Research Briefing

Biden Hits The Campaign Trail In Ohio, As A New Wave Of Polls Reveals That Voters Have Had Enough Of Obama’s Failed Economic Policies

“Vice President Joe Biden Will Attend A Tuesday Afternoon Labor Event In Euclid, A Kickoff Of Sorts To President Barack Obama's Re-Election Campaign In Ohio.” (Henry Gomez, “Vice President Joe Biden Will Speak At Euclid Fire Station In Tuesday Campaign Event,” The [Cleveland] Plain Dealer, 11/13/11)

SINCE OBAMA BECAME PRESIDENT, OHIO HAS SUFFERED AS HIS PROMISES OF A RECOVERY HAVE CONSISTENTLY COME UP EMPTY

Since President Obama Took Office, Ohio Has Lost 107,700 Jobs And The Unemployment Rate Has Increased From 8.6 Percent To 9.1 Percent. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 11/14/11)

• There Are 533,567 Unemployed Workers In Ohio, Over 23,000 More Than When Obama Took Office. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 11/14/11)
• In 2010, 29 Percent Of Ohio’s Unemployed Workers Had Been Out Of Work For A Year Or Longer. (Sara Murray, “Long Term Unemployment By State,” The Wall Street Journal’s “Real Time Economics Blog”, 7/21/11)

The White House Predicted That The First $825 Billion Stimulus Would Save Or Create 133,000 Jobs In Ohio. (“UPDATED: American Recovery And Reinvestment Act: State-By-State Jobs Impact,” WhiteHouse.gov, 2/13/09)

However, Since The First Stimulus Was Passed, Ohio Has Lost 82,200 Jobs. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, BLS.gov, Accessed 10/21/11)

• Including 20,900 Construction Jobs And 35,900 Manufacturing Jobs. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, BLS.gov, Accessed 10/21/11)

Since President Obama Took Office, 286,878 Ohioans Have Fallen Into Poverty And The Poverty Rate Has Increased From 13.4 Percent To 15.8 Percent. (“Income, Poverty And Health Insurance In The United States: 2010," US Census Bureau, September 2011; “Poverty 2008 and 2009, American Community Survey,” US Census Bureau, September 2010”)

• Three Ohio Cities Are In The Top Ten Metro Areas With The “Greatest Increases In Concentrated Poverty.” “A Brookings Institution report released Thursday listed Toledo and two other Ohio cities in the top 10 metro areas with the ‘greatest increases in concentrated poverty.’ Toledo saw a more than 15 percent increase in the concentration of poor people living in the city's poorest neighborhoods in the past 10 years. The Youngstown area ranked third with a change of 14 percent and Dayton had a 10 percent increase in concentrated poverty, taking the ninth-place spot.” (Kim Palmer, “Three Ohio Cities Rank In Top 10 For Poverty Rate Increase,” Reuters, 11/3/11)
• “Thirty-One Ohio Counties Had Child-Poverty Rates Of 25 Percent Or Higher In 2009.” (Mark Ferenchik and Rita Price, “Poverty’s Grip Grows In Central Ohio,” The Columbus Dispatch, 11/3/11)

Since President Obama Took Office, The Median Household Income In Ohio Has Fallen $2,898 From $47,988 In 2008 To $45,090 In 2010. (American Community Survey, US Census Bureau, Accessed 11/14/11)

Since President Obama Took Office, Ohio’s Share Of The National Debt Has Increased By Over $162 Billion To $559.5 Billion And Each Ohioan’s Share Of The National Debt Has Increased $14,077.70 To $48,497.23.   (U.S. Treasury Department, Treasury Direct, Accessed 11/14/11; US Census Bureau, Accessed 11/14/11)

• Politifact: “Obama Is The Undisputed Debt King Of The Last Five Presidents.” (“Nancy Pelosi Post Questionable Chart On Debt Accumulation By Barack Obama, Predecessors,” Politifact, 5/19/11)

THESE DISMAL RESULTS OF OBAMANOMICS EXPLAIN OBAMA’S POOR POLL NUMBERS IN THIS CRUCIAL SWING STATE

“Ohio: Voters Disapprove Of Obama's Job Performance By A 50 - 44 Percent Split, With 46 Percent He Saying He Should Be Re-Elected And 48 Percent Saying He Should.” (Marc Caputo, “Swing State Poll Redux: Cain, Romney Lead GOP. Romney More Trusted, Better V. Obama,” The Miami Herald, 11/10/11)

• 59 Percent Of Ohio Independents Disapprove Of Obama’s Job Performance, Only 37 Percent Approve. (Quinnipiac Polls, 1312 V, MoE 2.7%, 10/31-11/7/11)
• 54 Percent Of Ohio Independents Think Obama Does Not Deserve Reelection. (Quinnipiac Polls, 1312 V, MoE 2.7%, 10/31-11/7/11)

41 Percent Of Ohio Republicans Are More Enthusiastic About The 2012 Election Than Normal, Only 22 Percent Of Ohio Democrats Are More Enthusiastic. (Quinnipiac Polls, 1312 V, MoE 2.7%, 10/31-11/7/11)

