Only a week ago, Ohio seemed outside their grasp, but Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have effectively moved to Ohio where they have been campaigning very hard to flip the state. They have taken different paths and been pushing different messages. Ryan has been in the industrial Northeast saying that the Republicans will bring manufacturing jobs back to the state. Romney has been in the southern part of the state attacking green energy and defending the use of coal, which is mined in Ohio. Romney said that the United States has 250 years of coal.
Some of the campaign stops seemed pointless, though. For example, Ryan stopped at a soup kitchen and washed a pan for a photo op, even though the pan was already clean and there was no one to serve at the soup kitchen. Not to be outdone, Romney aired a radio ad attacking Obama for not wanting to make more M-1 tanks at a plant in Lima, OH, even though the Army does not want them any more.
No Republican has ever been elected President while losing Ohio and today we have a new PPP poll showing Obama with a 5-point lead in the Buckeye State.
An analysis of all the Senate and House races has led The Hill to predict that in the new Congress, Democrats will control the Senate and Republicans will control the House, just as they do now. A detailed rundown of close House races is presented.
The Washington Post has an interesting story about polling. There are many myths about polling floating around out there. Here are some of the biggest ones.
Although Obama has dropped in the polls this week his fundraising is doing well. He has now received donations from over four million individual donors who collectively made over 10 million donations. He is now close to raising $1 billion. In contrast, Mitt Romney has received far few donations and has generally relied on large donations from wealthy donors.
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), who ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, has said he will not endorse Mitt Romney for President. He said there is no difference between Obama and Romney since they are captive to the same interests.
Here is a funny cartoon about what Obama can do to win the second presidential debate.
State | Obama | Romney | Start | End | Pollster | |
Arizona | 44% | 42% | Oct 04 | Oct 10 | Rocky Mtn Poll | |
Ohio | 51% | 46% | Oct 12 | Oct 13 | PPP |
State | Democrat | D % | Republican | R % | I | I % | Start | End | Pollster |
Arizona | Richard Carmona | 44% | Jeff Flake | 40% | Oct 04 | Oct 10 | Rocky Mtn Poll | ||
Ohio | Sherrod Brown* | 49% | Josh Mandel | 42% | Oct 12 | Oct 13 | PPP | ||
Pennsylvania | Bob Casey* | 48% | Tom Smith | 38% | Oct 04 | Oct 08 | Global Strategy |