COLUMBUS, Ohio – If Ohio were a dart board for the 2008 presidential candidates, the middle, lower left and upper right portions would be riddled with holes. But the rest of the board would hardly be empty.
Democrat Barack Obama, Republican John McCain and their respective running mates have spread out across the swing state attempting to do two separate but equally important tasks.
First, they’ve loaded up the stops in the traditional population centers in and around Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, followed by Toledo, Dayton and the Youngstown and Canton areas.
On Oct. 13, Obama held a rally at Toledo’s downtown convention center. On Oct. 19, McCain held a rally at the same place.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain’s vice presidential candidate, held a fundraiser in North Canton on Sept. 15. Four days later, Joe Biden, Obama’s running mate, held a rally at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.
Obama and McCain both addressed the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Cincinnati in July.
Those types of visits are tried-and-true Ohio politics. But this year, the candidates have also made a special effort to go beyond the so-called 3C corridor of Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland.
They’re not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. Four years ago, John Kerry declined to follow the advice of Ohio Democrats to move out of the big urban areas in search of votes.
President Bush, meanwhile, mined the state’s conservative farm country and booming exurbs – those GOP suburbs even farther out than traditional ‘burbs – on his way to winning the state and a return to the White House.
Even Obama got a taste of this phenomenon in the winter, when Hillary Rodham Clinton beat him handily in the March primary as she followed the advice of Gov. Ted Strickland to fan out.
Strickland, a Democrat, was speaking from experience: mindful of Bush’s 2004 strategy, he used the same approach in his 2006 gubernatorial campaign.
“We’ve shown a pretty serious commitment to campaigning outside of the traditional, core Democratic areas,” said Obama spokesman Isaac Baker.
Obama, with 10 visits to the state over multiple days, touched down in places that hadn’t seen a Democratic presidential candidate in decades – including Lima in western Ohio and Georgetown in southern Ohio.
He also visited New Philadelphia in eastern Ohio and attended a family barbecue in Dillonvale in far eastern Ohio.
Biden took on the lion’s share of the out-of-the-way visits, including a three-day swing earlier this month that included stops in Lisbon in eastern Ohio, Newark in central Ohio and Lancaster in southeastern Ohio, a solidly Republican stronghold that was ground zero four years ago for conservative Christians rallying to approve a gay marriage ban and re-elect Bush.
McCain, with 19 visits over multiple days, also visited Lima, a friendly stop for Republicans, and twice visited Youngstown, a not-so-friendly stop.
He also dispatched Palin to numerous far flung areas of the state. She gave a speech in St. Clairsville in eastern Ohio, bought diapers at a Wal-Mart in Gallipolis in southeast Ohio and held a rally in Findlay in the northern part of the state. (Biden also stopped by a Findlay diner.)
Both parties were also mindful of retail politicking, those allegedly spontaneous stops to interact with “real” Ohioans.
Obama bought peaches at a stand near Ravenna on Aug. 5, while McCain and Palin stopped at a New Concord ice cream shop at the end of that month.
“Ohio is an important battleground state, we wanted to make sure we communicated with as many people as possible,” said Paul Lindsay, a McCain spokesman.
“In a state like Ohio, our supporters are in all areas of the state, whether urban areas or rural areas,” he said.
Both candidates promised return visits before Election Day on Tuesday.
