I'm speaking of the vitriol we're engaged in over the Hackett-Brown race, and I'm starting to wonder if we really do live in two different states.

Now, I'm down here in the hardcore, conservative, red-state hell of OH-2, Cincinnati specifically, where it appears Paul Hackett retains much of his support. Not all of the posters in this forum have profiles, but in order to gauge where we're coming from, is there any support for Hackett north of Columbus?

I get the feeling that the state is pretty well split. While I love Cincinnati and it's my favorite part of the state (well, Cincinnati followed closely by the Athens area), I'll admit to being a bit jealous of those of you in Cleveland, Toledo, Youngstown, etc. where you've managed to maintain a Democratic majority. I grew up in Dayton, which is still semi-Dem but losing ground rapidly.

It's my opinion that the southern Ohio Dems just view things differently than the northern Ohio Dems. Why is that? Is it because we're in the minority down here and feel we have to give in to the middle a bit if we're going to pull independent voters to the Democrats? Is it because Sherrod Brown has little to no name recognition down here (likely in the way Hackett has no recognition north?)? Is it because Cincinnati is the upper corner of the bible belt and you just don't experience that kind of weirdness in Cleveland, for example?

Is their any hope to marry our fortunes and actually take DeWine out in November?

Please, anyone, I just want to gauge what's going on in this forum and across the state. I want to get to the underlying problem and figure out how to get along.