ohio. and you've written about it. every winning republican has carried ohio. and joe, your magazine, "time" magazine has a big spread on it this week. why hoeup will decide the election -- ohio will decide the election and your ohio poll has obama up five points. the gender gap is big in ohio. obama up in 19 points among women. and another fascinating thing obama gets 43% of the wheat vote, higher than in most states. is it all about the auto bailout, smart move politically? >> it is all about the auto bailout. the chevy cruise which is assembled in ohio has ohio parts. down to the seat covers. and everybody knows that the alternative to the auto bailout would have been 13%, 14% unemployment in that state. chris: is there a national positive for him on the auto front or is it just in a couple of states, wisconsin, obviously michigan, those kind of mi western industrial statse? >> coal being part of the state that's doing well. obviously that message will play better to romney there than to obama. but nevertheless, to back out for a second a look at the economy, generally speaking, you have states important swing states where the unemployment rate is lower than the national a

at, this thing we call ohio, where we're once again checking the polls every day, every hour, the place called ohio is not the same ohio it was when barack obama won there. ohio hasn frozen in amber since 2008. in 2010, it was the republicans who swept to power in ohio in that great red tide election of 2010. after that election the republicans controlled the statehouse, the state senate and the governorship. republicans controlled ohio. once they found themselves in charge, ohio republicans got very ambitious very quickly. they passed a law to strip union rights in the state which led to protests in the streets. ohio republicans said they would take union rights away from police and teachers and firefighters and snow plow drivers and they did not care about the anger it generated. they had that majority from the 2010 election and they were going to use it to do what they wanted. three months after republican governor john kasich had to give his state of the state address over the shouted cat calls of protesters in the capitol, this truck rolled up at the secretary of state's office in ohio bearing 1,502 boxes of petitions. 1.3 million ohio residents had signed p

ohio. he has a class problem in ohio. it is hard for him to relate to working-class voters, who, by the way, as mike huckabee said four years ago, romney reminds them of -- >> if you look at the day by day poll, and you look at the post debate numbers, each category, whether going from immigration to medicare, whatever, shows that obama has slipped in each category. iraq, which will not even mentioned, we see running moving up in favorability. >> all because of the debate? >> these races do tend to tighten at the end, unless it is a total landslide. let me finish, guys. i really do think, to the great plea to all of us, this will be a down to the wire race. will be very close. >> see you next week.

ohio, the only state that matter. here's a voter registration card. please. did your get this? >> yeah. >> jon: they already got you? you want to volunteer at all? apparently it's a requirement now, anyone from ohio has to... so ohio and d.c. i happen to have two openings, school nurse. would you be interested in that at all? >> a job's a job. >> jon: a job's a job. okay. >> can i see very quickly your bachelor of science nursing degree. >> i don't have one of those. >> jon: oh. well, how about the results of your national council licensing exam? >> i don't have one of those either. >> jon: well, we need our people to be familiar with biology, anatomy and physiology. >> got that. >> jon: what were some of your experiences? >> you see, i was over with some of my friends in iraq, and we were driving down the road. big bomb went off, bunch of people got injured. so i used the resources that i had at the time to save lives of three patients at the same time, stop their bleed, call in a medivac request and ensure that they were kept alive and safe until they could get to a higher echelon of care at one of the hospitals in the country. [cheering and applause] >> jon: do you have a certification that says that you did al

ohio, 5.5. virginia, 3.5. will those numbers change? >> i think he was a tightening of the race. certainly, florida and virginia will be competitive. the problem is ohio. no republican has ever won the white house without winning ohio. there is a path to do it, but it is so narrow to get to 270 without ohio. he has a class problem in ohio. it is hard for him to relate to working-class voters there, who by the way, are not thrilled about obama, but as mike huckabee said, romney reminds them of the guy that fire them. that is a problem. >> if you look at the day-by-day poll, the post-debate members, each category, with the government immigration to social security, medicare, whatever, obama is leading in each category, except maybe iraq, which was not mentioned. >> all because of the debate? >> i think was happening even before the debate. these pieces tend to tighten unless it is a total -- let me just finish, guys. i do think, to the great plea to all of us, then this will be a down to the wire race. it will be very close. >> you get the last word. thank you. see you next week. >> for a transcript of this broadcast, log onto insidewashington.tv.

