State Sen. Jeff Smith, D-St. Louis, says he’s spent 3-4 hours a day lately making calls into Indiana on behalf of his choice for president, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Smith, who’d called yours truly on another matter, said his key message in those campaign calls to Indiana Democrats is that “if they’re concerned about his electability, Barack beat Hillary (Clinton) in Missouri and there’s no better bellwether in this country.”

Smith acknowledged that the controversy over Obama’s former Chicago pastor, Jeremiah Wright, “was on some people’s minds.”

But Smith added that he believed other issues — the war in Iraq and the economy — will play a greater role at the polls.

As soon as we hear from local Clinton supporters engaging in similar get-out-the-vote efforts, we’ll post it.

Today, as everyone knows, could be D-day for either Democrat, depending on what happens in North Carolina and Indiana.

By the way, as an Indiana native, I personally know of a number of Republicans in that state who are taking Democratic ballots today.  All of the ones I know are voting for Clinton.