Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan was in town on Saturday. He did some campaigning before he went to the first quarter of the Ohio State-Miami RedHawks game — Miami being his alma mater — and then he jetted off to some other battleground state. Ryan’s been in Ohio multiple times already, as have President Obama, Mitt Romney, and Vice President Biden. The New York Times reports that Ryan even carries a lucky Buckeye in his pocket.
We’ll be seeing a lot more of them all in the days ahead.
The campaigns are treating Ohio as a toss-up right now, and according to polling data, it is. The most recent look at Ohio, a pre-Republican convention poll by the Columbus Dispatch, had the presidential race tied, 45-45, and also had the U.S. Senate contest between incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican challenger Josh Mandel tied, 44-44. What better definition of a battleground state than one where contests are not just within the margin of error, but literally tied? The airwaves are full of ads for and against various candidates, and the campaigns seem to be scientifically targeting certain areas — even certain suburbs — as they look for votes.
It feels like a close race here, too. In 2008, there was a remarkable outpouring of support in Ohio for President Obama. You saw it in unlikely places like Upper Arlington, a Columbus suburb that traditionally has been a Republican stronghold. The President won Ohio by nearly 5 percentage points.
This year I haven’t seen that same level of buzz for the President. Activists and the professional pols are trying hard to drum up excitement, but many people seem to have backed away from politics a bit, perhaps because they believe the President hasn’t delivered the change he promised in 2008. Whether they re-engage with the political process now that Labor Day has passed, the Republican ticket is set, and the traditional campaign season has arrived will tell us a lot about which way Ohio, the quintessential swing state, will swing this time around.
If you get a chance WB, this was interesting-
http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-the-resurrection-of-ralph-reed/
I am offended by the complete disregard for the hardworking people in this country. As Lofgren points out, government behaves like a “Banana Republic”. I was surprised that he shares my impression and took the words right out of my mouth.