Dear Mitch: Speak for yourself!
So "conservative is mainstream in Indiana," you say? Really? You presume far too much. Have you forgotten that in 2008 we went for a Democrat for President for the first time since 1964? Even Vigo County, as full of mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging, slack-jawed morons as it is, went for Obama.
Speaking of Vigo County, Terre Haute, where my family has unfortunately lived since the late '70's, is a poster child for what conservative ideology has done to this state. You used to be able to get a working-class job in that town and support a family. Now, after decades of bleeding jobs, Vigo County is one of the poorest in the state. Hopelessness is the order of the day.
Then again, maybe you're right -- conservatism does rule most of this Godforsaken hellhole of a state. Thank God for Indianapolis, where I live now -- not the most progressive city in the country, but it'll do. Without it, this state would be unlivable; and all I'd have to look forward to would be leaving.
BTW, here's the article that set me off:
http://www.indystar.com/article/20120513/NEWS05/205130341/GOP-Party-mainstream-?odyssey=mod|mostview