If you sit on a porch along Stateline Road in Calumet City, Illinois, and look across the street, you're not looking at Calumet City. You're not even looking at Illinois. Your neighbors across the way live on Stateline Avenue in Hammond, Indiana. That these two towns exist in such close proximity illustrates a unique factor in the May 6 Indiana Democratic primary. In certain parts of the Hoosier State, Barack Obama could enjoy something akin to a home-court advantage. Whether or not he does may be determined by the small army of Illinois volunteers who are crossing the state line (or, in some cases, the street) to talk to their neighbors.

"This is the only way to do politics," Ted Loda told me as we recently walked the quiet residential blocks of Hammond. "Going out and talking face to face with voters about the election and learning from them […] and educating them."

Loda had driven from Evanston, Illinois, down to Indiana with two other Obama volunteers -- Toni Farley and Bob Hercules -- for a day of canvassing. A retired union negotiator with AFSCME, Loda said he was first attracted to Obama because of his "ability to communicate with people with whom he doesn't agree." It's a skill the former negotiator says is necessary for getting things done.

Farley's professional background also led her to support the Illinois Senator. As an executive recruiter she is an expert in management. In her words, she does "the O's: C.O.O., C.E.O. C.F.O." She thinks Clinton would make a good Chief Operating Office, but when her daughter pointed her towards Obama, Farley knew she had found her Chief Executive.

Due to a twist of fate, two of these three volunteers limped their way from house to house on the day I accompanied them. Farley had recently broken her foot: "I think it's called the fifth metatarsal." Loda didn't talk about his condition other than to say, "I'm getting over some problems I've had with my quads." When I pointed out that they could have stayed home, both responded that they "couldn't pass this one up."

Volunteers like Loda, Farley and their third partner, Bob Hercules are now a common sight in Northwestern Indiana. Fortunately for Obama, it’s a part of the state which happens be home to more Democrats than any other.

"We've got buses that are going down all the time from Chicago,” said Melissa McNeal, a regional field director for the Obama campaign's national volunteer program. "It's no exaggeration to say that there are thousands of people going in."

By this stage in the primary, McNeal said, the campaign has a system of organizing all those volunteers down to “a little bit of a science,” but she admitted that it can still be a challenge. Groups sending volunteers to Indiana from the Prairie State include neighborhood Democratic organizations like the Evanston group, national party activist associations like Democracy for America, supporters of different city, state and national politicians, as well as unaffiliated volunteers. And then there are the unions.

“We’ve had about 100 to 150 volunteers on the weekend,” said Genie Kastrup, the political director for the SEIU Illinois Council. (Full disclosure: SEIU Illinois sponsors this website). That number doesn't include the 18 organizers the union is employing full time. If you count all members in the seven-union “Change to Win” coalition, Kastrup says her people can reach up to 12,000 potential voters in Northwest Indiana alone.

She adds that some of those volunteering with SEIU Illinois could, in fact, be Indiana residents. “A good portion of our members that live in Gary actually work in Chicago.”

It’s a point that McNeal is also quick to make: the traffic between Illinois and Indiana is not all one-way. “You can just take the South Shore line,” she said. “There were a lot of them from Indiana that would come and help volunteer in the Chicago office leading up to the February 5th primary and the Iowa caucus as well.”

Back in Hammond, it is that interconnectedness that many of the Illinois volunteers are hoping will lead Obama to victory on May 6.

“In this part of Indiana apparently there are more Bears fans than they are Colts fans,” said Alex Armour, political director for Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, who has been organizing trips from Evanston. “So we got that going for us.”

Armour also pointed out that Northwest Indiana is situated within Illinois media markets. “I think people around here, just from watching TV and reading newspapers, are a lot more familiar with Barack than maybe people in Cedar Rapids, Iowa or Cincinnati, Ohio,” he said.

Other itinerant volunteers agree that there is a strong cultural connection between the two states, saying they feel right at home in Indiana. Owen Brugh with Chicago’s Northside Democracy for America said his group is “used to traveling over state lines and kind of being ‘carpet baggers’ on a campaign.”

But Brugh points out that members of his Chicago-based group have never felt out of place while volunteering around the Midwest or the Rust Belt -- except in one spot: “We’ve found that to be a lot bigger concern canvassing in Chicago itself than anywhere else.”

For all the benefits of the shared media market, some from Illinois think it’s just as important that they personalize the candidate and expose Indiana voters to their local perspective.

The Democratic Party of Evanston, for example, was one of the first organizations to endorse Obama when he ran for U.S. Senator in 2004. With that kind of history its members say it makes sense that the group would be driving about 30 people to Indiana every Saturday.

“The fact that we know Barack personally because he came to Evanston […] we feel personally responsible to let people know who he is and what he’s about and why we’re so excited that he’s running for president,” says Bonnie Wilson, president of the organization.

According to some volunteers, the widespread support the Obama campaign has found in Northwest Indiana has caused the opposition to pack up and head elsewhere in the state. None of the canvassers I spoke with last weekend said they had seen a single Clinton canvasser in Gary or Hammond.

With each new contest this primary season, the stakes seem to get successively higher. The Chicago volunteers share a new sense of urgency now that the Obama campaign has returned to Chicago’s backyard.

“They obviously realize how important the state is,” said Genie Kastrup, “and are really willing to do whatever it takes to get him across the finish line in Indiana.”

The growing excitement of the Democratic primary even has some worried about how long the energy can be sustained.

“There is a little bit of a concern about volunteer fatigue,” admits Owen Brugh. “You always look towards Election Day not just because you want it to be your day of victory, but because it also means you can kind of take a break. You know you can actually get to sleep.”

For the moment, sleep will have to wait. While volunteer turnout has so far been overwhelming, the Obama campaign and other Indiana political organizers say that this weekend will bring the biggest numbers yet from Illinois.

Ted Loda summed up the attitude of many while canvassing Hammond last weekend.

“A victory at this stage of this process could very well end this process,” he said. “I think Obama will be the candidate regardless, I just wish to speed that conclusion along.”

Those interested in volunteering this weekend with any of the above-mentioned groups can contact them at the following numbers:

To contact the Obama campaign about volunteering in Indiana call (317) 917-2008.

To join the volunteer efforts of Rep. Jan Schakowsky, the Evanston Democrats, or the Northside DFA, call (847) 491-0865.

The SEIU Illinois Council can be reached at (312) 233-8879.

Prairie State Blue has also put together a great guide on Indiana volunteering.