AP - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama accuses his presidential rivals of pandering to voters by supporting the "gimmick" of temporarily lifting federal taxes on gasoline, despite his own past support for a similar tax holiday.

Before their town hall at Greenfield Park, Barack and Michelle had lunch in the home of Mike and Cheryl Fischer in Beech Grove, IN.

Mike, 53, is a machinist at Amtrak's Beech Grove shop. Cheryl, 52, is a technician at a local hospital. Their children and grandchildren also came for a lunch of Subway and potato chips.

During the lunch, Barack and Mike talked about Amtrak and a possible layoff that Mike is facing. Barack said:

The irony is with the gas prices what they are, we should be expanding rail service. One of the things I have been talking bout for awhile is high speed rail connecting all of these Midwest cities – Indianapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, St. Louis. They are not that far away from each other. Because of how big of a hassle airlines are now. It takes you just about as much time if you had high speed rail to go the airport, park, take your shoes off.

This is something that we should be talking about a lot more. We are going to be having a lot of conversations this summer about gas prices. And it is a perfect time to start talk about why we don’t have better rail service. We are the only advanced country in the world that doesn’t have high speed rail. We just don’t have it. And it works on the Northeast corridor. They would rather go from New York to Washington by train than they would by plane. It is a lot more reliable and it is a good way for us to start reducing how much gas we are using. It is a good story to tell.

Check out these pictures from the lunch:

Stop by your local office to help volunteer or call undecided Indiana residents!  

AP - Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday she found remarks by Barack Obama's former pastor to be "offensive and outrageous" and noted that her Democratic rival had spoken out forcefully against them.

We have just under a week left to reach our goal of one million phone calls to voters by the close of polls on May 6th. Anyone who's ever made calls will agree that the first one is the hardest, but in the last few days we've heard from a number of people who, inspired by the importance of this moment, decided to pick up a phone and make that first call.

From Karen:

I just finished my 25 calls for today. This is my first time and believe me, it was a very scary experience at first but the more you do it, the better I became ... Overall, it was truly a great experience. I can't wait to call tomorrow. Let's keep the calls going!!!!

From a supporter in New England:

OK - I'm WAY out of my comfort zone with these calls, but I just did 25 to NC. Lots of people enjoying the good weather because I left a lot of messages, but hey... Like I tell my very cynical husband ... a little bit plus a little bit equals a lot. When you find that supporter who is for Obama all the way, it makes the answering machines/voice mail and hang-ups worth it! I will try to do another 25 soon...

From Vicki:

Ok guys I made my first 20 calls to Indiana today, as much as I was dreading it, I forced myself. Here's the results:

Left a bunch of messages, a couple busy signals, two undecided, one absolutely not, and SIX for Obama, several of which had already voted. One older lady in particular sounded very excited. It wasn't that bad. Will force myself to do more later. By the way, no Clinton supporters.

From Kristen:

I had a very hard time making calls at first too. But I just kept thinking... WE ARE THE CHANGE WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR! Senator Obama is not going to owe his presidency to any special interest groups - he will owe it to you, to me and to everyone else who participated in this historic grassroots campaign!

Whether you're about to make your first call or your one thousandth call, it only takes a minute to get started. The Indiana and North Carolina calling campaigns run until 9:00 PM EST tonight.

Barack Obama's presidential campaign wants federal regulators to investigate fellow Democrats who are backing Hillary Rodham Clinton's candidacy, taking intraparty discord to a new level of confrontation.

Democratic Primary 2008

For weeks, Delores Smith, membership coordinator at the Madame C.J. Walker Theater in Indianapolis, has e-mailed and called Sen. Barack Obama's representatives, hoping he'll hold a campaign event at the 937-seat theater.

Soon after his former pastor startled some with a defiant performance that was televised nationwide, Barack Obama urged supporters to stay calm and shrug off such "distractions."

This afternoon, Barack and Michelle Obama held a discussion with 30 working class families at Greenfield Park in Indianapolis, IN, to talk about the economic hardships that they are facing.

Barack talked about his and Michelle's modest upbringing and how they understand that it's hard for people to even make ends meet. He told the group that in order to change the policies that are making everyone frustrated, you not only have to change the political party, but you have to change how Washington is run.

When asked about gas prices and what Barack plans to do to provide relief to the people who can't afford to fill up their gas tanks to get to work in the morning, Barack said:

I understand what it's like for folks -- and it's tough. This issue is really pressing on people and especially low income people. The gas tax holiday that people are talking about is not a real solution, but a gimmick to get you through an election. My plan is to pass a middle class tax cut, which will help not only gas, but groceries and healthcare. We will roll back the Bush tax cuts and provide every family that is making less than $75,000 an offset on their payroll tax. Short term -- this puts money in people's pockets.

But long term, we need to prepare for the fact that gas prices are going to keep rising. And we need to counter that. We need to invest in alternative energies and fuel efficiency standards in cars. This is something we should have been doing 20 years ago. We need to get serious about our energy policy for the future.

The Indiana primary is only six days away -- sign up for to help us Get Out The Vote in Indiana! And don't forget that you can early vote until next Monday!

Bloomberg - April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama won endorsements from three Democratic lawmakers today and rival Hillary Clinton picked up two more superdelegates as the presidential candidates campaign for the next round of primaries on May 6.