Ohio giving voice to broader economic concerns
Woes of industrial Midwest represented by Ohio voters.
BROOK PARK, Ohio -- Sitting in Henry's Bar and Grill, with the first shift at the Ford Motor plant across the street done, James Thomas tapped the bar for another shot of gin.
As with most autoworkers these days, the drinks are mixed with as much worry as hope.
Thomas' three kids likely won't get their usual trip to Disney World this year: He's got to think about putting them through college someday. Ford has already idled, at least temporarily, one of the engine plants across the street and is talking about closing the casting plant, too. That would leave just one plant open.
"Morale," Thomas said, "really sucks."
On Tuesday, Ohio voters like Thomas will be standing in for Michigan residents who were stripped of any meaningful Democratic contest. The state's Jan. 15 primary violated party rules and the state was stripped of its convention delegates. Now, it falls on the Buckeye State to represent the economic woes of the industrial Midwest.
Chris Redfern, an Ohio legislator from Catawba Island and chairman of the state Democratic Party, said Friday that voters are asking two questions: "Who wins in November?" and "Who's going to stand up for me in January?"
Last week, at the debate at Cleveland State University, NAFTA — a free-trade agreement with Canada and Mexico produced by Bill Clinton's administration and widely denounced by industrial workers as having sent jobs south of the border — was a point of contention, but not much of one.
Both candidates said while they weren't ready to pull out of NAFTA, the threat to do so would allow them to negotiate changes that would protect American workers.
"People really don't understand the devastation that that one thing caused," said Allen Huguely, 55, of Dayton. Huguely once worked for bankrupt GM parts maker Delphi, which has slashed payroll and cut thousands of jobs. Now, he commutes every week nearly two hours to an Allison Transmission plant — sold by General Motors to two investment firms last year — in Indianapolis.
