Ohio losing hope for change
Hope and jobs are in short supply in Ohio eight months after President Barack Obama won the recession-battered state in the 2008 election with promises of a better future.They are not as bad off as Michigan but they are getting closer. The Democrat governor has not helped either. I think the state has raised taxes during the recession which is no way to stimulate employment."People were looking for a savior to get us out of this mess and that's why they voted for Obama," said Jeff Fravor, 55, a retired train conductor on his way to breakfast on the outskirts of Toledo.
"I've nothing against Obama personally, but he's new to the job and 'hope' won't fix this mess."
Candidate Obama delivered his message over and over again in Ohio, a politically diverse battleground state that often decides presidential elections. Obama went back to the state last week with an approval rating below 50 percent.
A Quinnipiac University opinion poll released on July 7 showed the Democratic president's popularity in America's seventh most populous state had fallen to 49 percent from 62 per cent in May. Even worse for Obama, 48 percent said they disapproved of his handling of the U.S. economy, with 46 percent approving.
The reason for the poll drop? Rising unemployment.
The downturn has pummeled Ohio's manufacturing base.
"As jobs have gone away, that has created a true focus here on job creation," said Andrew Doehrel, head of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. "People look at what's been done on a federal level in terms of bailouts and stimulus and they see that this has not equated to anything more than lost jobs in Ohio."
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Ohio's unemployment has nearly doubled from 5.7 percent in January 2008. That is not a good start for Obama in a state with 20 electoral votes that could be vital for his re-election effort in 2012.
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"Obama set expectations too high here and six months later, things haven't got better, so some people are losing hope," said John Johnson, branch manager of the Southeastern Container Inc plant in nearby Bowling Green, which makes plastic bottles for Coca-Cola Co..
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By 2012 we could have a change in the presidential election system . . .
ReplyDeleteThe National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate with the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
It has passed 29 states legislative chambers including one house in AR, CT, DE, ME, MI, NV, NM, NC, and OR, and both houses in CA, CO, HI, IL, NJ,MD, MA, RI, VT, and WA. The bill has been enacted by HI, IL, NJ, MD, and WA. These five states possess 61 electoral votes -- 23% of the 270 necessary to bring the law into effect.
see www.NationalPopularVote.com