Jimi Izrael
Ohio
How did Obama carry Ohio?
What’s to be made of Sen. Barack Obama’s win of Ohio? First, thus far, it’s definitive. It’s not a close race for him against Sen. John McCain: it’s a mandate. Voters want an Obama presidency. Obama came to Ohio and hammered home the message of economic rebuilding, especially n Northeast Ohio. This is one of the areas in America hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis and the disappearing job market. He brought not just a message of change, but focused on needs everyone could relate to. This is Obama’s great virtue: his ability to empathize and adjust his message to the room, and not travel the country slinging mud and tacking shots. While I know I said that maybe he should have engaged his critics, the fact is that his refusal to do so may have been the thing that resonated with Ohio voters. People are tired of “junk yard dog” politics, where candidates meet in the center and chew away at each other’s character. They are ready for a president who is eager to reach across the aisle, form coalitions and make partnerships that will make this country great. McCain seemed like he’s been itching for a fight. Obama been trying to make things right. And whether he succeeds or fails, I think his sincerity won over Ohio. Because Ohio is no bastion of progressive thought—this is a case where the man and the message mesh. Joe the Plumber represents a certain kind of Ohioan—unsophisticated, scared of change, unwilling to veer from the status quo. But people are too hungry here to subscribe to that line of thought—people need to eat, and some guy with so many houses he can’t count them just doesn’t past muster. So it wasn’t just politics that won Ohio for the Obama campaign. Everywhere you go in Ohio, people were saying the same thing: it was his sincerity.