MERRILLVILLE | In her last scheduled region visit before today's hotly contested Indiana primary, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton appealed to voters' faith in her ability to better their lives.

"Think about who you believe, who you can trust," the New York senator told a crowd of supporters. "Please vote for yourselves, for your jobs, for your future."

Hundreds of people filled the Merrillville Fire Station No. 2 on Monday afternoon to hear Clinton speak, as a kickoff for her volunteers to canvass across the state.

People from as close as the next-door senior center and as far away as Pennsylvania came to Merrillville to show their support.

Guy Wiederhold, a union representative from Pottsville, Pa., said he thinks Clinton has a "very good" chance of winning Indiana today.

Wiederhold, who arrived in the region Friday to campaign for Clinton, said working-class Hoosiers have the same concerns as voters from his home state, where Clinton won 55 percent of the vote last month.

Clinton continued touting her campaign promises to pull U.S. troops from Iraq, create new jobs and fix trade relationships. Among the signs clutched by listening fans was one declaring, "Cheaper Gas? Vote Hillary."

Clinton defended her desire to suspend the federal gas tax this summer to alleviate the burden of rocketing fuel costs on individual drivers. It's a proposal backed by Republican rival John McCain but denounced by U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, who called the plan a "political gimmick" last week in Munster.

Clinton called the combination of rising food and fuel costs a "double whammy," hitting millions of Americans' pocketbooks.

"People are suffering today," she said. "People live in the short run. Let's have some immediate relief."

She also said would "end the war in Iraq with honor," a vow that appealed to Lily Schiltz, of Dyer. Schiltz, who volunteered to make campaign calls for Clinton, also praised her plans for universal health care.

Citing a desire for "girl power," Hobart resident Jaime Smith said job equality is one reason she plans to cast a Clinton ballot.

"It's about time we have a woman president," said Jackie Bradas, of Merrillville. Bradas said she had been wavering on candidates, but that she is ready for a woman in the White House.

A Times-sponsored poll of likely voters in Lake and Porter counties gave Clinton a 13-point lead over Obama among Democrats in the region.

The same poll, by JEM Research Inc., found 19 percent of the region Democrats polled said they had not yet decided which candidate will get their vote, even though all of them were "very" or "extremely" likely to cast a ballot.

Among those undecided voters is Casey Jedrzejczak, a 20-year-old Munster resident who had not picked his favorite as of Monday afternoon.

Jedrzejczak said he is familiar with both Clinton and Obama from his time as an intern for the U.S. Senate. "I think I'll vote for either of them," Jedrzejczak said of the Democrats.