INDIANAPOLIS | Howard Dean went on stage between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on Sunday, but he glossed over the divide between supporters of the two presidential candidates.

Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, spoke at the state party's annual Jefferson Jackson Day Dinner at the Indiana Convention Center. The former Vermont governor, a presidential hopeful in 2004, gave a pep talk, urging the crowd of party faithful to help form a grass-roots army this fall.

"It's not just Indiana that's going to turn blue, it's Texas and places like that that haven't voted for Democrats in a long time," Dean said. "We are on the march, Democrats, not just in Indiana but everywhere, and we are going to win the presidency. "

But, Dean said, not if local involvement wanes after the marathon primary season.

"The truth is the only thing that can stop us from winning the presidency is ourselves," he said. "In the long run this is not about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. This is about our country."

Clinton and Obama are battling for the 72 delegates at stake Tuesday in the Indiana primary. But the long fight for the nomination is expected to drag on, which Obama acknowledged Sunday in thanking Dean.

"I know we're giving him a little bit of stress," Obama said. "But he's handling it with his usual grace."