Why, Ohio, Why?

James Capozzola asked relatives in Ohio about the election, and heard back:

You have to replace Maine with Ohio in the old adage, "As Maine Goes, So Goes the Nation."

I believe it is because Ohio has become a microcosm of America.

It has major industry, agriculture, and retail. It has a bit of high-tech and a lot of education. It has urban blacks in Cleveland and white transplants in Columbus. Cincinnati believes it is part of the south, while Toledo and Akron have had to change as part of the old auto industry and reflect the hard times that fall on cities where the average paycheck has gone from union scale to minimum wage. It has extreme wealth and extreme poverty, but unlike NYC the two don't run into each other on a daily basis. It has small towns that are actually small towns and not exurbs, where people can live comfortably without worrying about urban problems and expenses.

It has become less Catholic and more Christian, listens to more country music than rock, and suburban white men dress like they're gangstas. They may not own a gun but they want to know they CAN. They want the right to an abortion, but expect to go to church and repent about it afterwards.
...

It seems right yet, but feels so wrong. At the very least, you only have to look at MyDD's Partisan Index to see that Ohio, though red this year, was still more blue than the country as a whole. Think long and hard about that.