— -- It was a photo finish seen more often on the last lap on the Indianapolis 500 than in a presidential primary.

Hillary Clinton's campaign had just about run out of gas and a dual defeat on May 6, 2008, would have almost certainly increased the calls for her to pull into the pit and cede the race to Barack Obama.

But Clinton won -- by only 14,192 votes in over 1 million cast.

Now Obama returns to Indiana with hopes of snatching the state that hasn't vote for a Democratic presidential contender since supporting President Lyndon B. Johnson over Republican Barry Goldwater in 1964.

Sen. Evan Bayh, a popular Indiana Democrat and former governor, was said to be on Obama's short list for vice president.

Bayh, it was conjectured, might have helped Obama make in-roads in red Indiana and he was a supporter of Sen. Clinton in the state's primary -- a potential olive branch after a bitter contested primary.

But Obama chose instead to go with Sen. Joe Biden -- a pick that also may play well in Indiana given Biden's blue-collar Delaware roots. That move, however, may have been countered by Sen. John McCain's pick of the popular Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.