Vigo County, Indiana

I've been looking at the Indiana returns, and Obama's strength in the southern part of the state suggests that this is going to be a very close race. Marion County (Indianapolis) and Lake County (Gary), the reliably blue ones, won't be in until later, and yet Obama is still basically tied. And then I read this about Vigo County:

Democrats are cheered by early numbers showing that Obama holds a healthy lead in Vigo County, a place that one Dem described to us as "the most reliable bellwether county in the country."

"Vigo has only been wrong on president twice since 1892," this Dem enthuses.

A story in the Indy Star concurs, adding that of the most reliable bellwhether counties in the country, Vego "has voted closest to the national margin."

Right now, in Vigo County, Obama is up 57%-42%, with 80% reporting.

Actually, it's up to 91% of the vote in, and it's 56-42 Obama.

Could be a great night.

...more to be cheerful about, from Nate Silver:

Just looking at some of the places where we have results in so far. Obama is substantially outperforming Kerry -- which is what he needs to do to win the state, of course, but the differences are pretty substantial.

Steuben: Kerry 34%, Obama 42%
DeKalb: Kerry 31%, Obama 38%
Knox: Kerry 36%, Obama 54%
Marshall: Kerry 31%, Obama 50%

Kerry lost by 20 points, so Obama must substantially outperform him. But he is.

If turnout is strong in Marion and Lake, I think we can take it. And I did not have Indiana in my projection.