Ohio emerges as key battleground for Dems | Chicago Sun-Times

[Ediacara]

Ohio emerges as key battleground for Dems

February 29, 2004
BY RON FOURNIER

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Florida is so passe. This year's must-have state is Ohio.

''If it was all about Florida in 2000, it's Ohio, Ohio, Ohio in 2004,'' said state Rep. Sylvester Patton, looking out the window of his downtown office at Youngstown's Historical Center of Industry and Labor, a reminder of the epidemic of joblessness in the Mahoning Valley. The local newspaper on Patton's desk had an inch-high front-page ''Staggering job loss.''

Joblessness -- and free trade agreements many here blame for it -- is the top issue in a state that may determine whether John Kerry wraps up the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, when Ohio and nine other states hold elections. Kerry and rival John Edwards are devoting much time and money to Ohio and its 140 delegates.

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[asthmaticeog]

1. Gosh, I feel so flattered.

But Kerry and Edwards are going to have to do more than just SPEND to get my vote.