Clinton and Sanders' combined Ohio numbers don't eclipse Clinton's 2008 showing in the state

[Miles Archer]

More people voted for Trump than for Clinton in two states Tuesday night -- Missouri and Ohio. In Florida, Clinton edged Trump by a nose -- less than 2 percent. Clinton had only one other candidate splitting the Democratic vote in a contested election, while Trump was embroiled in a four-way contest that factionalized Republican voters. In Ohio, Trump bested Clinton by about 50,000 votes despite coming in second in the GOP contest to John Kasich, the state's current governor. In Missouri, both Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) bested Clinton's vote total by nearly 20 percent.

Enthusiasm for Clinton appears to have plummeted from the levels she enjoyed in 2008, when she defeated Barack Obama in both the Florida and Ohio primaries. Clinton had 44 percent fewer supporters in Ohio this time around than she did eight years ago. Combine Clinton and Sanders' Ohio numbers from Tuesday night and they still do not eclipse Clinton's showing in the state from 2008.

Since Florida, Missouri and Ohio are traditionally swing states in the general election, these results should be causing some worry at the Democratic National Committee -- Ohio most of all. Democrats are simply performing poorly in the Rust Belt this year. And the only way Democrats will blow a November matchup against Trump is by getting beaten in the upper Midwest.

Trump has been running a flagrantly racist campaign. Given the vitriol he has directed at Latinos, it's hard to imagine him winning swing states like New Mexico or Colorado (although as Tuesday's results show, Florida may not be out of reach). But Trump doesn't need those states to take the presidency. All he has to do is turn the Rust Belt red.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/clinton-trump-ohio_us_56e9a0b8e4b065e2e3d8314c

[msongs]

1. demonstrating once again that sanders gets less voters than hillary lol nt