What Are the Voters Saying in the Battleground State of Ohio?

With less than three weeks left until the general election, Ohio citizens have almost no choice but to think of the election, especially the presidential race. Why do they have no choice? Quite frankly, as soon as they turn on their television, regardless of what channel they watch, they are going to see some kind of advertisement from one of the two presidential campaigns. For a while, it seemed as if there were a few channels that you could turn to that weren't flooded with political advertisements, but now even those stations have been flooded.

There is no place to hide.

Given the state of our economy, which seems to be entering a fairly significant recession, voters are more involved in the political process than normal here in the Buckeye state. Ohio is one state hit hardest by job losses, not only in the last few months, but even through the last several years while most of the rest of the nation was doing well.

Interestingly, according to statistics from the US Department of Labor, Ohio had 209,000 fewer jobs in December 2007 than it did in December 2000. This represents a loss of 3.7 percent of the overall nonfarm jobs in Ohio. These numbers don't even include the last nine months of data, which has forced the unemployment rate in the state up to 7.2 percent. Clearly the Buckeye state has been hit very hard, and it is no wonder voters are looking for some real direction out of Washington as to where to go from here.

What kind of things are Ohio voters saying about the current crisis and the election? The most common thing I have heard in the past couple of months is that our state is clearly moving in the wrong direction and we need some leadership on both a state and federal level. People are very unhappy about rising prices at the grocery store and gas pumps, while wages are barely moving higher at all.

What does this mean for the presidential election? It means that people are looking for someone who has real answers and not just talking points to get votes. I sense from many voters in Ohio, no matter whom they are supporting, a great amount of skepticism regarding both candidates plans for our economy. Many people believe the candidates are simply looking for votes rather than laying out real plans.

What kind of things do I hear about McCain from people who backed Bush in 2004? Certainly, most Bush backers are going to vote McCain, but there are definitely several people who say that, because the economy and our country has taken so many steps backward under Bush, they feel that they cannot vote for McCain. Many of these people have even told me that they might not vote at all -- because they don't like either candidate.

What kind of things do I hear about Obama? There is clearly enthusiasm about Obama from the youth, which I have contact with fairly often being so near a major campus like Ohio State. There are also independent voters and moderate Democrats who are a little worried about Obama and his plans for our country. I have been told by more than one person lately that they find it hard to vote for Obama because he simply wants to run against Bush's policies rather than lay out his own.

The main theme of these comments is skepticism about everything. The current economic picture is certainly largely to blame for such pessimism, but this pessimism also affects the ability of both candidates to win over the voters they so desparately need.

Sources:

Blog for OurFuture: Ohio Job Losses Worst Since Great Depression; Dayton Business Journal: Ohio jobless rate eases, still historically high