It looks like Ohio voters will get the chance to vote for Joe Biden for president if they choose, but it’s been a tortuous process to get there.
But first, speaking of Joe Biden, he continues to struggle in national polls. The national polls show President Biden and former President Donald Trump basically tied, with Trump holding a very narrow lead. In the swing states, Trump leads in five of the six states that Biden won in 2020.
Many credit or blame Biden’s polling troubles on, at worst, a lack of support or, at best, a lack of enthusiasm among young voters, particularly young progressives who supported him in 2020.
Now, Ohio is not considered a swing state, but it has its share of young voters and young Democrats.
Ballot Drama
As of right now, Biden remains off the ballot in Ohio. But to be completely fair and accurate, so does Trump.
It's all because of deadlines. Neither man can make the ballot until he is officially nominated by his party. Donald Trump’s nomination is set for July 18, well before Ohio’s ballot deadline of August 7, so presumably, he’s good. Biden’s convention nomination would come on August 19, 12 days after the deadline, which is why he’s in jeopardy of not making the ballot.
In the past week, in a rare use of his bully pulpit, Ohio Gov. DeWine ordered lawmakers back to Columbus to fix the problem, which they have done—without controversy—in two past election cycles.
Lawmakers met, but alas, have not agreed on anything. The Senate passed a bill that would also ban foreign contributions to issue campaigns. The House has not acted on that bill.
However, national Democrats now say they will nominate Biden before the convention via Zoom so he meets the Ohio deadline.
Snollygoster of the week
This week, Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio was ranked the least bipartisan member of Congress, coming in 436th out of 436 members. He edged out New York's Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. No doubt both members will use their ranking in fundraising emails, saying they don’t compromise!
By the way, Ohio’s most bipartisan representative is Republican David Joyce.
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