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Although the most recent Gallup poll didn't find any "immediate bump" nationally from the addition of Paul Ryan to Mitt Romney's presidential ticket, a new Purple Strategies survey finds that Ryan helped contribute to a decent upward swing in two crucial battleground states over the past month. The Romney-Ryan ticket now leads President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the key swing states of Virginia and Ohio, which each saw 5-point swings in the last month. Romney-Ryan lead 46 to 44 percent in Ohio and 48 to 45 percent in Virginia. Combined, the two states account for 31...

Our presidential elections, pundits sometimes remind us, are not national contests, but rather contests in 50 states and the District of Columbia. And since most states lean heavily to one party or the other these days, the only real contests are in a dozen or so target states. Once upon a time, most states were in play. In the 1976 contest between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, 30 states with 396 electoral votes were carried by less than 10 percent of the votes. Three-quarters of voters lived in those states. In 2008, the field of play was much smaller. The...

It is no secret that Barack Obama never served in the military. In fact, he doesn’t seem to be that big a fan of our men and women in uniform (at least the ones who aren’t gay). And unless pictures lie, the feeling is mutual. One retired Army officer so dislikes Obama’s policies toward the military that he has publicly stated his view that the president is “undeserving of the title Commander-in-Chief.” That would be Congressman Allen West, who wrote on his Facebook page: I am appalled at the Obama administration’s actions to bring a lawsuit against the State of...

President Obama’s campaign is suing Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted to try to re-instate the three days of early, in person voting before Election day in November. Ohio Public Radio’s Jo Ingles reports. (AUDIO AT LINK) Back in 2004, Ohio’s voting process was under national scrutiny after there were long lines at polling places, causing voters to wait for up to eight hours to cast their ballots at some precincts. After that, Ohio lawmakers passed a law that, among other things, allowed Ohioans to vote in person on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday before the election. Those rules were...

President Barack Obama's campaign has spent nearly $100 million on television commercials in selected battleground states so far, unleashing a sustained early barrage designed to create lasting, negative impressions of Republican Mitt Romney before he and his allies ramp up for the fall. In a reflection of campaign strategy, more than one-fifth of the president's ad spending has been in Ohio, a state that looms as a must-win for Romney more so than for Obama. Florida ranks second and Virginia third, according to organizations that track media spending and other sources....

(VIDEO AT LINK) Mitt Romney's Presidential campaign launched a stealth ad in Ohio, POLITICO first reported this morning. The ad is also running in Iowa, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, New Hampshire, and Nevada, according to the tracking service TVEyes. It began airing on morning television programs today. The ad features Hillary Clinton attacking Obama during the contentious 2008 Democratic primary, for spending "millions of dollars perpetuating falsehoods." She adds, "So shame on you, Barack Obama." Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith sends this response to the ad: “Mitt Romney might not like the facts of his private sector record: that he...

President Barack Obama is ramping up a fresh phase of his re-election bid with a bus tour next week, focusing more on direct engagement with voters and less on ritzy fundraisers. Obama's two-day road trip through Pennsylvania and Ohio, two key battleground states in the November election, kicks off July 5, a campaign official said. It will be the president's first bus tour of the 2012 campaign. The bus trip also will coincide with the release of the monthly nationwide jobs report, a key economic indicator that could directly affect the president's re-election prospects...

If Romney selects Portman for VEEP (a fellow technocrat and middle of the roader) who do you Ohioans think would governor Kasich choose to replace him in the Senate?

Not too long ago pundits were arguing that Mitt Romney’s path to 270 electoral votes was “narrow.” We didn’t buy it. Lo and behold, conventional wisdom has now changed. The Associated Press writes: “Warning signs for Obama on tight path to 270.” The AP explains: Obama’s new worries about North Carolina and Wisconsin offer opportunities for Republican Mitt Romney, who must peel off states Obama won in 2008 if he’s to cobble together the 270 electoral votes needed to oust the incumbent in November. Iowa, which kicked off the campaign in January, is now expected to be tight to the...

