Ohio, Ohio, Ohio: Obama, Palin on rural routes

UPDATE, Oct. 11: For a Daily Yonder report on Obama in Portsmouth, click here.

Barack Obama and Sarah Palin are in Ohio today, in search of the 20 electoral votes that could decide who is president and vice president. Palin, after campaigning with John McCain in Wisconsin, will be in Wilmington, population 12,000, northeast of Cincinnati, in Clinton County, pop. 40,000. (Bill Clinton and Al Gore stopped there on their post-convention bus tour in 1992.)

Obama is rallying in Dayton, Cincinnati and Portsmouth, an Ohio River and Appalachian town of 21,000 in bellwether Scioto County, pop. 80,000, where the economy is "particularly bleak," reports Dan Sewell of The Associated Press. Sewell notes how badly Obama lost to Hillary Clinton in the primary but says the economy has created an opening for him. He quotes Eric Rademacher, co-director of the Ohio Poll at the University of Cincinnati: "Southeast Ohio could potentially make the difference in who wins Ohio, so it will be a very important campaign ground. I think right now there is a real question of just how the region is going to vote." (Read more)

Ryan Scott Otney of the Portsmouth Daily Times outlines preparations for Obama's visit and reports, "The city was abuzz with excitement on Wednesday, as the finishing touches were set into place . . . " (Read more) The Wilmington News-Journal's home page advises, "Rally goers: Please carpool." (Read more)