when it comes to picking presidents, as ohio goes, so goes the nation. and yesterday ohio republicans who will host their party s national convention this summer broke with historical precedent and delivered an early endor endorsement to their governor john kasich in his bid for the white house. residents of the buckeye state won t vote in a primary until march, but they want it understood now that they re standing with their man. and today comes the announcement so, too, is their senator rob portman. i happened to see john kasich as the type of republican best suited to wage a general election campaign, but the same attributes that make him attr t attractive in a general, mainly experience and bridge-building, might hinder his ability to compete in primary season. governor john kasich joins me now from columbia, south carolina. are you now trying to convince
remember souls to the polls, that campaign, the literal drive to take voters to the polls. that s effectively over. say you want to vote on a weeknight after work. early voting begins at 5:00 p.m. more than a dozen states have approved voting restriction, and all but two are led by republicans. in arkansas, the gop legislature overwrote a veto by its democratic governor and rhode island s governor at the time was an independent, but in ohio, this is a pattern. last week governor john kasich signed two bills, including one cutting six days out of early voting. all these new rules matter, because as ohio goes, so goes the nation. president george w. bush ron reelection in 2004 in part because of hi narrow victory in the buckeye state. then senator barack obama carried the state by five points in 2008 and won the presidency. in 2012, the president won it
brian: spray my stuff down with raidd. mr. 1: happy too on. latest polls show romney falling behind president obama and they may not matter. gretchen: there is another way he believes that romney can win without the buck eye state. lay it out for us. we hear how ohio goes goes the election. first of all that poll is not accurate. the polls that i trust and look at show ohio as a dead tie and show romney gaining than falling back. the obsession is misplaced. clearwater politics put 206 votes for romney. he is six points ahead in florida and five points ahead in virginia and four points ahead in colorado, you add them together you are at 257
when it comes to presidential elections, as ohio goes, so goes the nation. in all the election the ohios picked all but one election. no republican since abraham lincoln has not won the presidency without winning ohio. mitt romney knows that very well. without ohio s 18 electoral votes it s a tough road. a loss in ohio would mean romney would have to win six of the remainder of the seats. that road got a little less rocky after last week s debate. the poll shows the president s lead just over. it with us enough to reinvigorate romney s push to win the state and even inspire a rare joint appearance between the governor and paul ryan before a crowd in lancaster, ohio, yesterday. in a nutshell, we need leadership.
everybody agrees. seven states all of which he won, usa today, gasolineup will poll this week, they said look at this. president obama is leading in the swing states 47/44. however, they fail to put context in it. obama won the states by 55/45. he is suffering in the battleground states he needs to win. bret: joe? look, i think, i don t disagree that there is ways to get there. but if ohio goes, i mean first of all, obama is ahead in virginia, too. it s closer but he has been holding that one. the two states are critical. it s critical to the three, two, one. obama has shown advantages there. this is going to be tough even if nevada and the other states come to play. the one thing i would like to do is get rid of texas. a great state. no, no, no. listen, texas. karl has pull and we get a poll down there so we could put it in the solid romney. bret: keep texas. here is the deal. he is right. i failed to get the poll run.