Kim Schmitz
Every four years since at least the 1980s, Ohio becomes the most famous state in the nation for three months. Its reputation as a swing state prompts the presidential hopefuls as well as their prominent supporters to visit the state almost weekly. They claim any connection that they can to the state, and do their best to persuade Ohioans that they campaign for their future. No other state is awarded the same spotlight, because Ohio has been the one of the most important swing states in presidential elections for decades. But why?
Under the Electoral College system, Ohio is given 18 votes. This is nothing on California’s 55, but it’s still a significant number relative to much of the country.
And, like 47 other states, it chooses to employ a winner-takes-all policy, meaning that a candidate with even a slight majority takes all of the votes from that state. Most states choose this system to ensure that they maximize their electoral influence, significantly advancing a single contender rather than canceling out some of the state’s own votes. With 18 votes, Ohio has the power to affect a sizeable boost towards the 270 victory points the winner needs.
Some argue that the Electoral College yields too much power to certain states that don’t deserve it. Ideally, Electoral College votes should be the sole manifestation of a state’s power but if one state has a relatively equal number of liberals and conservatives, it plays a very large hand in determining the outcome of the general election. The swing states are rewarded with numerous visits, rallies, mentions in speeches and radically more than their fair share of campaign funds.
Rana B. Khoury of the Huffington Post asserts that Ohio deserves its fifteen minutes of fame, if it means attention from Washington is going to be sent its way. She maintains that even though both parties claim credit for turning Ohio’s economy around, the state is still in bad shape. Obama says that he’s behind the revitalization of the auto industry, bringing the unemployment rate to 7.2% – but Ohio’s job participation rate is alarmingly low at 64%. Meanwhile, Romney, who couldn’t bring himself to choose a running mate simply because he’s from Ohio, settled for one who says he practically is because he went to college here.
As all celebrities have their burdens, Ohio must deal with outrageous fan mail in the form of 400 political ads per day, or 16 per hour, from TV alone. That’s twice the number that was played in 2008.
Other swing states in the current election include Virginia, Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada.