In Ohio, It's Really About the Economy

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Some houses in the Nuss family’s neighborhood have sat for years without selling Photography by Billy Delfs, Chart by Alberta Mena/BW

McGregor is leery of the candidates' “feel-good“ messages Billy Delfs

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Over the past two years, Delaware County has earned a new distinction: Among Ohio's 20 largest counties, it's now suffering the fastest growth in foreclosures.

The mortgage troubles have sent prices tumbling and stalled sales throughout much of the state. Just a few minutes outside the Delaware County border, 41-year-old Sueann Nuss lives in a small home with her husband, Tim, and two children, 3-year-old Francesca and 19-month-old Elijah. The Nusses are part of a modest neighborhood of starter homes that in better times were quickly snapped up for around $150,000 to $200,000 as soon as they came on the market. But recently, Nuss has watched as several houses that sat unsold for nearly two years have gone for rent instead.

For Nuss, a Democrat who voted for Kerry and who now backs Clinton, it's one more sign of an economy that simply isn't working. "It's just getting harder and harder for people. It shouldn't be this tough," she says. Between ever-rising prices and health insurance that covers less and less, she wonders: "How did things get this bad?" While Nuss doesn't worry that Tim, a nurse-practitioner, will ever lack for a job, she thinks the government should create more incentives to keep companies from moving jobs overseas and encourage people to buy American-produced goods.

LOOKING FOR SUBSTANCE

The question for November is whether the tilt toward the Democrats will hold. Edd Dunlap is the sales and marketing manager for Compass Homes, a small custom-home builder in Delaware County. A longtime Republican and Bush supporter who nonetheless voted for the Democrats' Brown in 2006, he scoffs at some of the more populist lines he's hearing from the Democrats. "One of the candidates is complaining about a CEO making more in a day than the average worker makes in a year," says Dunlap. "I say so what—I hope he does. If the CEO is making a lot of money, that means the business is running well." The candidate making that complaint is Barack Obama. Yet for all that he mocks the current anti-business tone, Dunlap is intrigued by the Illinois senator. Although Dunlap likes Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), he's worried about his age. While a vote for Clinton is out of the question, he says he'll give Obama a closer look if he ends up as the nominee. "If he gets more substantive, I'd consider him," he says.

Jim McGregor runs McGregor Metalworking Cos., a family-owned business in Springfield that makes components for auto and other industries. The past few years have been tough, as intense price pressure from struggling domestic rivals as well as low-cost suppliers from China and elsewhere have undercut his profits. At the same time, he's had to invest heavily in the business to meet his customers' demands. With steel costs up as much as 30% in the past three months, he's facing an even bigger margin squeeze. His daily struggles make him leery of this talk of patriotic employers and saving jobs. "There's a lot of 'feel-good' stuff being said now," he says. "But there's no comprehension on their part that if an employer can't get a return on investment, he can't do the things he needs to do to survive."

A staunch Republican, McGregor is firmly behind McCain. The Arizona senator has mostly talked about tax cuts as the way to revive the economy. But McGregor says McCain will have to offer up more specifics on how he would address the state's woes if he wants to bring Ohio back into the GOP camp. "If he doesn't get into the details, he won't get elected," he says. McGregor is confident that will happen—but he also worries that the Democratic rhetoric is raising unrealistic expectations that can't be met. "What will any of them do to correct the problems?" he asks. "That's the real question."

Sasseen is Washington bureau chief for BusinessWeek.