Liberal activists organized by CREDO SuperPAC are planning to protest outside a fundraiser that House Speaker John Boehner is holding Wednesday on Portola Road in Woodside with Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Gold River. The event with Boehner, R-Ohio, costs up to $35,000 a plate or $5,000 for a photo opportunity, and is occurring just six miles from the Atherton home in which President Obama is scheduled to hold a $35,800-a-plate fundraiser at about the same time.CREDO SuperPAC says it has launched a campaign against Lungren with four full-time organizers and a Carmichael field office to mobilize local voters to defeat a...

Landline telephones could soon be a thing of the past in parts of Ohio if a senate bill passes. “I would not like it too much. I think landlines are important and I have to make a lot of long distance calls,” said Jerry Viola. Snip...

WASHINGTON — As the Ohio Republican presidential primary enters its final days, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich can make a legitimate claim that he’s already providing a boost to the state’s wobbly economy. Gingrich spent more than $5 million using Ohio vendors for his presidential campaign in the past four months alone — far more than any of the other three GOP contenders. He spent the bulk of that money with two companies — Akron-based InfoCision and Delaware-based Strategic Media Placement Inc. — an affiliate of the Strategy Group for Media. In all, he spent $2.9 million with the former...

I’ve been struck, in the aftermath of Michigan and Arizona, by how many political journalists have made arguments like the following from New York’s John Heilemann, which emphasizes Mitt Romney’s continued weakness and vulnerability: … the shirts versus skins schism that has emerged as a defining feature of the Republican electorate will be sharper in many of the ten states that vote [on Super Tuesday]. In Georgia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Idaho, and Alaska, more than half the voters going to the polls are likely to be Evangelicals (whereas in Michigan the percentage was just 39 percent). In all those states, Romney...

Very big enthusiasm in OH for Rick Santorum, very little for Mitt Romney Ohio A-G , Mike Dewine on Pieres Morgen / CNN (tonight) He also said: "People just LIKE him. I think Santorum is going to win."

I think John Kasich would be a great choice for the Newt's VP. The Governor or Ohio, an important swing state and someone that worked on balancing the budget with Newt in Congress. This would also lay the groundwork for a conservative successor to 8 years of Newt. We could have 16 years of conservative leadership to undo all the damage the O did in the last 4 years.

When the Ohio Legislature was tasked with eliminating two Congressional seats with the decennial redistricting, the delegation was on notice. And with Republicans holding a 13-5 advantage, one of their own was likely to be on the chopping block. How Rep. Steve Austria got the short end of the stick was the result of a last-minute deal that came together on Dec. 14, the last day of the Ohio House’s 2011 session.

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman today endorsed fellow Republican Josh Mandel, the current state treasurer, for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Democrat Sherrod Brown. Although Portman's backing of Mandel was not unexpected, he hadn't announced it until today when he met with The Dispatch's editorial board. "I'm helping Josh," Portman said. "I guess I haven't officially endorsed him yet, so I guess this is a news opportunity. But I'm helping Josh. I don't know if anybody else is going to get in. I think his fundraising in the second quarter has been pretty impressive. I think he's a good...

Ohio Republican Party donors and other attendees at the state GOP's dinner tonight picked former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in a straw poll to take on President Barack Obama in 2012. Romney finished comfortably ahead of the Republican field, picking up 25 percent of the vote. When state party chairman Kevin DeWine announced Romney as the winner, a few people in the audience booed. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (16 percent) finished second, followed by U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (15 percent).

A Wall Street Journal/NBC poll reported last week that 45 percent of GOP voters are not satisfied with the candidates running for their party’s presidential nomination. While the exact same percentage said they are content with the field, the current split is a long way from the same point in 2008 when 72 percent of Republicans said they were pleased with candidates running for the nomination. The poll comes as the 2012 presidential field is pretty much set. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman formally enter the race Tuesday. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann made her entry official at the beginning of...

The first votes for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination are still months away, but Ohioans have already given nearly a quarter of a million dollars to would-be candidates, including $58,000 to “SarahPAC,” former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s political action committee. Trailing just behind Palin in cash from Ohioans is former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s “Free and Strong America PAC,” which has received $50,000. Ohio, long a bellwether in presidential politics, isn’t necessarily considered a must-win for Republican primary candidates. But the enthusiasm a candidate musters in the Buckeye state — including financial contributions — can be indicative of how they’ll...