By Matt Hurley for the TIB Network:
From the Boston Globe:
[Amy] Locy, 39, is still undecided in the presidential race. Sure, Bush has given her plenty to vote against. But so far, Locy said, Kerry hasn't given her enough to vote for. He has come to the state 12 times since he locked up the nomination. His campaign, and his supporters, have flooded the local airwaves with advertisements. At last month's Democratic National Convention, Kerry got to introduce himself to the public directly. But for all of that, Locy still isn't sure about the senator from Massachusetts.I wouldn't call Akron the "heart" of Ohio, but...
"He hasn't done anything to even try to close the deal," she said. "He just keeps saying, 'I'm not Bush and this is why,' and it's a valid point, but so many other valid points need to be made."
That wariness about Kerry was expressed by all five members of a focus group conducted by the Globe over the weekend in the heart of this fierce battleground state, the second in a series of meetings that will follow the group through the election on Nov. 2. These five, recruited earlier this summer by the Center for Policy Studies at the University of Akron Law School, were considerably more ambivalent when they met for the first time in June.
During the latest two-hour discussion, however, these likely voters -- three of whom now say they are leaning toward Bush and two who are still undecided -- described Kerry as ill-defined, overly reliant on his Vietnam service, and decidedly Northeastern. By contrast, four years in office have bought the president the benefit of the doubt among these voters. Bush has done the best he could with difficult circumstances, they said, and even Locy, so critical of him on Iraq, did not fault his handling of the economy.
Some very good points in this article. Those interested in the current state of affairs in the Buckeye State should check it out.
