are reports that ballot shortages are going to delay vote counting. Howard County said an unexpected number of registered Republican voters crossing over to the Democratic primary caused a shortage there; more had to be printed. A similar situation cropped up in Marion and Jackson counties.

The Huffington Post says this could be partially a result of the "Limbaugh effect" derived from conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh encouraging Republicans to vote for Clinton to continue the Democratic battle and weaken John McCain's general election opponent. "The Plank" notes that 7% of the Indiana electorate voted for Clinton in the primary but have no intention of supporting her in the fall.

7:51 p.m. With 32% of precincts reporting, FOX News and NBC have Clinton with 57% of the vote, Obama with 43%. He's creeping up on her. My brain hurts from hearing so many numbers being hurtled about.

7:34 p.m. (NBC just called Obama the winner of North Carolina) Clinton is leading in Indiana. NBC's Tim Russert says those results means status quo so far as where superdelegates will stand. She needed a "game changer."

7:22 p.m. Returns from the first 10% of Indiana precincts show Clinton with 58% of the vote, to 42% for Obama, AP says. Clinton needs a huge win here to stay in the race. Some reports say she won't stay much longer if she loses.

7:10 p.m. CNN says Indiana is still too early to call. FOX News has Clinton with 58% of the vote and Obama with 41%, with 3% of precincts reporting (but there's no time stamp on the page so who knows how fresh that number is). MCNBC has Clinton with 59% of the vote, Obama 41%, with 6% reporting.

6:56 p.m. AP says about 1 in 5 voters said they were independents, an additional 1 in 10 said Republican. Indiana's strict photo ID law is causing some problems. About a dozen nuns in their 80s and 90s in South Bend were reportedly denied ballots because they lacked proper ID. Where's the pope when you need him?

6:30 p.m. With less than 1% of the precincts reporting, Clinton had 63% the vote, while Obama had 37%, according to CNN. Some exit polls show Obama with 92% of the black vote, Clinton has 61% of the white women vote. The top issue was the economy.

Early exit polls suggest that 49% of voters in Indiana said the controversy surrounding Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, was not an important factor in their vote, while 48% said it was, CNN reports. Those who said it was important largely broke for Clinton. Half of Clinton's Indiana supporters would not vote for Obama in a general election match up with John McCain.

Earlier today there was a bomb threat to Obama's Evansville office, but it turned out to be a hoax. Clinton visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway garage of race-car driver Sarah Fisher, who presented the first lady with a racing helmet.