a look at the Ohio results
Below is a thumbnail of a map of Ohio's counties, color-coded by how well Kucinich did in each. Click on the map to view a full-size image. The results are from CNN. Cuyahoga county was among the last to report and until it did, Kucinich was at 7%. I took this as his "average" for the rest of the state; counties marked in red or orange are above this "average". Kucinich got 4-5% in other traditionally Democratic counties, which seems to represent how well he would have done if not for his "home field advantage" in Cleveland, so I marked counties with this result as well, in shades of grey.
What does the map show? Kucinich out-performed expectations not only in his own county but in a relatively large surrounding area (note: Athens county, sitting out there by itself, is home to Ohio University and a lot of students for Kucinich). Since he got next to no media coverage, this surprising showing must be entirely due to his ground operation, which he's built up over the last 30 years in Cleveland politics. Fortunately for Kerry (the presumptive nominee), Kucinich has pledged to support the Democratic nominee and will be putting this ground operation to use for him in November, much as he did for Gore in 2000. Ohio will be a key battleground state and Kerry will need every advantage he can get. He would do well to make nice to Kucinich for Ohio.
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