Ohio's woes reflect the nation's

The public distrusts the country's major institutions, a Republican strategist says.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
LONDON, Ohio -- Looking for trouble? Well, come to the convenient, one-stop-shop called Ohio, where the shelves are crammed with citizen crabbiness, outrage and high-octane bile.
There is plenty to provoke anguish -- the economy and mounting job losses, the war in Iraq, rising health care and gasoline costs. Preachers are squabbling and the reality -- not just allegations -- of a "culture of corruption" has taken root. The state lost $50 million in a rare-coin scandal, and hapless Republican Gov. Bob Taft, who pleaded no contest to failing to report free golf outings from lobbyists, has been blamed for nearly everything short of murdering Santa Claus.
With a litany of complaints that would resonate from Portland, Maine to Portland, Ore., Ohio this election year is America in political miniature, a little shop of public-opinion horrors that speaks volumes about what bothers people nationwide. Like the state tourism pitch, "Ohio, the heart of it all," it's all right here.
"What you're seeing is an ongoing distrust of major institutions," said Mark Weaver, a Republican Party strategist in Columbus. "It's corporate America, it's state and local government scandals ... and I think the war in Iraq and the price of gas fuel the discontent in that people feel they've lost control over events."
Bipartisan griping
For all of the polarization that permeates political discourse, the public dissatisfaction here has a bipartisan stamp only days away from a primary election. In the staunchly Republican community of London, about 25 miles west of Columbus, Melinda Conley still supports President Bush and calls herself a "die-hard Republican."
But Conley, an interior designer and gift shop owner on Main Street, quickly notes that she has done a lot of dying lately, a point driven home last week when she spent $100 on gas for her Ford Excursion -- and that didn't fill the tank. She has no retirement plan. And business is tough.
"I keep telling myself that these guys know what they're doing, but is it going to get any better? I don't know that it is," Conley said. "Why is it harder and harder and harder just to live?"
Pam Smith, who manages the gift shop, said her husband, Craig, a manufacturing engineer, has held "five or six jobs" in the last 17 years, each of which ended when his employer shut down. His most recent employer closed shop and Craig is looking for work again.
"I just turned 50, and I thought by now I'd be set," said Smith, who usually votes Republican. "We're just swimming and swimming and swimming and not getting anywhere. When does it ever get better?"
Reflects national mood
For those who pay attention to what makes America tick -- and what makes it dyspeptic -- it's worth keeping an eye on Ohio, a state that reflects most of the major demographic components of the nation and the state that delivered a second term to Bush in 2004. While the poll numbers suggest buyer's remorse, political analysts say the sense of disappointment goes deeper and beyond the vote for president.
London, whose Main Street is lined with handsome 19th-century brick storefronts, is between approaching economic trouble. Delphi Corp., the bankrupt auto parts supplier, last month announced plans to shut five facilities in the region -- one to the east in Columbus, and four to the west in Dayton.
"It's scary because it trickles down to everybody. It's going to affect all of us, sooner or later," said David Eades, London's mayor and a General Motors retiree. Eades said he worries about his retirement benefits as GM downsizes.
It's not a single issue that drives the discontent, but a combination of economic uncertainty, health-care worries, a sense that scandal-prone politicians are clueless to the challenges of everyday life. And then there's the war in Iraq.
Michael Astley, who runs a T-shirt shop near the central Ohio city of Circleville, provokes his own public war debate with a permanent 100-foot-by-100-foot collection of white burial crosses assembled in his front yard, under the banner "The Cost of War: Final Formation."
The Friday before Christmas, someone drove through the display, made a U-turn in Astley's bean field and plowed through the crosses again, wiping out more than a hundred. They have been replaced and Astley said he has no plans to take the crosses down.
"We live in the greatest country on Earth and the shame of it is we can be so much better," Astley said.
Upcoming election
For better or worse, this is an election year in Ohio. May 2 is primary Election Day and voters will choose nominees for major state offices, including governor. A recent poll from the University of Akron said 59 percent of Ohioans want the Republicans, who have controlled state government for 16 years, out.
If U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, implicated in the Jack Abramoff scandal, is indicted, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Robert Bennett says he will pressure Ney to resign. Democrats acknowledge, though, that Republican troubles do not necessarily mean the public is clamoring for the Democrats. The political atmosphere is volatile.
Even the churches in Ohio have started mixing it up. About 50 pastors filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service this month claiming that two evangelical Christian churches are engaged in political activities, in violation of the tax code. The churches deny the charge.
Attorney General Jim Petro, one of the candidates for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, said during a campaign stop in London that the state's foul mood is largely linked to Bush and national attitudes toward him.
"We have a problem. It's not Bob Taft and it's not coingate. It's the president," Petro said. "I hope the president can get his [approval] ratings into the high 30s or low 40s. Right now it's hurting us."
Those numbers will start to improve, Petro said, when the public is convinced that there is a plan that "will bring a conclusion to our involvement in the Middle East."