The Results!

After the final count of all the polls Obama took 364 electoral votes and McCain took163 electoral votes, as projected by CNN

Ohio was a state to watch this election. In the last two elections of 2000 and 2004 Bush carried Ohio in both. Senator John McCain needed this state to make a dent in Obama's momentum. About an hour and a half after the polls closed in Ohio though, the state was projected to go to Obama. Once all the votes were counted Obama came out with 2,708,988 and McCain had 2,502,218. This gave Obama 51% of the vote ad McCain 47% of the vote.

On cnn.com they provide a break down of how each candidate did in the all the counties of the state. When you first look at the state it appears to have more red than blue. McCain carried a lot of the smaller regions that brought in votes in the low thousands. Obama won over the more densely populated areas such as Cleveland and Toledo which guaranteed him numbers in the high thousands and hundred thousands.

No Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio. This was a battleground state that changed parties since the 2004 election.

CNN also provides exit poll break downs of the Ohioan vote by age and sex. Of people aged 18-29 Obama received 61% of their vote while McCain received 36% of their vote.

The interesting thing though is that of people aged 45-64 made up 39% of the vote and Obama received 53% of their support compared to McCain's 46%.

These results are interesting because many political analysts speculated that the young vote would be the cause of Obama's victory. The results show that Obama did very well amongst white middle-aged citizens.

Ohio's party switch, along with Florida's, made this election history. Obama 50 state strategy appeared to work well. Once Obama took Ohio the election was over.

Another reason Ohio went blue in this Presidential Election can also be because the GOP image in this state was crippled. In the 2006 election the Democrats picked up the governorship and a U.S. Senate seat. Obama camp focused on addressing the current crisis with the job market in Ohio, also sometimes referred to the Rust Belt economy. This state's workers depend heavily on the steel and manufacturing industry to make a living. With more jobs being shipped over seas and plants closing rapidly Obama was able to appeal to middle range Americans with his tax plan and healthcare plan. Since these voters were so densely populated in the city limits once he won over the big counties the state was guaranteed to go blue.

Election Eve

With one day to go until election day the speculation of the next president is at it's highest ever, Politico just released the final Gallup polls and the results show Obama ahead by at least 10% amongst voters. Ohio still seems to be an important state that can make or break this race for McCain. Twenty-four hour news stations like CNN and Fox News have provided us with a variety of possible combinations for the swing state votes.

Pollster has Ohio leaning Obama with 50.2% to John McCain's 44.6%. But the Dayton Daily website has released three polls, two of which say Obama's got a significant lead and one saying he is losing ground in Ohio particularly amongst white voters.

While this state may technically still qualified as a toss-up state I believe that Obama supporters enthusiasm and his high lead against McCain will give this state to Obama.

Ohio still a toss up

CNN reports that the McCain campaign trail is heading back to Ohio. He has set up shop to rally in Zanesville and Lancaster today, then he will rally in Dayton tomorrow.

Analysts and pollsters have created a ton of different scenarios of how the electoral map will turn out on November 4th, but CNN Deputy Political Director, Paul Steinhauser claims that Obama can win the election without taking Ohio but McCain cannot. In these final seven days McCain's got to make a huge surge in the polls and votes in Ohio.

10 Days to go!!

Ohio deems to be one of the most important battleground states in this election. While Obama takes the lead in Ohio's Franklin County, where Columbus is located, McCain is taking a lead in Hillsborough County, where Tampa is located.

These two battleground states show close numbers in the polls.

Obama has strengthened his lead in Franklin county gaining a 11 point lead above McCain.

In Franklin county Obama appears to be doing better amongst male voters and female voters according to politico. He leads McCain by a 15 point margain of 53% for Obama and 38% for McCain amongst male. With early voting currently taking place and November 4th ten days away I think that if the polls are accurate and Obama keeps his momentum up in Ohio he will take that battleground state.

Let's Not Get Ahead of Ourselves: Race Still Matters in This Election

For all of the American's out there that truly believe we have come so far since the civil rights era, we might be mistaken. Though few people like to talk about race is clearly still an issue in the 2008 Presidential election. With only 15 days until the election we are starting to see more and more hatred being expressed. Unfortunately racism is starting to shine through as an important indicator of voter's distaste for Obama.

