COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Friday's subzero conditions didn't deter President-elect Barack Obama from picking Ohio as the location to plug his proposed $825 billion economic stimulus package. The state's suffering economy, large population, quintessential political mind-set and short distance from Washington make it an ideal whistle stop for such presidential visits. It is doubly beneficial when a president can use the moment to press for a key Ohio lawmaker's vote, as Obama tried to do Friday with GOP Sen. George Voinovich.
Republican George W. Bush, freshly inaugurated in 2001, made a key early stop in the state as well - visiting Columbus on Feb. 20 of that year to pitch a package of education initiatives that included No Child Left Behind. Obama chose to visit the Cleveland suburb of Bedford Heights. "Ohio is one of the states that is in deep economic trouble and a place like Cleveland, where you've got a lot of folks who have lost their jobs, is a good place to show the downturned economy," Duncan said. "Obama wants to take a good look into the eyes of the folks who would benefit most from the stimulus."
Obama's Ohio stop also drew America's attention to those folks, said political scientist David Davis of the University of Toledo. "It's like a big photo opportunity," Davis said. "One more story about Obama in Washington isn't going to be as interesting as a trip to Ohio or a trip to Philadelphia by train."
Schnell said Ohio, a once proud manufacturing giant now hemorrhaging jobs, will be in the crosshairs of Obama's early economic decision-making - and he is under intense pressure to succeed. Obama allies used the Ohio visit to press for Voinovich's vote on the latest economic stimulus package, while Bush used his 2001 visit to drum up support for his signature education measure.
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