The Great Ohioan Divide Of 2006

Security or economy? Ohio race highlights divide

Iraq and terrorism may be the talk of Washington. But lost jobs and high costs may factor as much in November elections that will decide whether President George W. Bush's Republicans hold on to Congress.

Opinion polls and voters are saying the economy matters, including in Ohio, an industrial state hit by more lost jobs than the national average. Ohio is also a bellwether state that often decides U.S. elections and could again this time.

"If we put all of our energy and too much of our money and power into terror and not worry about jobs, we can't compete in the world market," said Mark Chema, a 52-year-old union electrical technician from Zanesville in Ohio.

Twenty-three percent of voters in a nationwide Fox News poll released on August 31 said the economy was the most important issue in the mid-term election, while 14 percent cited Iraq and 12 percent said terrorism.

While Bush and other Republicans tout America's low 4.7 percent jobless rate and solid economic growth, stagnant wages and higher prices for everything from gasoline to health care have many voters looking for change.

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Jennifer Duffy, who analyzes Senate races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said Brown's opposition to the Patriot Act, which expanded federal power to investigate potential threats, "gives them a pretty interesting debate that they think will help them."

She said many Americans did not distinguish between the war on terror and the war in Iraq -- a blurring that could be a double-edged sword for the Republicans.

"Iraq serves as a constant reminder about why Americans have these (security) concerns in the first place. But as Iraq continues to go poorly, the Democrats hope they can use that to bolster their own national security credentials," she said.

Brown, one of the more liberal Democrats in Congress, voted against the Iraq war and wants U.S. troops out within two years. DeWine supports the war.

"For me, it's the economy," said Chema, the Zanesville voter. "Of course the war on terror is very important, but the war in Iraq I believe has very little to do with what happened on 9/11."

Chema said he would vote for Brown because he had opposed free trade deals and "will be tougher" about protecting jobs.