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Bush/Kerry visit Southeastern Ohio

With Ohio now considered a swing state in the election, my old stomping grounds--Zanesville, Ohio--was host to John Kerry for one of his post-convention rallies. Interestingly, about 25 miles away and on the same day, the town of Cambridge hosted a George Bush rally. My parents and sister attended the Bush rally and report that despite a six hour wait and a pretty good midwestern storm (umbrellas, by the way, were forbidden as a security measure), some 10,000 people or more made their way to hear the President.

The Kerry rally, held the same evening, had a more modest showing--only about 7 or 8000, despite the storm ending and the special guest appearance of actor, Ben Affleck. Of the 7 or 8,000 in attendance, it is hard to say, of course, how many were there to see Affleck. It would be interesting to know what percentage of the audience was young and female! For more on the "Hip" John Kerry, see this from the L.A. Weekly.

I just returned from a two week visit to Ohio last Wednesday. I don’t think Bush will have to work very hard to seal up the vote in Ohio. A few more days like the one in Cambridge should do the trick.

Discussions - 4 Comments

What is it, exactly, that makes Ohio a "battleground state"? Is it the 8-0 Republican-to-Democrat edge in statewide officeholders? The nearly 2-to-1 ratio among state legislators? The alleged political acumen of Jerry Springer? Come on. If there is a reason, I certainly don’t see it.

Like most of country, Ohio will vote for Bush, and it will not be close.

I enjoyed your comments, Julie, but I’m always baffled when people refer to Ohio as a Midwestern state. Take a look at the map. There are three fairly large states between Ohio and Kansas, the very center of the U.S.

Maybe it’s a mindset to which you refer. :-) But if so, how would you describe Illinois?

Ohio is a "battleground state" because it has 21 electoral votes, and usually votes for the winner, switching parties as necessary. Starting with Truman, if memory serves, Ohio has voted for the winner every four years except Nixon in 1960. So you can see why the thought of losing Ohio makes candidates nervous.

If Ohio and the country both go big for Bush, Ohio will be swinging exactly as it’s supposed to, historically.

I live in a suburb of Boston. I’ve been calling relatives in Ohio, and telling them how Kerry made no effort to help when my job (and a few hundred others) was going to be shipped out of state a few years ago. No harm in winning even bigger.

Charming to know that your parents had to go without umbrellas at a rally to keep King George safe. How utterly absurd!!

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