The Trump tape is somewhat old news by now, but their impact on voters is just starting to be felt. None of the major polls have released Ohio specific numbers since the release of the tapes on Friday featuring Donald Trump describing behavior that many people, including Republicans who had supported him, are calling sexual assault. But there’s been reaction from officeholders who hope to influence voters on both sides. Some Republicans reacted strongly.
And then there’s the chair of the Ohio Republican Party – Matt Borges, who’s been conflicted about Donald Trump for a while. He didn’t pull his endorsement, but did say those who did wouldn’t be penalized by the party. And he was reportedly still conflicted after the presidential debate on Sunday. But he said this week that he’s still supporting Trump and that he talked to him on Thursday when he was in Ohio.
The Democratic response to the Trump tapes was swift and loud, and came from all corners. And among those was the nominee herself, who held her largest rally to date at Ohio State University in Columbus. Columbus residents in the crowd of 18,000 spoke out too.
Clinton and Trump were running close in the polls before the tapes and the aftermath, and the question had come up whether Ohio would still be a bellwether state in this election. The man who wrote the book on that has some thoughts. Ohio native Kyle Kondik is managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, the newsletter from the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, and was at the Statehouse this week to sign his book “The Bellwether: Why Ohio Picks the President”. He talked with Statehouse correspondent Andy Chow.
The state of the campaign as early voting is the topic for two political observers with very different viewpoints. Mike Gonidakis was a Kasich delegate but now a supporter of Donald Trump, and is also the president of Ohio Right to Life. Sandy Theis is a supporter of Hillary Clinton and also the executive director of Progress Ohio.