Republican presidential candidates can’t afford to ignore Ohio: no GOP candidate has ever won the White House without carrying the Buckeye State. Right now, Romney and Ryan are running behind in Ohio, but if they focused more on the military vote they might even up the race. “Military vote” in this case doesn’t just mean uniformed personnel, of whom there are about 51,000 in the state. It also means civilian defense workers, employees at defense plants, military dependents and veterans. Add them all up and they’re one in eight registered voters, probably an even larger share of the voters who will actually turn out on election day. Most of the voters with ties to the military in Ohio are inclined to vote Republican, but it isn’t so clear they’re getting the attention from campaign managers they deserve. I have written a commentary for Forbes here.
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