And he's going to need all the help he can get since only a small portion of the state is identified as "blue-friendly" -- but fortunately, those portions are the bigger cities (well, except for most of Cincinnati, that is).
Most politicians would be happy with a 20-point lead in an opinion poll, but the Democratic candidate for Ohio governor just worries.
Ted Strickland is fighting what he says is the most important election in the United States -- for control of Ohio. It's the mother of all swing states, known for making or breaking presidents in elections going back decades.
In the last one, in 2004, Ohio was the state that assured Republican President George W. Bush of a second term in the White House. But Bush won the state with just 51 percent of the vote, and Ohio can swing the other way too.
"Ohio is truly the swing state. And if we have the governor's office, we can put together the political infrastructure so that, come 2008, we as Ohioans can return America to the American people," Strickland, a six-term U.S. congressman, told a Democratic Forum in Cincinnati.
A former Methodist minister and psychologist, Strickland feels the weight of the November election in a state where voters want change.
"The eyes of the nation are upon us," he said.
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