As a resident of Northwest Indiana for the past 12 years, I fear Obama is playing our part of the state all wrong.

Indiana has maybe 3 major pockets of Democratic voters: Indianapolis, big University towns such as Bloomington, and Northwest Indiana near Chicago.

I think the Obama campaign is playing the Northwest Indiana political psychology badly in three ways.

1) Relying on NWI to fall in line because of proximity to Chicago: The region thinks it is treated as a neglected step-child by Chicago. People here feel that Chicago only notices us when we have a sensational crime or to blame us on pollution. Lack of face time in the area feeds into that neglected feeling.

2) If there is one place Northwest Indiana feels more neglected by than Chicago it is Indianapolis. By thinking we are part of Chicago, Obama is focusing his efforts on the rest of the state. People here feel Indianapolis Democrats only notices us to stroke us during an election year. The thing is, that approach works for and we are used to it. Obama has been here only once, to Gary. Hill, Bill, and Chelsea have all been her multiple times. They are feeding that desparate desire for attention the region wants.

3) By making his one in person appearance in Gary, Indiana Obama has played right into the region's racial divides. Hillary has all of the local party political machines outside of Gary working for her. Gary only has about 20% of the population of highly segregated, heavily Democratic Lake County. Right now, it looks like Obama has ceded the other 80% of the county to Clinton.

As a result of these strategy errors, I think Clinton will carry NW Indiana, the second most populous part of the state. Not only could this cost him Indiana, but it will also play very badly in the national media that he lost the area in "his own backyard" of South Side Chicago.

That is my take on the election strategy in my neighborhood.

Feeling Abandoned in Valparaiso