CINCINNATI, Ohio (WDTN) – Wednesday Vice President Mike Pence made a second trip to southwest Ohio in as many weeks. Ohio is quickly becoming one of the most competitive races in the country. Republicans are trying to secure a state the experts believe they must win to keep the White House.
They say the electoral math is in Joe Biden’s favor right now and he can win the White House without Ohio. But President Trump must win the Buckeye State if he wants a chance at reelection. Vice President Pence and the campaign are making Ohio a key focus in the final stretch leading up to election day.
As chants of “four more years” echoed through the airplane hangar, there was a lot of confidence at the latest Republican rally in Cincinnati.
Vice President Mike Pence opened by saying, “I know Ohio’s going to say yes to four more years of President Donald Trump in 2020.” His supporters are pushing for more of the same. Jennie Rouse of Cincinnati says the campaign needs to “Just keep going up the way it’s been going.” Lori Flannigan of West Chester said, “More of the last four years, moving in that direction.”
WATCH the Vice President’s speech in full:
Ohio has become one of the tightest races in the country, and there is cause for concern elsewhere. Most national polling indicates Joe Biden is in prime position to win the White House, so President Trump needs the Buckeye State more.
The Vice President targeted Biden throughout the night, citing a conservative study criticizing his economic plans, which “said that Joe Biden’s economic policies would reduce five million jobs.”
He criticized Biden’s lack of answers on adding justices to the Supreme Court. “Come on, man! The American people deserve a straight answer, Joe.” And Vice President Pence said Biden’s healthcare policies will “set us on an inevitable path to collapse into socialized medicine.”
But Democrats vehemently disagree, arguing Republican healthcare policies are dangerous. Kathy Catazaro-Perry is the Mayor of Massillon. She says, “When Mike Pence is at rally, and half the people aren’t wearing masks or social distancing, people take that as a signal and it puts our communities, all our communities, at risk.”
Temperatures were taken upon entry and masks were offered, though few people wore them. Democrats say the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act will put the healthcare of five million Ohioans at risk.
Amber Daniels, a Lithopolis Councilwoman, says, “If the ACA should be struck down, my children’s lives are literally at risk.”
As the clock ticks down to election day, the pressure is building. Vice President Pence says, “With President Donald Trump in the White House for four more years, and with God’s help, we will make America great again, again.”
Democrats were also in Ohio Wednesday. The Biden campaign’s “Soul of the Nation” bus tour rolled on, including a stop in Dayton. The focus now shifts to the final presidential debate Thursday night in Nashville.