The video below features two Elkhart residents - talking about their daily hopes and struggles - as they anticipated President Obama's visit:

Industry officials expect that this $2.4 billion investment, coupled with another $2.4 billion in cost share from the award winners, will result directly in the creation tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs in the U.S. battery and auto industries.

- $1.5 billion in grants to U.S. based manufacturers to produce batteries and their components and to expand battery recycling capacity

- $500 million in grants to U.S. based manufacturers to produce electric drive components for vehicles, including electric motors, power electronics, and other drive train components

- $400 million in grants to purchase thousands of plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles for test demonstrations in several dozen locations; to deploy them and evaluate their performance; to install electric charging infrastructure; and to provide education and workforce training to support the transition to advanced electric transportation systems.

And here’s an excerpt from President Obama’s remarks:

“…The battle for America's future will be fought and won in places like Elkhart and Detroit, Goshen and Pittsburgh, South Bend, Youngstown –- in cities and towns across Indiana and across the Midwest and across the country that have been the backbone of America. It will be won by making places like Elkhart what they once were and can be again –- and that's centers of innovation and entrepreneurship and ingenuity and opportunity; the bustling, whirring, humming engines of American prosperity.

“For as the world grows more competitive, we can't afford to run the race at half-strength or half-speed. If we hope to lead this century like we did the last century, we have to create the conditions and the opportunities for places like Elkhart to succeed. We have to harness the potential –- the innovative and creative spirit –- that's waiting to be awakened all across America.

“See, I don't want to just reduce our dependence on foreign oil and then end up being dependent on their foreign innovations. I don't want to have to import a hybrid car -- I want to be able to build a hybrid car here. I don't want to have to import a hybrid truck -- I want to build a hybrid truck here. I don't want to have to import a windmill from someplace else -- I want to build a windmill right here in Indiana. I want the cars of the future and the technologies that power them to be developed and deployed right here, in America.

“And that's just the beginning. In no area will innovation be more important than in the development of new ways to produce, use, and save energy. So we're not only doubling our capacity to generate renewable energy and building a stronger and smarter electric grid. We've helped reach an agreement to raise fuel economy standards. And for the first time in history, we passed a bill to create a system of clean energy incentives which will help make renewable energy the profitable kind of energy in America -– while helping to end our dependence on foreign oil and protect our planet for future generations.

“The bill passed the House; we're now working to pass legislation through the Senate. Because we know that real innovation depends not on government, but on the generative potential of the American people. If the American people get a clear set of rules, if they know what's needed, what challenges we've got to meet, they'll figure out how to do it…”

Even if McCain does visit, there’s also this problem for his campaign: It hasn’t come close to matching other aspects of the Obama effort, such as TV ads, campaign offices, staff and energy, in Indiana.

It’s too late to catch up when it comes to organizing, so a campaign appearance is likely the best step McCain could take. Although such an appearance isn’t likely to decide this race, it would send a message to the GOP volunteers and die-hards the campaign needs to energize.

If you are in Indiana, or anywhere else for that matter, get involved. Only three and a half weeks to go.

Here in Lafayette, in Mia Lewis' "alternate universe," the volunteers have begun to run out of turf -- because it's already been canvassed. Although John McCain has only one field office open in the state, Barack Obama has two on the same block. One is a large phone bank office, and a few doors down on the corner is the canvass staging area. We heard stories from volunteers who sometimes canvass because the phone bank is so frequently packed to capacity that if they want to volunteer, knocking on doors is the only option. [emphasis added]

And one of Senator Barack Obama's strongest voices in the Hoosier state is former senator and civil rights champion, Birch Bayh.

Retired Senator Birch Bayh has been on a surrogate tour of Indiana, and spoke to approximately 40 volunteers here in the Lafayette office a short while ago. Bayh, legendary for his support of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the primary architect of both the 25th and 26th Amendments (not since the founders can one man claim that distinction), gave a moving speech to the assembled group. Bayh was the principal sponsor of the Equal Rights Amendment and highly influential in getting Title IX passed. He is also the guy who pulled a seriously injured Ted Kennedy from the wreckage of a small engine plane crash in 1964. The guy has been around.

