Ah, Ohio.
Known for its extremely supportive Cleveland sports fans and…well, that’s all I can think of.
Be honest. When you think of the 50 states that make up this great country, what states come to mind as those that stand out for their beauty, reputation, or life of luxury? When planning your honeymoon in the United States, do you dream of going somewhere warm with sand and a beach such as Florida or California, or do you think of going to a place where the weather is so unpredictable that you can experience at least 3 of the 4 seasons in one day as in Ohio? Planning an extended weekend trip-would you rather go to NYC and see all the wonderful attractions it has to offer, or travel to Ohio to visit…?
You get the point.
When people think of the United States, I highly doubt that many of them think of Ohio as being extremely notable for a whole lot. In fact, many people who I know who live here sport bumper stickers on their cars, similar to this:
It’s sad to think that even people who live here have many complaints about being here. Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly times in which I wish lived somewhere in which the weather was a little less unpredictable and where I consistently had a winning sports team to cheer for (I’m kidding here-I’m a Cavs fan through and through, with or without LeBron). Despite my whininess (yes, I did make up that word) about the weather and the complaints of my fellow Ohioans, I think we may need to reconsider the importance of this state in the grand scheme of things. So do presidential candidates.
Before discussing that, I’d like to point out some really awesome things about this state (which may reiterate some of Abbie’s previous post):
‘Ides of March’ starring George Clooney and Ryan Gosling was filmed (at least partially) in Ohio!
Parts of the new ‘Avengers’ movie was also filmed in Ohio! (The street scenes are in downtown Cleveland!)
Speaking of Cleveland, it is home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, visited by thousands of music lovers and Rock fans alike, not to mention their many inductees (Prince, Bob Seger, George Harrison, Miles Davis, Madonna…and the list continues). We have the Buckeyes, the Browns, and the Cleveland Clinic (couldn’t think of another B there).
Enough about that already. As we all know, this is a very important year in terms of politics. Within the next few months, we will be choosing the person who will lead our country for the next four years. Will Americans choose to reelect our current democratic president, Barack Obama? Or, will our citizens decide they want a fresh face in office and support a republican candidate such as Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum? Regardless of who you support (frankly, I don’t care as long as you are an informed voter), Ohio will play an important role in this upcoming election.
Did you know that in the last 27 presidential elections, Ohio has picked the winner 25 times? As a result, did you know that without Ohio, it’s unlikely that your candidate may win this upcoming presidential election?
If you doubt my accuracy in these statements, just look it up. Oh, and if you think, ‘So what, the candidates don’t really care about Ohio’s 18 electoral votes…” Guess again.
In the last presidential election, I was impressed at how many political representatives came to both Ohio, and specifically my community. During the course of the election period, we were lucky enough to: have Barack Obama speak to our community at least twice (including as a visitor to our university where I worked the event-as did at least 1 of the other dames), host Hillary Clinton at an event (which I also worked), have Joe Biden visit, and have Good Morning American filmed in our community where John McCain was a guest (…gotta love getting up at 4:30 am to see these politicians). Furthermore, former speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi also hosted an event in our community (I have pictures), as did former senator Ted Kennedy. The crazy thing about all this is that this was all in my community and does not even account for the many visits that these individuals made throughout this great state during those crucial election months.
My favorite event that we hosted has to be Rock the Vote! When Rock the Vote came to our town, they brought Sheryl Crow, the Beastie Boys, AND Ben Stiller (who looked like he had just walked off the set of ‘Meet the Parents’ I might add)!
Ohio’s primary is coming up in March and I expect things to get a little crazy here in the next few weeks. Even though I’m getting my graduate degree in psychology, I have a certain (hidden) love for politics. I guess I feel like I have to put my political science degree to use some how. I’m really looking forward to seeing who makes their way here and look forward to seeing as many candidates as possible (Republican or Democrat).
So…if you doubt this great state, think of this and all that it has to offer. Think of the role that we are going to play in November. Whether you vote for Obama or the Republican candidate, just remember that your vote does matter (sorry…didn’t mean to get preachy there).
Joni
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