The Countdown Begins...

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Hurricane Sandy has poised an excellent opportunity for political pull for Obama.  According to ABC news, "78% of potential voters said that the president has done a good or excellent job" in his work responding to the hurricane.  However, with only five days until the election, the polls say it's still anyone's game--a national tie.

I'll be honest, I'll be glad when this election is over.  I'm sure I'm not the only one sick and tired of receiving (illegal) political cell-phone calls, having my mail-box stuffed full of dozens of political propaganda papers a day, and having to listen to what-the-other-guy-is-doing-wrong-ads for the majority of my television viewing time.  I actually saw an ad that Obama had put out that was rather nice.  It was basically just an ad on how to get information on early voting--no political proclamations or the usual Romney sucks banter.  It was a nice change.

[Obama and Romney Resume Campaigning, No More Mr. Nice Guy]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/29/us-usa-campaign-ohio-senate-idUSBRE89S11T20121029

Ohio is coming down to one become one of the most competitive, sought after, and expensive states in the 2012 Elections and thus history.  The Senate is being closely contested by both sides with Republican State Treasurer and relatively young (35) newcomer Josh Mandel challenging the incumbent Sherrod Brown.  Brown was elected in the Congressional Democratic wave in 2006.  With the coattail effect cutting both ways, Ohio remains pivotal in not only the presidential race, but control of the upper house of Congress as well.

Obama "Far" Ahead Again in Ohio

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Though, for a while, the polls in Ohio seemed to be headed to take a turn towards Romney, Obama has surged forward yet again, with Obama now leading by five.  There seems to be some correlation between the candidate visits to the state last week--out of approximately 6 visits to the state last week, 4 of them were made by the Democrats and only 2 were made by the Republicans.  Today Joe Biden will make an appearance in both Canton--to speak at a local community center--and Lorain--to speak at a high school.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/poll-obama-leads-by-5-in-ohio

Post Second Debate: Romney surges, needs a boost in Ohio

Well, the Romney surge that has been touted by his backers and allies on the right have been talking about since the primaries has come and past and its going to stay it would seem.  That being said, the biggest obstacle remaining for the Romney Ryan ticket is to turn Ohio into a true tossup.

Romney and Obama Still In Close Race for Ohio

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Business in Lancaster, Ohio are making room for the Romney and Ryan rally that will take place today on Main Street.  The rally follows several appearances in Ohio over the last four days, including a rally in Cuyahoga Falls on Tuesday and two campaigns in Mount Vernon and Sidney on Wednesday.  After the first set of Presidential debates (including the Vice Presidential debates yesterday), Romney seems to be closing the gap and is now less than a point behind Obama according to the latest polls, though CNN still has Obama leading by four.  Obama hasn't been in Ohio since the 5th of October, when he delivered a short speech at a campaign in Cleveland.  Obama's party has made a total of 35 major visits to the state since June, while Romney's group has made 40.  As far as Ohio is concerned, it's still anyone's game.

Don't forget to keep up with the debates.  The times and dates are listed here.  You can also watch the previous debates if you missed them.

Sources: [Business In Downtown Lancaster Adjust Hours for Romney Rally]
              [CNN Poll: Ohio Stays In Obama Column After Debate]
              [Presidential Campaign Stops: Who's Going Where]

GOP Attempts to Downplay Ryan's Debate Skills

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/gops-move-to-downplay-ryans-debate-skills-isnt-sticking-in-ohio/2012/10/08/d405567a-1156-11e2-ba83-a7a396e6b2a7_story.html

In politics it would seem that debates are all about anti-hype.  Each party, as evidenced by the recent presidential debates, is consistently trying to downplay the expectations of the other side's performance.

Where are you now and where have you been?

While perusing the internet, I found a great interactive map--provided by the Washington Post--that shows a lot of information regarding the current polls.  It also shows information regarding race, employment, urban or suburban, and income.