He talked about his own grassroots campaign that first elected him to the US Senate in 1962. What he's seen with Barack Obama's operation in the state of Indiana this time around reminds him of that grassroots surge that won him the Senate seat in this traditionally red state. After speaking about the value of an engaged citizenry, and the consequences of detaching from the public policy arena (the previous eight years being his primary example), Bayh made a prediction.

On the night of November 4, at that early six o' clock hour that is almost always an immediate blot of red in a largely empty map (Indiana reports early), America is going to see something different this time.

A dot of blue.

Republican Secretary of State Todd Rokita weighed in on the Hoosier state as CNN’s John King reports:

But Republican Secretary of State Todd Rokita, the state's chief elections officer, said Sen. John McCain's campaign had better take notice.

"They have a fight here in Indiana and it is real," Rokita said.

The numbers are dramatic: In 2004, 2.5 million ballots were cast for president in Indiana. And in that entire cycle, the state received some 565,000 new and updated registrations.

This year, the number is already in excess of 562,000 and given the recent spike in activity by campaigns and other organizations, Rokita tells CNN he expects to hit a record 750,000 by the state's October 6 registration deadline.

"I will say that this is the first time I have ever seen a Democratic presidential campaign this engaged in this state. Usually Indiana is No. 1 for the red states on election night when it comes to president," Rokita told CNN in an interview in his state Capitol office in Indianapolis. [emphasis added]

Now that is some straight talk.

My name is Roy Gross. I’m a proud member of Teamsters Local 299 in Detroit, Michigan.

When I was a young man and wanted to start a family, I went to Detroit and landed a job as an automobile transporter. I delivered new cars from the assembly plants to dealerships around the country.

It was a great job, a Teamsters union job. You worked hard and it paid good wages, plus health care and pension. I worked there for 18 years. Working class families were doing well in Detroit until the Bush Administration took office, then everything changed.

Manufacturing jobs were exported by the hundreds of thousands and replaced with minimum-wage jobs in the so-called “New Economy.” I’m one of the lucky ones; I still have a job. But many of my friends and co-workers have lost their jobs and their homes.

If you ask me, this so-called “New Economy” is not working. We need a renewed economy. That’s why I’m seeing so many of my friends in Michigan - Democrats, Republicans and Independents - putting aside their differences to join this campaign.

Barack Obama will enact fair trade policies and work just as hard for us as we work for America. I will do everything I can, from now until Election Day, to put Michigan in the Obama column.

Monica Early, Ohio

I’m Monica Early from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Last January, someone sent me an e-mail containing so-called “facts” about Senator Obama. The e-mail painted a scary picture, questioning his faith and patriotism. I decided to do some fact-checking on my own and learned the truth.

What I discovered is that Barack Obama is a man of faith, a man of values and a man of action—someone who has shown his love for America by fighting for our people, helping communities left behind on Chicago’s South Side, fighting today for working families and the tax breaks we need to purchase a home, pay for college and save for retirement.

I am grateful for the e-mail that tried to scare me. It brought me here, an ordinary citizen, empowered by a leader who told me I could make a difference. Ohio is home to four of the fastest-dying cities in America. John McCain promises to continue the Bush economic policies that got us there.

Einstein said a definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. If we elect John McCain, then, according to Einstein, we surely would be insane.

We need change. We need President Barack Obama!

Wes Moore

Hi, my name is Wes Moore. Twelve years ago, I took an oath on the Bible to defend, support and protect the United States of America. Today, I cannot fathom a more perfect expression of my allegiance as a soldier and citizen than giving my full support for Barack Obama to be my next commander-in-chief.

Before I deployed for Afghanistan, my grandparents gave me a Bible. Inside, they wrote four simple words: have faith, not fear. Those words protected and guided me and the soldiers under my command during some of the most trying days of my life.

