COMBAT IN OHIO – AT 9:24 A.M. ET:  With so much attention on the convulsions in Wisconsin, centered in Lenin-loving Madison, we've been ignoring the public-union fight in Ohio.  No state is more important in presidential elections than the swing state of Ohio, and newly elected Governor John Kasich is already a national figure.  Combat is near, as the Washington Post points out:

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Thousands of union supporters descended on the Ohio Statehouse on Tuesday to protest a proposal that would dramatically curtail bargaining powers of government workers, as the state becomes the latest flash point in the fight over union rights.

Like their counterparts in Wisconsin, protesters here accused lawmakers and Gov. John Kasich (R) of trying to use a budget crisis to destroy public-sector unions. Government workers did not cause the crisis and should not bear the brunt of it, protesters said.

But unlike in the standoff in Wisconsin, Democrats don't have the numbers to walk out and delay a vote. Supporters said that a measure, which would go further than the one in Wisconsin by also affecting police officers and firefighters, could emerge from the state Senate on Wednesday.

And...

Kasich, who supports the measure but has let Senate Republicans lead the effort to push it through, said in an interview last week that reform of public-sector unions is only one piece of a far-reaching agenda he plans to pursue this year - some of which he will lay out in his budget proposal, which he is planning to unveil in a few weeks.

"We need changes in the state of Ohio so that we can create economic growth," Kasich said. "The reining in of government can provide a better product to the customer, who happens to be the taxpayer. We need to grow. We've lost more jobs than every state in the country except Michigan and California."

Michigan and California are political poster children for liberal states.   California is in particularly bad shape.  If Kasich can rescue Ohio, count him as national contender.  If he can't, it's back to Fox News as a regular commentator. 

March 2, 2011