They also have a great travel map that shows how many visits our presidential candidates have made to each of the states.  You can even click on each individual state to see what cities they've been to!  Scrolling down the page reveals a comprehensive list of locations and what type of campaign was conducted at the particular city listed.

Dual Apperances in Ohio on Thursday

 Image Credit: Evan Vucci/AP Photo

Both Obama and Romney made appearances in Ohio on Thursday, rallying crowds of thousands for their cause.  This New York Times article has some interesting questions regarding why "in the era of the blog and the tweet and the 24-hour news cycle" our candidates still take the time to conduct rallies for a small number of voters.  According to the latest polls, Obama still leads Romney by 4 points, a very small drop from last week.  It will continue to be "too close to call" until the actual elections, but whoever wins Ohio will certainly be making big strides towards the presidency.

Democrats use 47% Comment to Dog Romney in Ohio

Immediate repercussions to Romney's 47% comments

Sparks are flying in Ohio as Romney is still trailing Obama, according to the latest polls.  New television ads airing in the state from the Obama party are attacking Romney on his comments from a private fundraiser where he stated:

       "There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it -- that that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. ... These are people who pay no income tax. ... [M]y job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Although it's mostly true according to Lucy Madison from CBS news, the comment is still hurting Romney across the polls--not only in Ohio. The problem with his comment is that he's basically attacking the people who are exempt from taxes because they are either disabled, elderly, or under/close to the poverty line.  Saying that his "job is not to worry about those people" is bogus.    This was clearly a speech meant for the well-to-do attending the fund raiser.  The rich voters want to know that they get to keep their money.  The poorer voters want to know that they get to keep what little money they have.  He also assumes that this 47% does not "take personal responsibility and care for their lives."  Let me offer a personal example in the contrary.  I work a part time job while going to school full-time.  Right now I work for minimum wage at about 15-20 hours a week and I make under $10,000 a year.  Way under.  So, when it comes to taxes, although I pay them, I get most of them back in April because I make so little money.  So, student loans aside, does this mean that I don't pay taxes?  According to Romney, is educating myself and working during school to keep my expenses down not "taking personal responsibility and care" for my life?

 

Sources:  [First Thoughts: Battleground Ohio]

                [Divided State Still A Toss-up]

                [Fact-checking Romney's "47 percent" Comment]

Romney Speaks in Painesville, Ohio on September 14, 2012

Last week in Ohio...

(Photo Credit: Cincinnati.com AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Mitt Romney made his third appearance in Ohio on Friday, stopping off at Lake Erie College in Painesville on a rainy day to speak to a crowd of roughly 3,000.  His speech emphasized his plan to create jobs for graduating students and the search for new resources that would help to create those jobs.  He also touched on the nation's debt issue, referring to Obama by telling the crowd that "we can't afford this president" (qtd Hutchison). Florida's U.S. Senator, Marco Rubio, followed Romney on Monday and is currently carrying out his campaign in Northeast Ohio to further emphasize plans to take care of the nation's debt.

Questions and opinions from the lower-middle class college student...

Jobs jobs jobs.  Every presidential candidate places an emphasis on job creation as a large part of their campaigns.  But how exactly can a president create jobs?  Are presidential candidates just throwing out arbitrary numbers to make their potential voters happy?

Romney's plan to drill for new resources bothers me.  Not only are these resources running out, but their limited to begin with.  Operations like fracking (the latest in drill technology) may create jobs for a few weeks or even a few months while the resource is extracted, but what happens after that?  Do the jobs just disappear? Does Romney even care?  Is it possible that he just wants those big numbers up front and isn't worried about the sustainability of such a work site?  On top of that, creating more and more excavation sites for extracting natural resources creates more environmental problems on top of the ones we already have.

Is there anyone who cares about sustainable living?

Resources:
[Florida Senator To Campaign For Romney In Ohio]
[In Ohio, Romney sticks to economic message, not Middle East]
[Romney holds rally at Lake Erie College in Painesville]
[Marco Rubio comes to northeast Ohio]