The Battle for Ohio

Ohio has been one of the most heavily targeted states in the 2008 presidential election. Senator John Kerry lost Ohio to Bush by 2 points, giving President Bush a very narrow victory over four years ago. The last week has marked heavy rallying and visits to various parts of Ohio by both candidates and their running mates. Senator Barack Obama held events in Columbus and Cleveland on Sunday, while his running mate, Joseph Biden visited Cincinnati. Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin toured across many cities in Ohio and held an event in Canton.

With the loss of 300,000 manufacturing jobs in the past ten years and a median income drop by 3%, Ohio's support for Obama and other Democrats may increase, yet polls show Obama with only a narrow lead. This could be because the weak economy has decreased the number of younger residents who generally tend to be Democratic. Also, Ohio’s economic slowdown is being seen as cyclic and not caused by a certain party, decreasing the likelihood of switching parties. And accepting an African American candidate is still hard to sell in many areas. Unlike Kerry's campaign which failed to recognize specific rural areas, Obama has made sure to make an impactful presence in many of these areas with offices and paid organizers in hopes of gaining more support. From a recent Ohio poll, more voters reported being contacted by Obama's campaign which has 89 offices versus McCain's 46 offices.

McCain has set up a network of volunteers and GOP voters with new telephone systems that allow supporters to make more calls than before. In the Republican's strongest areas around Cincinnati and Columbus, the offices are full of 2004 veterans, almost all antiabortion activists and all women. Also, in some areas such as Chillicothe, a south-central county, the distribution of yard signs has been a key focus.

Early voting in Franklin County shows that of the 30,000 people who voted through October 26th, 15,000 were Democrats and 1,260 were Republicans, and the rest unaffiliated. However top McCain staff members in Ohio say that Democrats have been targeting their loyal voters to the polls early, while Republicans have targeted random voters for early voting.