Ah Ohio. A heart-shaped state in the middle of the US that you probably don’t know too much about. On eastern time but still a lot of driving hours (probably 18 or so; never done it) west of New York City.

I spent two-and-half years living in Cincinnati, which is nestled in the so-called tri-state area of south-west Ohio, south-east Indiana and north-west Kentucky. Strangely enough, I never visited the state capital Columbus, or the northern metropolis of Cleveland, which was probably a mistake, and certainly an oversight.

I had a great time there. The mid-west is pretty different to the East Coast and West Coast. It’s fairly conservative and traditional in its outlook. It’s often accused of being late to things. There’s a famous quote, attributed to mark Twain and several others, that when the end of the world comes, it’s best to be in Cincinnati as it’s always ten years behind the times.

What’s more interesting is that Ohio is actually a microcosm of the US. The US is not California, New York or Florida. Ohio is a reflection of the whole of the US in terms of demographics, like race, age, religion. It’s also one of the so-called swing states in US Presidential elections.

As you might expect of a national bellwether (no, I thought it was spelled weather too), Ohio has voted for the Presidential winner every year since 1960. As I write this post, Hilary Clinton is comfortably ahead in the Presidential polls, nationally speaking.

But not in Ohio…