I want a president who has a comprehensive strategy for Iraq and Afghanistan, and who can rally young people to serve, both in and out of uniform, and sees these as complementary, not contradictory goals. I want a president who believes in supporting our troops while we are fighting overseas, and supporting us with proper health care and education when we come home.

This election is not about history. Nor is it about making history. It’s about seizing history.

The charge my grandparents gave me—have faith, not fear—is the same challenge I issue tonight. A faith that this nation can rise to meet any challenge.

Tonight, Senator Obama is not asking you to have faith in him. He is asking you to have faith with him. Let’s make Barack Obama our next president.

The Honorable Janet Monacco, Florida

I’m Janet Monaco from Rockledge, Florida, by way of Long Island, New York. Fourteen years ago I moved to Florida to pursue my vision of the American dream. Within five years, I had bought a house and opened two pet stores. I was living well.

Then disaster struck: back-to-back hurricanes, and rising costs of food and gas. Today, I’m a struggling small-business owner who is diabetic and without health insurance. I work 70-hour weeks at the store and more hours in a part-time job and still can’t afford insurance.

I don’t tell this story to get sympathy. Everyone has challenges. But what gets me angry is that George Bush and John McCain have done nothing for people like me—and, in fact, have done plenty of things that make it even harder to get by. Huge tax breaks for those at the top. Looking out for the lobbyists and not the little guy. And billions spent in tax cuts for big corporations, but not enough for small businesses like mine.

I’m supporting Barack Obama, because we can’t afford four more years of the same. Yes, we can make a change!

Nathaniel Fick

Good afternoon. I’m Nathaniel Fick. My Marine platoon landed in Afghanistan on a moonlit night in 2001. A little more than a year later, we rolled into Iraq. I’ll never forget one dawn after a vicious gun battle. We’d just medevaced one of our wounded Marines, and I turned to see a small American flag hanging from a humvee’s antenna. For a second, it reminded me of the line we all know so well: “And our flag was still there.”

I registered as a Republican at 18 and voted for John McCain in 2000. It took seven years of hard experience to get me on this stage. But we cannot afford more of the same. That’s why we need Barack Obama and Joe Biden to lead us beyond the tired divisions of the past. They have the judgment to make the right decisions, leading our military, and uphold our highest ideals.

Everyone who fought in Iraq or Afghanistan has left something: a friend, a limb, a piece of their youth. In those palm groves and on those ridge lines, this is personal for us. I don’t want to retreat; I want to win.

The past seven years have been hard, often heartbreaking. Our flag, however, is still there. Let’s move forward in our quest to live up to the idea of America.

Teresa Brito-Asenap, New Mexico

Buenas noches, good evening.

I am Teresa Brito-Asenap from Albuquerque, New Mexico. The first nine years of my life my grandparents worked with me to study and learn. They always talked about the importance of education. But it was not until third grade that I realized that mi abuelita, my grandmother, could neither read nor write.

But because of them, today I hold a doctorate in education. I owe them and my parents everything. Strong families raise strong students. All they need are world-class schools and dedicated teachers. Yet because of George W. Bush and John McCain, our schools don’t have the resources they need to meet the high standards of No Child Left Behind.

We don’t need four more years of the same. We need to turn the page and put our kids at the head of the class. Barack Obama will invest $10 billion a year in early education funding and give any student who wants to go to college a $4,000 tax credit. That’s the change we need and the change Barack Obama will bring as president of the United States.

Arriba y adelante – si se puede!

Pamela Cash-Roper, North Carolina

I’m Pam from Pittsboro, North Carolina. Wait till you hear what’s happening to me.

You might find my story familiar. Maybe it’s happening to you.

My husband, Keith, and I used to have a modest home we could afford, cars, money in a 401(k) plan, health insurance, and our health. We educated ourselves, got good jobs with benefits, worked night and day, raised four happy children, and saved some money.

