Obama's Infrastructure

Mike Tomasky presents a nice review of Obama's 2012 swing state infrastructure in Newsweek: Obama's 2012 Game Plan. Fear replaces hope, and the machine supplants enthusiasm. These are the details behind the optimism for Obama's prospects I discussed previously -- infrastructure, demographic shifts and Republican overreach and misgovernment. Tomasky closes with the Buckeye State:

And then there’s Ohio. Big numbers in Franklin County—home to the state capital of Columbus, Ohio’s largest city—are crucial to Democratic hopes. Again, the trend is evident: Al Gore won the county 49–48 in 2000, when 414,000 votes were cast. Kerry won it 53–45, with 517,000 total votes. Obama: a 59–40 blowout on the strength of 575,000 total votes.

It’s pretty difficult to imagine another nearly 20-point win. But Greg Schultz, the county’s Democratic chairman and the state director for OFA, says an on-the-ground network exists today in a way it didn’t even in 2008. “There’s a structure that remains in place today that is self-organizing,” he boasts, even in Republican-leaning parts of the county like Westerville.

Another factor that might motivate Democrats in Franklin, and across Ohio: the unpopular Republican governor, John Kasich.