This time of year in Delaware, Ohio they like a close race with plenty of mud and lots of noise.
It’s not the rollicking presidential race but the Rough Truck competition at the county fair.
But even here, politics are never far away.
Across the midway in the merchants’ barn, you’ll find booths for both political parties. And just like the polls in Ohio, the booths are pretty close — maybe too close.
“We had a life size cut out of Hillary Clinton but somebody took it,” said a Democratic volunteer.
The volunteer wasn’t pointing any fingers but this year the political shenanigans aren’t limited to the fair grounds. In this key battleground state, both campaigns are reaching out to some very unlikely voters.
For the Trump campaign, that would be Jeff Hill.
“Yeah, Donald Trump”s who I’m voting for,” Hill said.
He is a disaffected Democrat, drawn by Trump’s promise to “make America great again.” Hill is exactly the demographic Trump appeals to — older, white and blue collar. Census numbers show Ohio has more voters like him than any other battleground state.
It explains why Trump is in Ohio almost every week, showing up on traditional Democratic turf like factory towns, coal fields even Union halls. The Republican nominee recently appeared at the Canfield Fair, Ohio’s largest county fair, where he drew a huge crowd in a county where Republicans rarely get more than 35% of the vote.
Bob Paduchik, Trump’s Ohio campaign director, credits Trump’s message of security and fairer trade deals.
“I think that resonates not just with Republicans but also Independents and Democrats,” he said.
Trump isn’t the only one after non typical voters.
The Clinton campaign has set its sights on suburban neighborhoods like Powell just north of Columbus, which is predominantly white, upper middle class and rich in Republicans. The Clinton campaign believes some voters here might side with the Democratic nominee if they’re unable to stomach the idea of voting for Trump.
Some Republicans don’t need much selling.
Sherrie Scarton has been a long time conservative voting for Ronald Reagan, John McCain and Mitt Romney. She even voted for Ohio Governor John Kasich in the primary. But she is not voting for Trump.
“Hillary’s a smart woman and Trump is just, I hate to say it, he’s a maniac,” she said.
But Paul Beck, a political science professor at The Ohio State University, isn’t so sure this kind of political sniping is enough to win an election. He thinks many Ohio voters haven’t made up their minds how they will vote or even if they will vote at all.
“What events occur between now and November 8th, what the debates look like what kind of terrorism activity — there are all these kind of things that are out there in the firmament that can have an impact on what people end up doing in Election 2016,” Beck said.
When asked whether anyone has the Buckeye State wrapped up, Beck’s answer was simple: “I don’t think so.”