ohio. ohio, ohio, ohio. no republican has presidency without carrying ohio, so we're going to see if this bounce that romney is apparently getting nationally, much more importantly also plays in ohio. those numbers will be released at 4:00 p.m. eastern. >> and just to underscore how important ohio is, both of the candidates are there today campaigning. so let me talk about polls. before we get our new one, this pew hol has had some serious affect on the conversation nationally. it shows romney surged from eight points hide in mid-september to four points ahead last week. there is some serious celebrating going on amidst republicans and certainly the romney camp, but i want you to give me your years and years of coverage and tell me about this roller coaster and with a month to go, does this seem like as big a deal as it is or are we just in a snapshot in time? >> we're in a snapshot in time. it's important, i don't want to belittle it by any means, but, remember, before the debate, there were so many folks out there simply as

ohio. >> ohio. >> ohio. >> ohio. >> the state that may yet decide this election. >> no republican has won the presidency. >> a republican has not won the presidency without ohio. >> i need your help to do that. >> do you think the republicans smell blood in ohio. >> there's a lot of attention being paid to the campaign these days. >> there's a good reason for that. >> he's willing to say anything, romney. >> he'll say anything. >> anything. >> i'm going to cut back on regulation, i'm going to put a cap on regulates. >> we're not going to get rid of for examplulation. >> that is not leadership, that's salesmanship. >> when the storms clouds clear, which romney will voters remember. >> there's a lot of attention being paid for the campaign these days. >> it's a close race. >> this journey is going to be hard. >> everybody is ready to throw up their hands in fear. >> melt down, reflection point. >> the race for president getting turned upside down. >> over a windfall of new polling. >> we're seeing polls all over the place. >> mitt romney got a debate bounce. >> we cannot turn back now. >> the narrative about who's up, who

ohio. in modern political history, ohio has been the path to the presidency for republican candidates. if republican candidates win ohio, they win the white house. if mitt romney doesn't win ohio, he honestly has to put together a hard combination of colorado and virginia and florida and, and, and. but if he wins ohio he has a clearer shot of winning the white house. the dead line to register to vote is tomorrow in ohio. they started voting in ohio last week with democrats camping out. and yet in ohio, the overall rules for voting right now are still kind of a mess. they are already voting, but we still don't know what the rules are for voting in ohio. the rules are not set. look at the headline today. quote, as november 6th nears, ohio rules still not set. this is remarkable, right? ohio's republican secretary of state says voting procedures should be locked down months before election day. especially if the fuel rules or the laws have changed since the last election. quoting secretary husted, we're just trying to run an election here. he says, the later you make a decision, the more likely it is to cause a problem. c

colleague try to paint and the problem is you have governor kasich, republican governor in ohio saying ohio is back, ohio has recovered. at the same time ohio voters are hearing that message they are hearing mitt romney say gloom and doom. look, the auto bailout, all the policies that the president put in place to bring the economy back all those things have underscored this general perception especially in places like ohio, wisconsin, iowa where the unemployment rate is lower than the national average and economic recovery is tied directly to some of these policies the president put in place. the romney message isn't resonating. he's on the wrong message. he's hoping for gloom and doom. the rest of us are betting for a strong u.s. economy. we're seeing that going in the right direction. governor romney's strategy is failing. >> how can you say that when the polls show governor romney is leading. >> i'm looking at ohio. where the president is expanding his lead. i'm looking at wisconsin where mitt romney, his running mate is from wisconsin the guy has never led in wisconsin not once. so if you look at the ke

ohio. they have been focusing on the columbus, ohio area. ohio hase elections horrible employment situation in the state of ohio. they are looking for people who can do tech jobs. diamond has been credited for being a strong leader. >> thank you as always. if you want to find out where the jobs are log on to casone knee exchange.com. if you have a question log on to fox and friends.com. >> questions answered next week. e-mail me. >>> any company hiring our veterans big thumbs up. 10 minutes before the hour. two coaches get into an all out foot brawl on the field at a football game. we will tell you all about it. >> what do you expect from tonight's vice presidential debate? we will have e-mails next. >>> good morning. who is going to be in a bikini today? >> it will be steve. it will be a bit of a surprise. ask the question if you are watching. >> i am going to go back to your earlier question when you are talking about the vice presidential debate. i would say it is inconsequential as any. liz cheney will be here li. benghazi the fireworks that took

