A friend was back from Ohio yesterday, and I've been thinking about what role the Buckeye State barometer will mean for national politics these days.
So far, the most notable Ohioan out there in the presidential race is anti-war Democratic gadfly Dennis Kucinich. He shows us that the Midwest maligned by Easterners like myself actually has a liberal side. I guess the 2004 presidential election proved this: Even though Dubya won the state, John Kerry did well in urban areas. So, if even the Midwest is trending left, that's a good sign for Democrats.
Yet while liberal Ohioans like Kucinich, new Sen. Sherrod Brown, and new Gov. Ted Strickland are enjoying rising fortunes, though, don't expect the religious right in the state to roll over. After all, powerful Pentecostal pastor Rod Parsley, of the World Harvest Church outside Columbus, has come out with a new book, "Culturally Incorrect," which is on the best-seller list of the newspaper he loves to hate, the New York Times.
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. Ohio is one of those states where the candidate himself will determine the winner, not just the party of the candidate.
Steve Bonomo at 6:46PM on Jul 27th 2007
2. ^i think you have a point, because in the latest poll general election poll coming out from Ohio, Clinton beats Guiliani by about 10 points, while she beats Thompson and Romney by only 5, and is tied with McCain.
Patrick at 10:58PM on Jul 28th 2007
3. Dems did well in Ohio recently due to a backlash against Republican candidates (that included Republican voters themselves). That's not going to happen in the next election.
If Democratic voters knew how many Dem candidates are voting against their main base's interests to appease fringe supporters on certain issues (i.e., illegal immigration), their re-election would be in doubt.
Dem public officials are generally far more "liberal" than the majority of Dem voters in Ohio. Expect the voters to move away from candidates with policies that are seen as too far-left. For example, any candidates who supports illegal aliens (Amnesty/pathway to citizenship) will be dead-in-the-water if Dem voters are aware of it.
OJJPAC at 12:57PM on Aug 13th 2007