Wherever you go in Ohio, you can’t help but see our state’s unofficial slogan: “The heart of it all!” It’s on license plates, it’s on billboards. It was probably meant to reference our midwestern roots, the fact that we’ve got a little bit of everything: we’ve got big cities, and we’ve got vast expanses of farmland. We’re a manufacturing state making gains in technology. I’d like to think, however, that Ohio is the heart of it all politically. Keeping in mind that no president has won election or re-election without carrying Ohio since 1960, it’s hard to disagree.
And make no mistake, the midterm election in Ohio has repercussions that extend far beyond Ohio’s borders. If Ohio goes red this fall, it will be very, VERY difficult for Obama to win Ohio in 2012, and if history is any judge, if you don’t win Ohio, you don’t win re-election.
So this fall, Ohio will figure to be closely watched. There is one area of Ohio that will be the heart and soul of the state that boasts its electoral importance. We’re talking ground zero of the 2010 midterm elections. That area is Ohio State University.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. The fate of Ohio’s election is in the hands of Ohio State students? A school famous for it’s couch-burning and post-football game riots? Visions of Animal House fill your head. You’re asking how one university, this university in particular, can have any large impact on the political course of the nation.
Here’s how: Ohio State’s campus encompasses two Congressional districts. Most of campus lies in the 15th Congressional district, an office which is currently held by a true progressive, Mary Jo Kilroy. It figures to be one of the toughest house races in the nation. The rest of campus lies in the 12th Congressional district, which is currently occupied by Republican Pat Tiberi, a Wall Street pawn. His challenger is Paula Brooks, and the race is being called by the DCCC and Emily’s List one of their most important pick-up opportunities. Ohio State recorded record turnout for President Obama in 2008, and if there’s any hope that Ohio can re-elect Governor Ted Strickland or elect Lee Fisher to the United States Senate, Ohio State students will need to vote again, and in large numbers.
How? College Democrats at Ohio State.
We can do it, we can make a direct impact on a congressional race. In 2006, in what was generally a very positive year for Democrats, Mary Jo Kilroy lost her race to represent Ohio’s 15th Congressional district by 1,055 votes. In 2008, she ran for the same seat again, but this time, College Democrats at Ohio State were ready to organize and turn out students. We registered 8,250 voters. We knocked on tens of thousands of doors. We made thousands of phone calls. And in the end, Mary Jo Kilroy won by 2,312 votes, and Ohio got a true progressive champion.
Our goal this year is to register 10,000 students and to turn them out to vote. It won’t be easy, and it won’t be cheap. This is where we need your help. Please consider making a donation to College Democrats at Ohio State. Your donation will buy us the resources we need to register voters: clipboards, chalk, rooms for events. Your donation will help us buy the resources we need to get students to early vote: buses and vans to get students to and from the Board of Elections, an office on the heart of campus. Your donation will help us grow our team, and help us recruit new members/volunteers, and help nurture and develop a new generation of Democratic activists.
Please consider making an investment not only in the short-term (the midterm election), but also in the long-term (young folks are the future of the Democratic Party).