Ohioans’ sentiments have shifted dramatically since voters overwhelmingly supported the 2004 ban on same-sex marriage. The constitutional amendment defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman passed with 62 percent support. But now, just days before the U.S. Supreme Court considers a pair of landmark gay-marriage cases, a [...] Read more »
The auto bailout didn’t decide the election
In the wake of the first 2012 presidential debate, as former governor Mitt Romney gained ground in swing-state and especially national polls, a narrative took hold about the importance of the auto bailout. The Buckeye State was likely to decide the election, President Obama was over-performing in Ohio relative the [...] Read more »
Can unions save the white working-class vote for Democrats?
Voters in union households provided a big boost to President Obama in Ohio and Wisconsin, where key battles over public sector unions have been waged. Their strong support helped him staunch big losses elsewhere among white working-class voters. White voters without college degrees made up nearly half of the total [...] Read more »
The Auto Bailout Didn’t Decide Ohio
… While many believed that the auto bailout and attacks on Romney as an out-of-touch plutocrat would allow the president to win the state with the support of white working class voters, the exit polls show that Obama did worse among Ohio’s white voters than John Kerry. … Moreover, if [...] Read more »
In Ohio, Polls Show Benefit of Auto Rescue to Obama
If the polls are correct, and President Obama wins a narrow Electoral College victory on Tuesday, the pivotal moment of the 2012 presidential race may have actually occurred in 2009. About two months after taking office, Mr. Obama set the terms of the government’s rescue of General Motors and Chrysler, [...] Read more »
Ohio’s Provisional Ballot Order: The Biggest Legal Story of the Weekend
With just a few dozen hours left before polls open on Election Day, here is a candidate for the most important election-law story of the weekend — a story likely to cross over into the general political debate Sunday through Monday. This early copy from the Associated Press offered a [...] Read more »
Obama stays ahead in Ohio, deadlocked with Romney in Fla.
Three days until Election Day, President Barack Obama maintains his lead in the key battleground state of Ohio and is locked in a close contest with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in Florida, according to new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls. In Ohio, Obama holds a six-point advantage over Romney [...] Read more »
In a Twist, Obama the Democrat Is Depending on Ohio
… For the first time in memory, it is the Democratic, not the Republican nominee, counting on Ohio as his firewall in an achingly close campaign. Republicans almost always have viewed Ohio as a linchpin in their race to 270 Electoral College votes. This year, holding Ohio is the centerpiece [...] Read more »
A Polling Quandary—in the Buckeye State
There is a peculiar divergence between various public opinion polls at the moment. On the one hand, Mitt Romney has built a narrow but durable lead in the national polls, averaging around a 1 percent advantage over the last three weeks. This has cheered the hearts of conservatives everywhere. Yet, [...] Read more »
Ohio Working Class May Offer Key to Obama’s Re-election
As President Obama and Mitt Romney enter the closing week of the presidential race, where the 18 electoral votes of Ohio are seen by both sides as critical to victory, Mr. Obama’s ability to prevent erosion among working-class voters may be his best path to re-election. In Ohio, according to [...] Read more »