A number of analyses of the Ohio special election results — including the one offered by your humble blogger earlier today — focused on the outsize energy in the suburbs of Columbus, where Democrat Danny O’Connor ran up large vote totals, something that bodes well for Democratic chances this fall.
But it’s also worth taking a quick look at how O’Connor performed in some of the rural, exurban counties, because that sheds a bit of light on an argument that has simmered among Democrats over how to win back working-class whites. …
O’Connor outperformed Clinton by nontrivial margins in Richland, Marion, and Licking counties. …
I asked pollster Jason McGrath, whose firm GBA Strategies conducted O’Connor’s polling, how he did this. McGrath told me that one important ingredient was a focus on jobs, health care and infrastructure spending. CONT.
Greg Sargent, Washington Post