More than Factories
So in her speech last night [1], Senator Hillary Clinton mentioned a number of states that helped carry her along on her quest for the Democratic nomination. She mentioned “the hills of New Hampshire”, “the fields of California”, “the hollows of West Virginia” and … “the factories of Ohio”?
Thanks Hillary. Way to sell our state. I’m going to go step outside and take a deep breath of fresh smog now …
Ohio has plenty more to offer than the rust belt. I don’t have time to go into a full blown advocacy piece, but we have the natural beauty of Hocking Hills, some great colleges and universities, some cutting edge tech companies, etc.
So thanks again Hillary - glad you lost.
cw
[1] http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/06/03/sot.clinton.entire.speech.cnn (about 1:30 in)
The cool factory photo that I mashed up into the Ohio map came from http://www.cmiper.com/?p=9
June 5th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
I agree, Ohio does have a heck of a lot more to offer than usually given credit for. Hey hows the piano my friend? Have you composed any new movements yet?
June 5th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
I didn’t think it was selling Ohio short. Hillary won Ohio largely on the support of conservative, white factory workers. People who traditionally vote Democratic, but who don’t seem to like Obama. According to the 2002 US Economic Census (the most recent year with available data) manufacturing is still, both in terms of people employed and total revenue, the largest sector of Ohio’s economy. It’s declining, but it’s still a huge part of Ohio’s cultural identity, just like the “hills” of New Hampster or the Hollows of West Virginia. Manufacturing still plays a much larger role in the well being of most Ohioans than tourism or high tech/knowledge worker sectors.
June 6th, 2008 at 9:40 am
@Ryan: No new compositions. I’ve got the first part of “The Entertainer” down though, I tell you.
@Michael: Hmm, maybe you are right. The juxtaposition of the descriptions just made Ohio seem unappealing. But I guess she wasn’t looking to make one state more appealing than another. Maybe I’m just not happy with that part of Ohio’s cultural identity…
June 6th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
True, the factories of Ohio probably won’t win any awards for exciting the imagination of the rest of America, but how’s that line from the Red Green show go? ’’If the women don`t find you handsome they should at least find you handy’’
Ohio’s still a pretty handy place to live.
June 7th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Haha, ok, by virtue of relating The Red Green Show to this discussion, you automatically win. I used to love that show. I haven’t watched it for years though.
June 7th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
What the hell is the Red Green Show and how old are you guys anyway? Am I just out of touch..:)
June 8th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Red Green Show:
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Green_Show)
Youtube clip, illustrating the trademark phrase
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP3xiLKJ9_4)
June 9th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Ryan, dear friend …
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=red+green+show&search_type=
Take a few of those and call me in the morning.