The Issues Changed: Introduction

PPP's newest report looks at how the issues changed over the course of 2008 in the key swing states of Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio and how that contributed to Barack Obama's landslide victory. This is the section on Ohio. You can read the full report here.
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Certainly there were a lot of mechanical reasons for Barack Obama’s election as President. He ran one of the most well organized, well funded, and well disciplined campaigns in modern political history. But there can also be no doubt that the biggest factor in his overwhelming victory is that the issues changed between the beginning of 2008 and election day.

PPP asked the same standard issues question in January when it first polled a potential John McCain/Barack Obama match up in Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio then again in late October. In each state Obama trailed early in the year but ended up winning in November. This report takes a look at how immigration basically ceased to be an issue as concern over the economy grew, and how that contributed to Obama’s victory.