Opinion Its all about Ohio
Swing-state swagger aside,Ohioans take their vote seriously
Have we mentioned that its all up to Ohio? People do like being the centre of the universe. And Ohio when does that happen? asked P.G. Sittenfeld gleefully. He is a member of the Cincinnati City Council who went to battle recently over a series of billboards that popped up in minority neighbourhoods announcing VOTER FRAUD IS A FELONY! with a picture of a gavel banging down. The ads,which certainly seemed less than encouraging,were paid for by a foundation led by a big Republican donor from Wisconsin. Now theyre down,and thanks in part to Sittenfelds yelps,there are new billboards in the same neighbourhoods saying,Hey,Cincinnati: Voting Is a Right,Not a Crime.
So theres a happy ending. Although,in an ideal world,we probably wouldnt be required to remind folks that voting for president is not against the law. How do Florida and Colorado feel? Sittenfeld wondered. Do they resent us? Is there swing-state envy? Its been all up to Ohio for months now. But,on Wednesday,a new CBS/ New York Times/ Quinnipiac poll showed Obama leading Romney by five points in the Buckeye State. In response,Romney officials began to suggest that maybe it was really all about Pennsylvania.
Nobody took them seriously. Mitt is bringing half the Republican Party to Ohio on Friday to kick off the new Romney-Ryan Real Recovery Road Rally. Everybodys coming Ann,the sons,Paul Ryan,Paul Ryans wife who we have yet to actually meet,a couple of Olympic medalists and pretty much every Republican elected official except He Who Must Not Be Named in New Jersey.
Ohio is currently famous for its oversupply of TV campaign ads. It also has a history of Election Day crises. This is one of the reasons voting now runs for more than a month,the better to reduce the chances of a last-minute pileup. Nearly a quarter of the likely voters have already cast their ballots. The Romney-Ryan Real Recovery Road Rally will begin in John Boehners hometown of West Chester. Then everybody will fan out across the land to distract the country from the fact that Mitt Romney once said he wanted to get rid of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. And,actually,its not very fair to bring that up. That was during the primaries,and Romney did not mean a single thing he said during the primaries. The person currently running for president is the late-fall Mitt Romney,who is mostly concerned with change.
Change is so 2008. Right now,we are just looking for a president who will nudge things a tad towards the right general direction. Bring us the guy who wont totally screw things up.
About Ohio. President Obama cancelled a big Cincinnati rally on Wednesday,but his supporters here didnt seem to mind. This was mainly because Ohio appreciated the importance of focusing on the disaster along the East Coast,but also because local Democrats are in such a state of manic anxiety that the presidents visit was just going to be that many hours lost from going door to door,begging people to vote.
If this election is going to be all about somebody other than me,Im good with Ohioans. They are,as a group,hard-working,unassuming and inclined to take their civic responsibilities seriously.
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