The outcome of the presidential election might boil down to one state Republicans and Democrats consider a symbolic prize in every race for the White House - and it's not Florida.
No Republican has ever captured the White House without capturing Ohio's 20 electoral votes. And only two Democrats in the 20th century, Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, won the presidency without winning the Buckeye State.
Now, President Bush and his Democratic challenger, John Kerry, are racking up thousands of frequent flier miles in an attempt to seize pivotal swing votes in the must-win state.
"Ohio swings back and forth," said David Paul, professor of political science at Ohio State University-Newark. "It tends to go with the winner."
Pundits have identified 11 swing states in the 2004 election, with Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida garnering the most attention.
In the battle over Ohio, Bush and Kerry are fighting hard to win Toledo, which has never witnessed so much attention. "It's bigger than anything that has ever happened in Toledo," said Lynn Bachelor, professor of political science at the University of Toledo.
But Bush and Kerry might consider the city the epicenter of their campaigns. Nestled along the shores of Lake Erie in the northwest corner of the state, its airwaves have been deluged with campaign ads at levels never seen before.
More than 14,300 ads have hit the airwaves since January. "It is terrible," Bachelor said. "You can't watch television without watching a slew of ads for both sides."
Campaign workers realize the abundant ads are wearing thin on Buckeye voters. "It is getting ridiculous because both sides are attacking nonstop," said Dan Trevas, spokesman for the Ohio Democratic Party.
