Those famed white working-class voters that pollsters love to obsess over, make up a large chunk of Ohio's electorate, and they're not happy with the Bain Capital-ist and his history of calling for the auto industry's bankruptcy, endorsing attacks on their collective bargaining rights, and his plans—or lack thereof—for the economy. Barack Obama may not look like them, but Romney, as many have said, looks like the guy who fired them. And despite Republican governor John Kasich trying to take credit for improvements in the state's economy, Ohioans think that Democrats are a better bet when it comes to jobs. So it's no wonder that Romney's behind by 8 points or so in Ohio .

Kasich, indeed, can probably take some of the credit for Obama's popularity (and Senator Sherrod Brown's maintaining a lead in the polls despite some $20 million spent against him by big outside groups ). The former Lehman Brothers banker and Fox News commentator may not have been quite as famous for his attacks on unions as neighboring Wisconsin's Scott Walker, but his anti-collective-bargaining bill, Senate Bill 5, was actually defeated by a resounding majority—more votes against the bill in 2011, an off-year, than voted in 2010 to elect Kasich.