INDIANAPOLIS -- A gloomy economic outlook is providing a ray of sunshine for Barack Obama in the Republican stronghold of Indiana, pinching rival John McCain's efforts to hold onto once-reliable electoral votes.

Less than a month before Election Day -- a time when candidates usually focus their travel on traditional battlegrounds -- the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee came Wednesday to a state that hasn't voted for one since 1964. Sen. Obama's visit here was his sixth since winning the nomination in early June.

Speaking...