Ohioans who complained that their presidential primary votes would be unnecessary were sorely mistaken.* Ohio could very well determine the Democratic nominee this year, so I'd say things will certainly get more interesting around here in the next couple of weeks. Hillary Clinton stopped by the Skyline Chili in Oakley this morning** and Barak Obama's wife is currently giving a speech over at Music Hall.*** A couple of notes concerning the forthcoming March 4th Ohio primary:
- Ohio has an open primary, meaning that you don't have to be registered to any one party in order to vote for their candidates. That means Republicans accepting that John McCain is already their party's candidate could try to chose his opponent. I'm not sure it will be a huge factor, but I do think this will be one time some Republicans vote the Democratic ticket.
- Cincinnati mayor Mark Mallory, a super delegate, is stuck between a rock and a hard place. In the next week or so he's going to have to endorse Hillary or Obama and there's more at stake then he realizes. With the city's high percentage of African American voters, it would probably help him locally to back the Senator from Illinois. But I have this feeling that, as many major city mayors have already done, he's going to come out for Hillary. With both Cleveland and Columbus likely to help out Obama in Ohio, Cincinnati will be a big battleground. Mallory's endorsement could have some significance on the outcome, not only of this election, but his desired re-election in next year's mayoral race.
Regardless, I think both candidates will swing through Cincinnati again. If so, I might try to see them. I haven't seen a President [or a potential President] since Ronald Reagan's visit to Cincinnati in the early 1980's.
*I found it humorous that people in Ohio wanted their vote to "mean something," like they have been forgotten or have been marginalized. Ohio has been front and center during the past two Presidential elections and will, most likely, be right back there again this fall.Â
**This Skyline is significant as it is one of the few in Cincinnati that serves Coke products, therefore making it one of my favorites.Â
***Some comments from this Enquirer blog post accuse Hillary of bad taste for stopping by a chili parlor in a Catholic town on a Friday during Lent. I'm not a Hillary backer, but that's a pretty weak accusation.