I don't understand why Ohio is such a difficult state for Democrats to win.

[PlanetBev]

How could the state that elected John Glenn and Howard Metzenbaum to the US Senate even consider voting going McCain? How many jobs have been lost in Ohio in the last eight years?

Can someone in Ohio help me out with this?

[WeDidIt]

1. It went religiously insane in the late eighties. n/t

[kestrel91316]

5. It was leaning religiously insane when I lived there ('72-'74).

[yardwork]

23. I didn't know you lived in Ohio in the early 1970s. So did I.

I was born and raised in Ohio and got out as quickly as possible in the late 1970s. Religiously (and otherwise) insane in the rural eastern sections since way back, with no signs of improvement.

[kestrel91316]

37. My dad was stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB then. We lived in

Xenia (the part that's now officially Beavercreek). I went to Beavercreek HS, graduated '74. Was there for the big Xenia tornado.

[cameozalaznick]

35. Maybe they were praying their jobs would return. nt

[blueinindiana]

2. Racism Religion Guns Gays... HATE! NT

[YOY]

3. Brain drain. "Religification". Racially divided.

Other reasons are there too.

[Stand and Fight]

4. Maybe Ohio...

Maybe Ohio is the heart of Dumbfuckistan? :shrug:

[YOY]

9. No. It's the battered and abused spouse of Dumbfuckistan.

Now getting up the courage to stand up for herself or forever remain a victim.

[DebbieCDC]

6. Reagan Democrats

took over in the 80's and never left. They think the rethugs will bring back the manufacturing jobs.

I left in '81 after college and have never regretted it for one day.

[WI_DEM]

7. by and large it has been a republican stronghold since the days of the civil war during presidential

elections.

[yardwork]

24. Well, actually in those days it was Democrats who were racist jerks.

Republican was the party of Lincoln. Rural Ohio was home to the Copperheads - racist supporters of the south and Confederate sympathizers.

[BlooInBloo]

8. It's only hard to understand for racism-deniers.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

10. Southern Ohio once reportedly had the largest chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in America

When African Americans migrated north into states like Ohio in the early part of the 20th century, the Klan opened up chapters where they went. Supposedly Ohio had more than 50,000 active Klan members at one time, making it the largest Klan chapter in the U.S. at the time. That was many decades ago and at least a couple of generations ago, but that type of racism gets handed down, father to son and mother to daughter.

[yardwork]

26. Klan now mostly in western Ohio and IN. Check out the Southern Poverty Law Center's Hate Map.

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/map/hate.jsp#s=OH

[Kukesa]

28. We still have KKK in Lebanon and White Supremacists

in New Vienna. Both cities are in SW Ohio.

We also have more than our share of religious nuts south of I-70 (the Interstate runs east/west through the state) and our ethnic racists in the northern part.

Sometimes I wonder why I live here . . .

[GrizzlyMan]

11. The three G's: God, Guns and Gays

[napi21]

12. Yesterday one of cable's political experts said that there really

weren't many unregistered voters in Ohio compared to other States. Obama has benefitted from the many NEW voter registrations they were able to secure in other States. They boast of 400,000 - 800,000 new registrations and most of them are voting for Obama. In Ohio the most they found was under 200,000.

I'm not sure if that's because Ohio as Pa. has been losing residents for YEARS! Children grow up and leave the state because there are no jobs there.

I believe that's a fair assessment of how things are in those 2 rustbelt states. It's very very difficult if not impossible to change the mind of older people who have been Pubs all their lives.

[CreekDog]

13. Because it's essentially Northern Kentuckywestvirginia and East Indiana with Michigalvania on top.

:shrug:

[madaboutharry]

14. Ohio is directly above Kentucky and the southern

part of the state has always been republican. Columbus pretty much cuts the state in half politically.

[semillama]

15. A picture speaks a thousand words:

[gmoney]

16. www.jeeeb.us

[olkaz]

18. TOUCHDOWN

[darius15]

17. The state as a whole is very conservative, except for the cities, like Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton.

[VolcanoJen]

19. Our cities are liberal (with maybe the exception of Cincinnati)

We get KILLED in rural Ohio, though. Absolutely killed.

[TheCoxwain]

20. Maybe it is time to bring Religious Jim Crow laws -- you cant vote if you are a religious nut

[alwysdrunk]

21. People don't realize

Apart from Toledo, Columbus, Dayton and to a lesser extent Cincinnati, the demographic makeup of Ohio is mostly rural and Appalachian. It's just like Kentucky and West Virgina.

[knixphan]

27. That's what this guy says too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr3ftmvO7Oc

[road2000]

30. And Cleveland!

I tend to agree about Cincinnati. It has an African-American mayor and a veneer of culture, but immediately outside the city, you're in truly rural redneck territory. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I've seen more Confederate bumper stickers here than I ever did in my 47 years in Lower Alabama.

[alwysdrunk]

32. Doh! And Clevelend, sorry

no offense .

[Every Man A King]

22. Its nothing new...

I can't believe people expect Ohio to be easy. Look at a couple of races for perspective:

1944 General Election
Thomas E. Dewey (R) 1,582,293
Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) 1,570,763

1960 General Election Overview
John F. Kennedy (D) 1,944,248
Richard M. Nixon (R) 2,217,611

[PlanetBev]

33. Thanks for that bit of historical perspective

Definately helped me to understand.

[dennis4868]

25. ummmm...

there is a black man with a middle name Husein at the top of the Dem ticket....that's why....

[knixphan]

38. lol - sometimes the simplest explanation is the right one

[abbiehoff]

29. I live in Cincinnati, and it is EXTREMELY racist

I moved here from Michigan in the '70s and was stunned that people had no shame about making racist remarks to total strangers, as if they assumed everyone would agree with them.

You may wonder why I'm still here. I am working on people's prejudice, one person at a time. It's slow work.

[PlanetBev]

36. Thanks for your hard work

Can't be easy to live in an environment like that. I live in a semi-knuckledrag area in a blue state. I'm seeing a ton of "Yes on 8" signs here (anti-Gay Marriage)

There's plenty of idiots in California too, believe you me.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

31. It's filled with

fucking idiots?

Just like where I live... Ack!

[demo dutch]

34. Racism??

[Tribetime]

39. I'd have to say racism..I'm embarrassed of this state

I pray Obama wins here after what happened in 04. It's an older state and hopefully a new way of thinking is coming soon starting now.

[Fired Up Democrat]

did you forget about 2006

I think we got some dems elected in pretty high positions of gov. barack will win ohio. have a little faith.

[Fired Up Democrat]

40. did you forget about 2006

I think we got some dems elected in pretty high positions of gov. barack will win ohio. have a little faith.