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.