In Fairfield, Ohio a McCain supporter has fashioned a hanging ghost with an Obama sign on it, claiming "the message isn't political, it's racist." While the Butler county man refused to speak on camera he told reporters off camera that he doesn't want an African American running the country. He claims America is a white Christian nation and only white Christians should be in power.

Whether or not this is a pure expression of free speech or an example of ignorance is decided amongst the individual, but it does tell us on thing; that racism is still playing a role in our political and social worlds even in 2008.

Nobama? No Socialism? I thought Obama was a Democrat!

This new style of campaign rhetoric put forth by the McCain campaign has hit an all time low in my opinion. Calling Obama a "terrorist" and a "socialist". This language that the McCain campaign and supports are using are fear provoking words that have only one goal.....to scare Americans into voting against the "bad guy". Let me explain more. McCain has realized that he can't win on the issues so instead of rallying supporters or swaying voters to believe in his policies he is wrecking Obama's reputation in hopes that voters will become so scared that Obama actually "converses with terrorists" that they will vote for McCain just to vote AGAINST Obama. It's an absurd tactic of fear mongering!

Politico covered a McCain/Palin rally in Strongsville, Ohio that exemplified the aggression and anger of many Republicans.

Springsteen Sings for Obama

Bruce Springsteen performed at Ohio State University to rally people for Obama and to get people registered to vote, since the last day to register in Ohio is Monday, Oct.6. The Mayor of Columbus took center stage to discuss the necessity for change and how Obama's opponents "Just don't get it". See the whole coverage on the Obama website.

Obama Campaign Taps into Untouched Voter Resource

Republican supporters and lawmakers are vigorously fighting against the attempts of the Obama campaign to give an early voting period, where you can register and vote on the same day, to citizens in Ohio. Advocates of the Obama campaign have organized vans that would transport people from homeless shelters to the polls so they can get registered and cast their vote. This process begins tomorrow and carries on until Monday, October 6th. This could drastically benefit Obama's voting outcomes in Ohio because these traditionally Democratic leaning voters usually don't make it to the polls. Ohio is one of thirty states that allows early voting and eight states allow voters to register and vote on the actual election day. But Republican supporters aren't sitting passively by. Several law suits have already been filed by GOP backers claiming that the six day period where voters can register and vote on the same day is illegal. The case is currently in front of the Ohio Supreme Court and should be ruled on today.

To Ohio They Go!

John McCain and Sarah Palin head to Columbus, Ohio today to relaunch their energetic campaign. After taking about a week off from his campaign to deal with the bailout crisis Senator John McCain hopes to grab attention from voters by discussing the bailout plan and economic crisis.

While national polls reveal that McCain is slipping in popularity, politico reports that he has a slight lead in Ohio.

Ohio Activities

All this week barack Obama's Change RV will be traveling through the southeast and southwest rural areas of Ohio. This week he will be rasing awareness of his Plan for the Heartland. This week he will be focusing on issues that affect farmers, miners and the working people of Ohio.

50 Days to go until Election Day '08

As of today there are only fifty days to go in this election. Tensions are becoming increasingly high with claims of sexism, negativity and dirty campaigning. Both parties appear to be straying away from the issues and focusing more on the other's childish antics. No matter what though the campaign trail continues on and at this point, Americans are patiently waiting for the next bizarre accusation.
Ohio does promise to be one the toughest battlegrounds for these two candidate's, McCain and Obama, to claim. While polls a good method to track campaign progress and candidate approval, they are not an end all be all number that is set in stone. This morning on politico they have provided a swing state map that allows you to see the electoral college predictions thus far. Politico's predictions establish McCain leading Ohio by less than 2%, but estimates Obama's total electoral college grants him the presidency before McCain.
Pollster also has provided a electoral map with a predicted outcome for November 2008. This map leaves 76 electoral votes in a toss up. According to this prediction McCain is ahead in Ohio by 1.4%. While it is to close to call who will win the election in November, especially who will win Ohio, from these polls, as of today Ohio is leaning slightly McCain.

Flashback to 2004 in Ohio

With the 2008 presidential election getting more heated by the day strategists believe the state of Ohio will be powerful in the determination of the race

Obama to speak in Ohio about Education

This coming Tuesday, Democratic Presidential candidate, Barack Obama, will speak to Dayton, Ohio parents about his ambitions for education funding and introduce a new education advertisement.