Ohio likely important in 2008 election

Cleveland Plain Dealer
Posted by nbye November 12, 2007 06:46AM
Washington -- The road to the White House "goes through Ohio," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday, using an adage deeply ingrained in national politics.


It's why she sought Gov. Ted Strickland's endorsement, and he gave it. It's why President Bush and his Democratic opponent, John Kerry, stopped in Ohio so often in 2004 -- bringing crowd-drawing stars such as Bruce Springsteen (with Kerry) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (with Bush) -- that the state's press corps didn't have to travel the country to cover the campaign. The campaign came to Ohio, and Ohio decided the narrow outcome.

Ohio is likely to be a bellwether for the nation again next November, when for the first time since 1952, there will be no incumbent president or vice president on the ballot.