Why Did Ohio Fall?



There were widespread irregularities in Ohio. A corrupt Secretary of State who rejected voter registration cards because they weren't printed on the correct cardstock, GOP goons posing as "challengers" in African-American-dominated cities, and of course--those Diebold machines. It is entirely likely that Ohio was stolen every bit as much as Florida was in 2000. We'll have to wait and see as history makes its judgement.



In the meantime, there remains the question of why the margin in Ohio was so tight. Why did a state in which more than 60% of those polls said the economy was lousy turn out half, or nearly half, its voters for Bush?



This is NAFTA coming home to roost. When Kerry campaigned with a promise to bring good jobs back to the US, he had no credibility, running as a member of Bill Clinton's Democratic Party. Ohioans know that the big drain of manufacturing jobs really took off after Clinton signed NAFTA and GATT.



If the Civil Rights Act of 1964 cost Democrats the South, it was worth it. But addiction to unfair "free trade" treaties may have cost Democrats the industrial Midwest. If so, it wasn't worth it. And it might be fatal to the party.



It's time for the DNC to agitate for an end to NAFTA and other failed free trade agreements.