But this year, the state's Republican Party chair, Murray Clark, calls the Indiana race competitive.

NPR: Reliably GOP States Still In Play In Presidential Race

In Missouri and Indiana, Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate lost races that their party initially expected to win after making widely criticized comments regarding abortion rights for impregnated rape victims.

WSJ: Roe v Wade: After 40 years, deep divide is legacy

Mike Pence of Indiana heads the party's conservative faction in the House, known as the Republican Study Committee.

NPR: After the Election, New Races on Capitol Hill

For all the internationalism of Mr McCain and colleagues such as Richard Lugar of Indiana, there has always been a strong vein of isolationism running through the Republican Party.

ECONOMIST: Suddenly, a pre-primary electability indicator