Has the Iraq War become so unpopular in the heartland that Republicans are using the issue to attack formerly pro-war Democrats?

Rep. Mike Sodrel’s (R) campaign has begun circulating the old news that John Mellencamp decided not to perform at a fundraiser for challenger Baron Hill (D) as a reminder that when Hill was in Congress back in 2003 he voted yes on the Iraq war resolution.

A few weeks ago Hill asked Mellencamp, who went to the same high school as him, to perform at a fundraiser he was having with former President Bill Clinton. Mellencamp declined.

“I told his people to tell Baron that he voted for the war, so I can't do it,” Mellencamp told the LA Times. Since his vote in 2003, Hill lost in the 2004 election to Sodrel and has changed his mind on the war.

Sodrel for his part does not mention of the war on his campaign website. (Instead he highlights his effort to bar federal funds from being used to enforce a court order prohibiting the Indiana House of Representatives “from giving invocations in Jesus’ name).

Even without Mellencamp, Clinton helped Hill raise around $250,000.