ohio, that means everything to these two candidates. and it's news that the romney campaign is suddenly this competitive in ohio. no republican has won the white house without it. president obama carried it last time, and ohio itself has supplied us with eight american presidents over the years. both men running for the job were in ohio today along with peter alexander, traveling with the romney campaign. starting off our coverage in cuyuga falls, ohio. >> reporter: we're seeing real evidence that this race is tightening, not just nationally but in crucial battlegrounds like ohio. with both candidates descending on the buckeye state, the o in ohio could easily stand for offense. president obama's once large lead in ohio has shrunk to just four points. touching down on akron on the last day ohioans will vote. mitt romney will campaign here four of the last five days. the president just wrapped up his 17th rally here, more than any other state. >> do not delay, go vote today. what do you think? all right, buckeyes, we need you. >> reporter: why all the attention on ohio? no republican has won the white house without it. the race has changed here since last week's debate. just weeks ago, the campaign briefly c

ohio in the same way that romney does. obama can get to 272, 275 without ohio, but if he has ohio, boy, he's pretty well got it locked. because then if he has ohio he only needs one of iowa, colorado, nevada. and he's ahead in iowa and nevada and tied in colorado. so nailing down ohio would be a big, big thing for him. >> michael tomasky, great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. >> pleasure. >>> a class act. that's how one republican senate candidate describes richard mourdock. next, ron christie and keli goff weigh in on that and much more about republican brand. >>> later, a right wing group, voter intimidation, is going to put a million poll watchers around the country on election day. congressman elijah cummings is outraged. he's written about. he's with us tonight. stay tuned. >>> i don't think any politician in washington, most of whom are male, should be making health care decisions for women. women can make those decisions themselves. >> and we are back. that was president obama today. mitt romney is literally trying to run away from questions about richard mourdock. mourdock said, at a debate earlier

coin flips in a row if he drops ohio and wisconsin. >> statistically the case that no republican has won the presidential without ohio? >> in 70 years. >> why it's special. ohio is normally a bit republican leaning relative to the consensus. >> yes. >> so a democrat usually has more paths without ohio than republican would. ohio's population is not growing as fast so it has fewer electoral votes than it used to. some paths available to romney without ohio but it's not how you would draw it up if you're in boston trying to plan for how would your election night go. >> you actually isolate the tipping point states and say ohio has a 36.5 chance of providing the decisive electoral vote and we talked about that. wisconsin you put at a 9.8% chance of providing the decisive vote. that is interesting to me given everything that's gone on in wisconsin. talking in the break about the scott walker factor, labor discussion. people that voted to keep scott walker in office that are supporters of the president. the other complicating factor paul ryan is from wisconsin. >> right. if you look at the detail of the polls there, then paul ryan will give romney a boost maybe in

it has a broad sweep across all of ohio and michigan and indiana, but ohio particularly has benefittedve i and mitt romney said let this industry go bankrupt. and the president in the face of criticism stood up, did the right thing, the courageous thing and ohio is benefiting as a result and ohioans won't forget that. p. >> ohio, ohio, ohio. former governor ted strickland from that great state of ohio, thank you so much with the obama re-election campaign. >> it's a wonderful state. >>> ross perot no longer one of the undecided voters. he announces his endorsement in a key battleground state. >>> plus, remembering arlen specter. the vice president and other dignitaries say a final fair well to pennsylvania's longest serving senator. with the spark miles card from capital one, thor's couture gets the most rewards of any small business credit card. your boa! [ garth ] thor's small business earns double miles on every purchase, every day! ahh, the new fabrics, put it on my spark card. [ garth ] why settle for less? the spiked heels are working. wait! [ garth ] great businesses deserve the

