But really, is it all over after today (or maybe tomorrow)? In truth, it has only just begun–and Ohio is the state to watch in determining just whose administration we’re talking about.

Okay, now that I’ve cleansed myself of political nerdiness, we now turn to the report on The Plain Dealer‘s website that approximately a quarter of voters in Northeast Ohio have already voted. The article cites secretary of state Jennifer Brunner as estimating that 5.5 million Ohioans will vote in this election. These 5.5 people will decide which candidate wins the state’s 20 electoral college votes–and arguably the entire election. I truly believe that the election will come down to the Buckeye state and I do not say that just because I chose to blog about it–I chose to blog about it because I already had such a hunch. The Huffington Post has an interesting article today (er, yesterday) about GOTV efforts in swing states such as Ohio. Blogger Seth Colter Walls reported that 20, 000 Obama volunteers knocked on almost 780, 000 doors in Ohio this weekend–can you believe it?!? That’s incredible and impressive, no matter what your political preference may be.

It’s game day people and it’s time to see who will win. Oh wow…

“2. Students not only care about their college communities, but also give tremendous service to them: I know from my experience at Kenyon College in Gambier, OH that students leave an indelible mark on their communities. Whether through tutoring children; bringing local farm products into campus cafeterias; or cleaning area parks, roads, and forest preserves; college students invest heavily in their school environments.”

With this in mind, we turn now to an article by Sophia Yan in a recent edition of The Oberlin Review, the college newspaper of Oberlin College in Ohio. Issues such as vote caging and Ohio’s 20 electoral votes have greatly impacted Oberlin students’ decisions regarding where they vote:

“Work at the grassroots level, through groups such as OPIRG and the Oberlin College Democrats, both part of the non-partisan Student Voter Coalition, has also affected voter registration. Colorado resident and College senior Jamey Arent decided to vote in Ohio after coming to Oberlin. Because he did not turn 18 until after the 2004 election, Arent had never been registered in Colorado to begin with. Early on in his Oberlin career, he was approached in the Wilder mailroom about registering. He said, “All the buzz about the importance of Ohio in 2004…partially influenced my decision.”

This year, College senior David Gutherz decided to vote early in Ohio; he expressed concern about voter fraud with absentee ballots. Gutherz, who hails from Virginia, has voted there in previous elections. He is “hoping it makes a difference” this time around.

The 2008 presidential election has drawn voters from every corner of the United States, and eyes from around the world are trained on what’s happening. Such attention has led to both media and public scrutiny of the election process, and some people still feel that the process is problematic.”

College students have and will undoubtedly continue to play a central role in the politics of this country and it is clear from these distinct yet related articles just how great their influence will be this coming Tuesday.

“Eric Rademacher, interim co-director of the institute  [Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati], says Obama has an edge, but the highly charged race and partisan electorate make the contest similar to the unpredictable one four years ago.

“It is very possible that 2008 could be a repeat of 2004 when the race for Ohio was decided by just two percentage points,” he said.

The campaign in Ohio, which has been marked by negative television advertising and harsh rhetoric, is also potentially volatile because 11 percent of voters surveyed said they might change their minds. Just 3 percent remain undecided.

Both campaigns and special interest groups are trying to sway these voters by flooding them with last-minute negative messages in the mail.”

108 years, people. That’s an incredibly strong history and we have a little over a week to see whether this election will continue the trend or mark “wrong choice” number three.

“Obama’s lead in Franklin County comes in large part from his strength among male voters, Towery said.

“[McCain’s] doing worse with males than he’s doing with females, and Obama’s picking up the lion’s share of independents in this particular county.”

Franklin County women currently prefer Obama, 48 percent to 44 percent. Among men, Obama leads by a surprising, 15-point margin, 53 percent to 38 percent.

“This is not good news for John McCain,” Towery said. “This county is just so representative of what’s going on in Ohio.”

McCain’s performance among men is stronger statewide. He trails Obama by 7 points among men, 42 percent to 49 percent, rather than by 15 points as in Franklin County. Obama currently leads among female voters in Ohio, 54 percent to 42 percent.

“If [McCain] can’t do something about that male percentage he’s a dead duck in Ohio,” Towery said.

In 2004, President George W. Bush won male voters in Ohio, 52 percent to 47 percent, and tied among female voters.

As Election Day draws closer, both presidential tickets have zeroed in on Ohio and Florida as possible keys to victory, and both have spent time campaigning in those states in recent days.”

Although the bottom line will not depend on male versus female, it is interesting to see the poll results broken down in this way. As poll analyst Towery said, McCain is a “dead duck” if he can’t close the gap in male voter preference in the next 11 days.

Time will tell…but not that much, we’ve’ got just over a week to go!

Palin used her “folksy” schtick to appeal to the members of a small Ohio town whose size, the USA Today article linked above notes, is not much different from that of the Alaskan town of which she used to be mayor. The article in USA Today is brief, but I am sure that Palin’s charm worked its ways on at least some of the audience members; I may not like her, I may not be voting for her ticket, but I’ll hand it to her for making the most of what’s she’s got. Where Palin lacks in education, experience, and expertise, she makes up for in a down-home charming manner that can really grow on a person if he or she is perhaps undecided even 22 days before the election. People can make fun of her all they want, but the truth is that she’s come a long way from playing the flute on a beauty pageant stage and she certainly didn’t get there by marrying Donald Trump or winning the lottery–we may not agree with her politics or like what she says or does, but we have to admit that she has clawed her way to the top and that’s just gosh darn impressive–you betcha it is.

