It looks like the Democratic Party has imploded across the Rust Belt.
To me, it looks like Ohio returning to form after a brief surge for the Democrats in '06 augmented by a Republican collapse in '08. Not that this way of looking at it is any more favorable for the Democrats, but Ohio has generally been a tough nut to crack for us. Dems did awful there in House races in '06, all things considered.
Ohio swung a little more than half as much as the nation from Kerry to Obama. So I have to disagree with that. I suspect that Ohio has more soft Dems than soft Republican voters is why swings to the GOP hurt the Dems more in Ohio, than when the swing is the other way. That is because Ohio has a certain redneck quality, plus a lot of whites in Southeast Ohio from south of the Ohio River, so the white working class and lower middle class vote down there, is unusual low for the Dems for a northern state.
Very true. The real Mason-Dison Line around here is actually I-70.
Oh, and you're right about the bad 06 showing in congressional races, Brittain. Gerrymandering will do that to you.