ohio. intensified his campaign efforts there. tara mergener has more. >> reporter: good morning. with 18 electoral votes ohio is key to mitt romney's path to the white house and according to the latest numbers he's making progress. mitt romney and his supporters have a new message for president obama. >> you got the idea. >> reporter: romney has three more campaig stops in ohio today, for a very good reason. no republican has won the presidency without carrying ohio. . it you to go out there and find someone who voted for barack obama and come get them to join our team. >> reporter: romney's ohio poll voters are surging. >> this country is a country of equal opportunity. i think everybody has an equal chance to succeed and i think romney is for that. >> reporter: president obama is back in "washington today" but no shortage of election staff in ohio. the obama campaign has 10 campaign offices across the state. in columbus the president reminded voters which candidate supported the auto industry bailout. >> we reinvented a dying auto industry that supports one in eight ohio jobs and has come roaring back to the top of the world. >> reporter: ohio senior citizen bill believes the president has earned another four years in the white house. >> he has got my vote because four years ago the country was in bad shape. he's done everything he could. >> reporter: romn

ohio has a team. -- ohio has 18. that gets into 266, four short. then he only has to win one of the other four battleground states that you have been covering from new hampshire, wisconsin, iowa, colorado. if he loses ohio, then he needs a combination of three of the four, a much bigger hurdle. if he could win pennsylvania, that's 20 electoral votes. the thinking is he has to win one or the other. if he wins pennsylvania and the president were to lose my state, he loses the presidential election, i think. pennsylvania in a sense becomes the firewall for president obama. it becomes the ultimate fire wall. the real question is if what happens in virginia, which is very close, florida looks like it is tilting a little bit more toward romney, so it is like a checkerboard. what republicans have to think about is this -- they have tens of millions of dollars that they're probably cannot use in other states which they could put in pennsylvania. if they could miraculously win come about which change the dynamic of the election and probably lead to a romney

ohio, so i think ultimately, the president, because of the heavy lifting that was done, to provide real jobs for those folks is going to pay off. >> arthel: brad, ohio? >> ohio, look the president hasen against clean coal, ohio is a coal state. a lot of people down there are out of work thanks to the president and the regulations that epa put on, the state of ohio and the reason why ohio is doing better than the national average on unemployment, has everything to do with the republican governor and a leadership of making tough choices and, very little to do with the leadership of president obama and let me also say, that the auto bailout is not -- you know, gasoline prices may be alive but is not well until the american people are paid back the $25 billion they are owed. >> arthel: 7.2% unemployment rate in ohio and virginia, statistical tie, unemployment rate, 5.9%, and brad, first on this one, governor romney says the country is in a jobs crisis. president obama of course is saying the country is going in the right direction. so, who are the folks in virginia going to roll with? brad? >> i think, they will roll with governor romney and the reason being, again, we have a state of

they're running for president of ohio. >> yes. >> so if you could just relax and look at ohio, we're doing well in ohio. i think we will carry ohio. they've said no republican has ever won the presidency without winning ohio and i think we will prove that again this time. >> krystal, he just calmed me down already. >> you feel better already? >> just keep your eye e-r. on ohio. >> that's been one of the trends. the president has a couple of points nationally which is what the polls are now settling too after romney's debate bounce. and ohio is doing better because both the ohio local economy is doing better on the strength of the president's auto bailout and also because they've been so effective at framing the debate and talking about mitt romney and what his career has entailed and what his positions are, that it really has actually moved the needle there in a compelling way. >> steve, a lot of photo ops have a certain amount of phoneyness in them, but paul ryan going to the soup kitchen thing, they don't usually back fire that bad. rush limbaugh could have told them because he doesn't want them to disown that 47% comment. >> there are a lot of people who agr

ohio? back in 2008, the president performed better nationally than did he in the state of ohio. now has flipped, outperforming in ohios on average nationally is there something different going on in ohio than the wrist of the country? >> i think there is, ohio is the story of the race right now if you look at the national democrat dmoem graphics, owe ma'am's weak as soon as white voters without a college degree. in ohio, you would think that shows up in a state more than everywhere else. every part of the campaign worked to obama's advantage in ohio. he has gone on the offensive against mitt romney time at bain capital, outsourcing tax returns. any state we would expect that criticism of corporation and relationship to globalization would resonate it is ohio, where globalization has taken a toll. the heart of romney's argument against obama is obama hasn't helped the economy. ohio is a state it is doing better than the national of a range the auto bailout has a practical effect on people's lives, know people working in auto plant, suppliers of auto plant and the natural gas boom, a little beneath the radar has helped