I digress (somewhat). Obama also hit Ohio today, stopping in Toledo to speak about the economy. The middle class is still the bread and butter of Obama’s constiuency and he focused on this and employment today in his speech. With Obama as President, companies can (hopefully) count on tax benefits as a reward for hiring American citizens instead of outsourcing to other countries. Furthermore, the CNN.com article says,

“Under the Obama plan, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury would provide much the same kind of backing to state and municipal governments as the recent federal bailout did to the commercial credit market.

‘We can’t wait to help workers and families and communities who are struggling right now — who don’t know if their job or their retirement will be there tomorrow; who don’t know if next week’s paycheck will cover this month’s bills,” Obama said. “We need to pass an economic rescue plan for the middle-class … and we need to do it right now.’”

That’s the policy talk for today–now we turn to issues with voting in everybody’s favorite swing state. Cincinnati.com reports today that voting fraud, similar to the problems with fake and ineligible registrations that happened in 2004, is a major concern for the current election as well. Republicans have placed the blame on Jennifer Brunner, Ohio’s Secretary of State, for allegedly “favoring” the Democratic Party with her policy decisions. Check out this excerpt from the article:

“Ohio Republicans sought, unsuccessfully, to close a week-long window that ended Oct. 6 in which Ohioans could register and immediately cast a ballot. Their main argument was that Ohio law did not permit same-day registration and voting. But a secondary argument was that the process would make it too easy to commit voting fraud because voters could cast ballots before having their registration information verified.

That window was viewed as a benefit to Democrat Barack Obama, as the campaign and outside groups transported college students, low-income voters, the homeless and minorities to the polls.

Senate Majority Leader Ray Miller, a Democrat from Columbus, said he respects the Ohio Republicans’ vigilance against voter fraud or corruption. “But if the Ohio Republican Party, in the interest of partisan advantage, successfully undermines public confidence in Ohio elections, democracy may be the loser,” Miller said.”

An informal poll on the website reveals that the majority (of the mere 249 individuals polled, but still) is, in fact, concerned about the reliability of the voting process in their state.

As fascinating as the study of Ohio as one of the most–if not the most–influential swing states is, the deterioration of democracy into this obsession with a few states over the entire populace is pathetic. The evidence of voter registration fraud only further debilitates the state of American democracy.

But hey, at least we can easily figure out how to look like our candidates, even if we can’t figure out out to democratically elect one to office.

“Obama’s troops are trying to make inroads among the population of 22,000 that went for George Bush in the past two elections, and team McCain is working to keep the county red.

Right now, people say the town is divided — and so are the predictions.”

The article quotes a few Chillicothe citizens, one of whom commented that he might not vote at all. I wish that I could sit down with this Mike Milburn fellow and have a little chat because this is what I would say:

Mike, I know that things look tough. As the article on CNN.com notes, you live paycheck to paycheck to support your family and I know that this is no way to live. I also know that the past politics do not give you much reason to believe that one candidate over the other is going to dramatically change your life for the better. But by choosing not to act on your civic right (or duty, as many might say) to vote, you simply throw away your most basic form of political and social agency. I don’t even care who you vote for. Sure, I’d much prefer that you vote for Obama and we can talk later about why he’s the right candidate for the job and for striving to solve the challenges that you face, but right now all I care about is you and your rights and responsibilities as an American citizen. Not only do you have the right to vote, but you get to vote in a state that could very well decide the entire election. Just do it, Mike. What have you got to lose? I’ll tell you what–the right that so many people in the world wish they could have, which is the fundamental right to participate even on the most basic level in what defines democracy. Remember those retro “I want you to vote” signs with Uncle Sam pointing at you? Well I don’t know how old your kids are or whether or not they’re aware of what’s going on, but deep down, I think that they want you to vote, Mike. They want you to vote for their futures, so why throw that chance away?

Ay, I may have gotten off-topic. But the point is, the CNN article linked above demonstrates that this election has gotten so close that we are literally at the point of examining and analyzing a town of 22, 000 individuals. So take it away, Chillicothe, and show us what you’ve got.

Also:

Check out this additional coverage of Chillicothe’s significance on another Ohio politics blog, part of Cincinnati.com. Props to political writer Howard Wilkinson for his report!

“The war also looms for women whose concerns about international politics include the perception that the United States has squandered the good will of American allies. Sue Kaiser believes the U.S. has “totally alienated” much of the rest of the world in recent years.”

The war looms for women? Does it intentionally bypass men? Why should we box people into little squares of identity and act like they must inherently have a vested and passionate interest in something just because they’re women, or black, or from Ohio, or a black woman from Ohio. Sure we can learn from it, but acting like basic facets of our identities is all that matters is extremely limiting. What gives? Think about it.