It was the American dream. We did everything we thought you were supposed to do to live it. We really felt America was working for us.

Then, eight years ago, our American dream turned into a nightmare. Keith needed open-heart surgery. He lost his job and with it the family’s health insurance. I couldn’t afford to pay for health insurance on my nurse’s income, so we don’t have any.

Having no health insurance works – as long as you stay healthy.

Five years after Keith’s surgery, I had a quadruple bypass, and our medical expenses grew.

I’m a lifelong Republican who voted for Nixon, Reagan, Bush, and Bush. But I can’t afford four more years like this.

That’s why I am supporting Barack Obama as my president.

Barney Smith, Indiana

My name is Barney Smith.

For most of my life, I was a proud Republican.

Growing up in the Indiana heartland, America was a place of boundless opportunity. You could go to the town factory and get a job the same day. You could start a family and buy a house with your salary.

My father started at Marion’s RCA plant in 1949, manufacturing picture tubes for TV sets.

I started in 1973. My wife worked in a high school cafeteria. Together, we made a living and raised a family.

Then, in 2004, the plant closed. Today, a foreign worker does my job.

After 31 years, I received 90 days’ severance pay and was unemployed.

Thirteen months later, I got a job at a distribution center.

Republicans talk about putting “country first,” but tell that to Marion, Indiana. They sent my job overseas.

America can’t afford more of the same. We need a president who puts the Barney Smiths before the Smith Barneys.

I’m going to put country first by voting Barack Obama for president.

The heartland needs change. And with Obama, we’re going to get it.

President Bill Clinton received an extended, thunderous applause from the crowd and gave the assembled delegates plenty to cheer about. Senators John Kerry, Evan Bayh and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle also delivered speeches tonight.

Find those speeches and more here.

Tomorrow, we head to Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium for Senator Barack Obama's acceptance speech of the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Under George Bush, we’ve become more dependent on imported oil today than we were on 9/11.

And with John McCain, America will pay another $2.5 trillion over the next 10 years to hostile or unstable nations for foreign oil. That is not the change we need.

George Bush took the largest surplus in our nation’s history and turned it into the largest deficit, borrowing billions from China, Japan, even Mexico. John McCain would continue this dangerous fiscal irresponsibility. That is not the change we need.

Under George Bush, hundreds of thousands of good jobs have gone overseas, pensions have disappeared, health costs have skyrocketed, middle-class families are struggling. And John McCain says that the “fundamentals of our economy are strong.” That is not the change we need.

Under George Bush, America has become bogged down in an endless war in Iraq, spending more than $648 billion dollars there, $10 billion a month that could be spent to strengthen America’s schools, provide health care for America’s seniors or create new jobs repairing America’s roads, ports and bridges. John McCain wants to continue this blank check? That is not the change we need.

Under George Bush, the Middle East has become more troubled. That hurts America and endangers our ally, Israel, which has been forced to confront a resurgent Hamas, an emboldened Hezbollah and an Iran determined to get nuclear weapons. That is not the change we need.

Remember “Mission Accomplished”? Remember George Bush saying “bring ‘em on”?

Remember our soldiers having to search through garbage dumps to find armor for their humvees? Well, the mission was far from over. They did come on and American soldiers lost their lives because of this administration’s disgraceful incompetence.

George Bush and John McCain were wrong about going to war in Iraq, are wrong about how to get us out of Iraq, wrong to ignore the danger in Afghanistan. The time for change has come, and Barack Obama is the change we need.

John McCain is not a bad man, but he is badly mistaken about embracing the Bush agenda. He says he agrees with George Bush on virtually every major issue. He votes with Bush 90 percent of the time.

What’s most incredible, he says our economy has made “great progress” over the past few years. Try telling that to middle-class families across Indiana trying to make ends meet. We can’t afford another four years of Washington as usual.

