No, this isn't some screed about how Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum nearly tied in Ohio and somehow that meant a win for Obama. There was an actual Democratic primary Tuesday too, and President Obama actually got more votes than Romney in the crucial battleground state - 547,588 to 456,205 - according to the Ohio secretary of state.
Pundits say that statistic is another indicator of Romney’s weaknesses as a candidate. Polling showed self-identified Republicans made up 69 percent of GOP primary voters in Ohio, but only 65 percent of GOP primary voters said they would “definitely” vote for the GOP nominee in November.
But polls also showed that the majority of Ohio Republican voters think Romney has the best chance of beating Obama in the fall general election.
The conservative Weekly Standard's Fred Barnes lists four things that Romney did right to help his cause for the GOP nod.
Ohio's Democratic primary also provided a precursor for some Democratic Congressional races in North Carolina. Longtime Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a liberal establishment in the House (and a Democratic presidential contender more than once), lost his seat in Ohio's 9th district to another longtime Democratic House member Rep. Marcy Kaptur. The Washington Post has an interesting story on Kucinich's rise and possible future.
Both Kucinich and Kaptur had been put into the same district when Republican redistricting in the state. The new district wound up having slightly more of Kaptur's previous constituents.
North Carolina's districts were realigned by the Republican-controlled legislature last year too. And though the maps have been challenged in court, the courts agreed to let the May 8th primaries proceed with the disputed maps. And those maps, like the ones in Ohio, double-bunked several Democratic incumbents in districts - giving them the choice of running against each other.
When legislators redrew election maps, they threw 38 of the 170 incumbent N.C. lawmakers into districts with others and "double-bunked" four of 13 members of Congress. Some like Brad Miller, who represented the 13th District in Congress, decided not to seek reelection. He was put into the 4th District with Democratic colleague David Price.
Look for redistricting to play a prominent role in election day results all across the nation.
One other interesting tidbit about Super Tuesday and the Kucinich race. Kaptur has a Republican opponent in November: Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as "Joe the Plumber" - the average Joe who became one of the faces of Republican opposition to Obama in his run for president in 2008 against Republican John McCain. Wurzelbacher won his GOP primary race against Steven Kraus. Notes the San Francisco Chronicle: "Joe the Plumber... member of Congress? Could happen."
Posted by Fannie Flono
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