78 Percent Of Ohio Are Dissatisfied With The Way Things Are Going In The Country. (Quinnipiac Polls, 1312 V, MoE 2.7%, 10/31-11/7/11)

 Perhaps This Explains Why Obama Has Not Made Ohio A “Priority”

Some Local Ohio Democrats Don’t Think Obama Is Paying Enough Attention To Ohio. “That has fed into a sense, among some local Democrats, that the Chicago-based Obama campaign just doesn’t think too much about them despite carrying Ohio against John McCain by just 2.4 percent in 2008.” (Glenn Thrush, “Ohio Back On Obama’s Dance Card,” Politico, 11/10/11)

The Obama Campaign Has Not Made Ohio A “Priority.” “While the president has visited here three times this year, once to tout his highly popular auto bailout, his campaign seemed to signal which states it considers priorities when it passed over Cleveland as a convention site in lieu of Charlotte, N.C., while choosing Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz over Strickland as Democratic National Committee chair.” (Glenn Thrush, “Ohio Back On Obama’s Dance Card,” Politico, 11/10/11)

It’s “Absolutely Plausible” That Obama Will Lose “Mega Battleground States” Pennsylvania, Ohio And Florida. “Obama could lose all three of those mega battleground states, 67 electoral votes combined, and still have more than enough to win the required 270. That’s because in 2008, Obama overwhelmingly won the electoral vote, 365 to John McCain’s 173. Now the bad news for Obama: It’s absolutely plausible nearly one year out from the election that he will lose all three of those states — and a whole lot more. His approval ratings in Pennsylvania and Ohio are just as bad as in Florida, and his poll numbers are grim throughout the Midwest and mid-Atlantic regions.” (Adam Smith, “Obama’s Math Problem: Winning Election If He Loses Florida,” St. Petersburg Times, 10/29/11)

BIDEN’S VISIT COMES JUST A WEEK AFTER OHIO VOTERS OVERWHELMINGLY REJECTED OBAMACARE

In A Rejection Of ObamaCare, Ohio Voters Passed Issue 3. “Voters in Ohio approved a measure Tuesday night disapproving of President Obama’s healthcare law. Ohioans passed an amendment to the state constitution that says Ohio residents cannot be forced to buy health insurance.” (Sam Baker, “Ohio Voters Reject Health Insurance Mandate,” The Hill, 11/8/11)

• “Issue 3 Passed In All Of Ohio's 88 Counties.” (Henry Gomez, “Ohio Voters Send Mixed Signals with Issues 2 and 3; Democrats And Republicans Claim Victory,” The [Cleveland] Plain Dealer, 11/9/11)
• “The Health-Care Opt-Out In Ohio, A Swing State, Should Also Send A Message To President Obama.” (Collin Levy, “Ohio Tea Leaves,” The Wall Street Journal, 11/9/11)

AS THE ELECTION NEARS, OBAMA HAS MORE PROBLEMS THAN JUST VOTERS SOURING ON OBAMACARE

The Washington Post’s Fact Checker: “Unless The Economy Turns Around In The Next 18 Months, Obama Is On Track To Have The Worst Jobs Record Of Any President In The Modern Era. That Would Be An Accurate Statement.” (Glenn Kessler, “Rick Perry’s Claim That Obama Has ‘Killed More Jobs’ Than Any Other President,” The Washington Post’s “The Fact Checker,” 8/22/11)

• BLS’ October Report “Suggests That President Barack Obama Will Likely Face The Voters With The Highest Unemployment Rate Of Any Postwar President.” “The report suggests that President Barack Obama will likely face the voters with the highest unemployment rate of any postwar president.”  (“U.S. Employers Add 80,000 Jobs In October, Unemployment Rate Dips Slowly,” The Associated Press, 11/4/11)

“It’s A Near-Certainty That The Economy — Measured In Political Terms By The Unemployment Rate — Won’t Have Recovered In Any Meaningful Way By November 2012.” (Chris Cilliza and Aaron Blake, “President Obama And The Old College Try,” The Washington Post, 11/7/11)

“By The Time The Next Election Rolls Around, The Government Will Have Taken On Almost $7 Trillion In Debt Under Obama. It’s Hard To Explain Away A Number So Big.” (Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen, “President Obama’s Big Drags,” Politico, 8/4/11)

The Washington Post’s Fact Checker: Obama’s Record On The Debt “Looks Pretty Bad For Obama After Not Even Three Years On Office.” “If the chart were recast to show how much the debt went up as a percentage of GDP, it would look pretty bad for Obama after not even three years in office. In fact, Obama does almost twice as poorly as Reagan — and four times worse than George W. Bush.” (Glenn Kessler, “A Bogus Chart On Obama And The Debt Gets A New Lease On Life,” The Washington Post's "The Fact Checker", 9/29/11)

• WaPo: “[Obama’s] Record On The Growth Of National Debt Is The Worst Of Recent Presidents.” “But the fact remains that under basic economic measures, not phony ones, his record on the growth of the national debt is the worst of recent presidents.” (Glenn Kessler, “A Bogus Chart On Obama And The Debt Gets A New Lease On Life,” The Washington Post's "The Fact Checker", 9/29/11)