On the eve of the Republican convention, a senior strategist with a Republican “super PAC,” who would share the group’s strategic thinking only on the condition of anonymity, said Mr. Romney would need a “real surge” and “a reset to the dynamics there” to gain an edge over Mr. Obama in Ohio.
With many automobile manufacturers and parts makers, Ohio’s economy has benefited from the administration’s bailout of the industry. The state’s unemployment rate of 7.2 percent in July was more than a percentage point lower than the national average. And while Mr. Obama’s aides do not feel overconfident, they are pleased to see that Democrats remain in command of the race, in a state where Republicans dominated in the 2010 elections…
But the Republicans had a setback on Friday when a federal judge reversed a new state law that halted early voting on the weekend before Election Day. In 2008, that final weekend was seen as giving Mr. Obama an advantage, especially as African-American churchgoers organized trips to the polls on Sunday.
The early voting accounted for 100,000 ballots in 2008, roughly 2 percent of the total cast. That is no small number in such a hard-fought swing state, especially this year. Republicans said they would appeal the judge’s ruling.
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