O'Bama's Fight for Ohio

Several Democratic strategists believe that O'Bama must win the electoral votes from Ohio to compete in this years election. Winning southeast Ohio, or Appalachia as some refer to it, is considered to be the key in obtaining the 20 electoral votes. Concern has developed amongst Democratic strategists due to O'Bama's popularity in the region during the Democratic primaries. O'Bama was drastically defeated during the Democratic primaries by Senator Clinton who won 81% of the total votes. Democratic Strategists believe several factors play a role in O'Bama's struggle to gain popularity in southeast Ohio. People simply aren't ready, or willing, to vote for a black man. The total population of black voters in the region is near 2%. Finally, O'Bama must do a better job of connecting with small town and rural voters.

History confirms the statement that winning southeast Ohio equals winning the White House. Democratic candidates have won the region three times in the previous 10 presidential elections. Those happen to be the only three times the Democrats have won Ohio, and won the White House in the past 40 years.

My thoughts....

Ohio has the potential to be a major factor in the election as a swing state. The 20 electoral votes that Ohio possesses makes it extremely valuable. As history shows, the winner of Ohio tends to dictate the winner of the election. The short term force I feel that O'Bama should focus on more in Ohio is connecting with small town and rural voters. I personally believe this issue could influence a lot of voters in Ohio due to the amount of small town and rural voters that exist. The fact that Ohio played such a decisive role in the 2004 election means its importance will only grow in 2008. History and current events are only proving Ohio's importance in the 2008 election. I tend to agree with history, and as history states the road to the white house is paved through Ohio; therefore Ohio must be won.