Ohio Republicans root for Hillary win in March primary  Republicans in Ohio helped foil Democratic Party hopes of winning the 2004 presidential and unseating George W. Bush. Now, they're hoping that a Hillary Clinton victory in the state's March 4 primary will set up another Republican victory in the Buckeye State in November.
According to a Tuesday report in the Cincinnati Enquirer, Ohio Republicans are rooting for Senator Clinton to defeat Senator Barack Obama in the primary contest.
"I’m endorsing Hillary," joked state Rep. Kevin DeWine in a recent public event, according to reporter Howard Wilkerson. DeWine will soon begin his term as chairman of the Ohio Republican Party.
Another Republican who leads the party in the state's southern counties, crucial in Sen. John Kerry's 2004 defeat, offered his own reasoning.
"There is nobody who can consolidate and energize the Republican party like Hillary Clinton. It will get the people out and the money will flow," he told Wilkerson.
But Ohio's Democratic Governor Ted Strickland, a Clinton endorser who has been pointed to as a possible running mate for the New York senator, believes Clinton is more ready to withstand Republican barbs than Sen. Obama.
"Presidential politics is always a hard-fought contest in Ohio, and I believe Hillary Clinton is the most vetted candidate perhaps ever to seek the presidency," he told the Enquirer.
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