Barack Obama offers specific ideas to help struggling middle-class families meet the challenges they face each and every day. He will create more than five million new green-collar jobs, including American workers building high-mileage American vehicles and Midwestern farmers producing America’s fuel. He will invest in hybrid technology and alternative energy.

He will lower health insurance premiums for middle-class families by $2,500 a year and offer a $1,000 tax cut for middle-class families to offset the high cost of gasoline. He will give students a $4,000 tax credit for college in exchange for community service. He will reduce the record deficit and bring fiscal responsibility back to Washington. And finally, after too much treasure and too many lives lost in Iraq, Barack Obama will responsibly end this war and bring our sons and daughters home. That’s the change we need.

George Bush promised to be “a uniter, not a divider.” Well, it didn’t turn out that way. He divided the nation more profoundly than at any time since the Vietnam War, pitting American against American.

But, as Barack says, we can no longer be divided into red states and blue states but must stand united as 50 red, white, and blue states, with a common cause and common destiny. That’s the change we need.

And that’s why this campaign is about more than a single person or party. It’s about a cause bigger than ourselves. For teachers and students yearning for better schools, your cause is our cause. For the working men and women who need a government that says “no” to unfair foreign trade practices, your cause is our cause. For seniors struggling to afford medicine and pay the grocery bill, your cause is our cause. To the soldiers, sailors and airmen who deserve a commander- in-chief whose judgment and wisdom are worthy of their courage and sacrifice, your cause is our cause.

That is the change we need. And that is the change that Barack Obama and Joe Biden will deliver, and we will, once again, live up to the full meaning of our creed: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice—not just for the fortunate, not just for the few—for all.

Now with your help, Barack Obama’s leadership and God willing, let’s go get the job done.

Tonight, former President Bill Clinton will speak to the convention and Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware) will accept the Democratic nomination for vice president.

Other speakers include Governor Bill Richardson (D-New Mexico), Senators Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) and John Kerry (D-Massachusetts). Check the full schedule here.

Indianapolis was great -- the rally was in a great location. As we were getting ready to roll out, a couple who had just been married came up to the bus and asked for a picture. Governor Dean and actor Kal Penn, who's also traveling with us, were happy to help out.

More from the road as I have time, but photos from Indianapolis are here. After Columbus, we're of to Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, then back to DC before a couple of Virginia events on Saturday -- the full schedule is right here.

But with John McCain flip-flopping on the off-shore drilling moratorium, Vice President Dick Cheney and a slew of House Republicans decided to add yet another myth to their bag of tricks.

What do the following Republicans have in common?

Vice President Dick Cheney
Representative Michele Bachmann (MN-06)
Candidate Brian Davis (MN-01)
Candidate John Gard (WI-08)
Representative Sam Graves (MO-06)
Candidate Melissa Hart (PA-04)
Candidate Luke Puckett (IN-02)
Representative Jean Schmidt (OH-02)
Representative Tim Walberg (MI-07)

They're all making the same false claim that China is drilling for oil off the coast of Florida in Cuban waters.

It is silly, I know, but that is the latest talking point Republicans are pushing. Even former Republican National Committee chair and sitting Florida Republican Senator Mel Martinez knows just how silly that claim is:

The renewed efforts prompted Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, who opposes drilling off Florida's coast, to take to the Senate floor Wednesday to -- as his office put it -- ''debunk the myth'' of China drilling in Cuban waters.

''Reports to the contrary are simply false,'' Martinez said, his remarks delivered just before Cheney spoke. "They are akin to urban legends. China drilling off the coast of Cuba only 60 miles from the Keys, that is not taking place. . . Any talk of using some fabricated Cuba-China connection as an argument to change U.S. policy has no merit.''

Another sign of the incredible energy expressed by Democrats are the record voter registration numbers.

The past seven states to hold primaries registered more than 1 million new Democratic voters; Republican numbers mainly ebbed or stagnated. North Carolina and Indiana, which will hold their presidential primaries on May 6, are reporting a swell of new Democrats that triples the surge in registrations before the 2004 primary.