You are exactly right about Ohio, which is a socially conservative state in which the GOP holds every statewide elected office and controls both houses of the state legislature. Free trade has destroyed the economy in large parts of the state; that's the only reason Kerry even has a chance here.
And just how many of the folks there do their shopping at Wal-mart?
Taxes have destroyed the economy in Ohio. If Ohio wants to point fingers, it needs look no further than the Republican legislature in Columbus.
Ohio's tax rates are staggeringly high. It has an 8% sales tax, a 8.5% corporate income tax, and it is one of only a handful of states (12, I think) that allows municipalities to impose their own income tax--in Cleveland, for instance, the income tax is an additional 2%--and there is a ballot issue this fall to raise that tax!
Why are companies leaving Ohio? Free trade? That's garbage. Companies are leaving because they are taxed to death there and the economic model in the US is changing. In 1950, Cleveland had around 85 Fortune 500 companies based in the city. Now there is 11. All that is free trade, huh? Yeah, let's blame NAFTA for all of it. Right. It couldn't be stupid policies by the legislature or the city councils. Nope. It's all free trade.
If Ohio doesn't change its tune--and soon--there isn't going to be anything left except for the companies that use the natural resources of the area. Cleveland should thank its lucky stars that the largest salt mine in the United States sits under Lake Erie right off its shores--that might be the only employer left in the city in 20 years.