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| Ohio voters split down the middle – some even under the same roof | Ohio voters split down the middle – some even under the same roof |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| "There's not a food fight every time we sit at the dinner table, if that's what you mean," said Tom Butler as he stood outside the polling station in Columbus, Ohio. He'd just voted for Mitt Romney, and his wife, Jennifer, standing beside him, had just voted for Barack Obama. | "There's not a food fight every time we sit at the dinner table, if that's what you mean," said Tom Butler as he stood outside the polling station in Columbus, Ohio. He'd just voted for Mitt Romney, and his wife, Jennifer, standing beside him, had just voted for Barack Obama. |
| The Butlers sum up perfectly the great state of Ohio on the eve of the presidential election. The polls suggest that the roughly 8 million Ohioans who are registered to vote are fairly evenly split, though Tom Butler will not want to hear that his wife's political preference appears to have a razor-fine edge. | The Butlers sum up perfectly the great state of Ohio on the eve of the presidential election. The polls suggest that the roughly 8 million Ohioans who are registered to vote are fairly evenly split, though Tom Butler will not want to hear that his wife's political preference appears to have a razor-fine edge. |
| Jennifer said she remained undecided until about three days ago. "I've gone back and forth, back and forth. I've really had a hard time with this election." | Jennifer said she remained undecided until about three days ago. "I've gone back and forth, back and forth. I've really had a hard time with this election." |
| What swung it in the end for Obama, she said, was that she feared Romney's social policies, particularly his threat to nominate to the US supreme court justices who would overthrow Roe v Wade, the right to an abortion – a theme that has been laboured heavily in Democratic attack adverts in Ohio. | What swung it in the end for Obama, she said, was that she feared Romney's social policies, particularly his threat to nominate to the US supreme court justices who would overthrow Roe v Wade, the right to an abortion – a theme that has been laboured heavily in Democratic attack adverts in Ohio. |
| Tom by contrast has been fairly steady for months in favour of Romney, mainly on economic grounds. "We can all agree that Barack is a proponent of larger government and Mitt of smaller, and I happen to favour smaller," he said. | Tom by contrast has been fairly steady for months in favour of Romney, mainly on economic grounds. "We can all agree that Barack is a proponent of larger government and Mitt of smaller, and I happen to favour smaller," he said. |
| Similar discussions and disagreements are playing out all across Ohio, albeit perhaps rarely under the same roof. In the final hours of campaigning the two candidates and their leading surrogates were continuing to pound all corners of the state in the hope of squeezing every last voter out of the system. | Similar discussions and disagreements are playing out all across Ohio, albeit perhaps rarely under the same roof. In the final hours of campaigning the two candidates and their leading surrogates were continuing to pound all corners of the state in the hope of squeezing every last voter out of the system. |
| The headline of the Columbus Dispatch captured the feeling in a state that for months now has been inundated with politicians and their TV ads making their case: "The heart of it all," the paper said, pointing out that presidential candidates have visited this state 83 times this year, a record in modern history. | The headline of the Columbus Dispatch captured the feeling in a state that for months now has been inundated with politicians and their TV ads making their case: "The heart of it all," the paper said, pointing out that presidential candidates have visited this state 83 times this year, a record in modern history. |
| In its most recent poll, the paper gives Obama the lead with 50% to 48% – though that is in the margin of error and a strong turnout for Romney could easily tip it the other way. | In its most recent poll, the paper gives Obama the lead with 50% to 48% – though that is in the margin of error and a strong turnout for Romney could easily tip it the other way. |
| Both Obama and Romney were making a last appearance in the state whose 18 electoral votes have been widely seen as being the decisive prize among all the battleground states. There is a great deal riding on the outcome here, particularly for Romney, whose electoral college numbers do not easily add up to the 270 needed to win without Ohio. | Both Obama and Romney were making a last appearance in the state whose 18 electoral votes have been widely seen as being the decisive prize among all the battleground states. There is a great deal riding on the outcome here, particularly for Romney, whose electoral college numbers do not easily add up to the 270 needed to win without Ohio. |
| Obama was going for a last stab at celebrity in the hope of charming supporters into working that little bit harder on election day. He brought with him to a rally in downtown Columbus the Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen, whose boy-from-the-backstreets sensibility has sure-fire appeal with Ohio's working-class white males. He also brought on stage with him Jay-Z, a nod perhaps to another crucial Ohio demographic – African American communities in the large cities. | Obama was going for a last stab at celebrity in the hope of charming supporters into working that little bit harder on election day. He brought with him to a rally in downtown Columbus the Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen, whose boy-from-the-backstreets sensibility has sure-fire appeal with Ohio's working-class white males. He also brought on stage with him Jay-Z, a nod perhaps to another crucial Ohio demographic – African American communities in the large cities. |
| You can tell a lot about a presidential candidate by the musical company he keeps. At Romney's final rally in Ohio, also in Columbus, he was accompanied by the Marshall Tucker Band, a country rock outfit that would speak to the conservative rural heartlands of Ohio in the south and west. | You can tell a lot about a presidential candidate by the musical company he keeps. At Romney's final rally in Ohio, also in Columbus, he was accompanied by the Marshall Tucker Band, a country rock outfit that would speak to the conservative rural heartlands of Ohio in the south and west. |
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