The Midwest is ground zero for the election. It’s rural, urban, blue collar, moderate, unionized, independent…and will make the difference between winning and losing.

Whichever candidate wins Ohio is going to win the election. It’s true this year and it’s been true every election since 1896 (with one exception in 1944).

Much is made of Obama’s ability to get the vote out, and Ohio is no different.

“Obama has 300 people on the ground, John Kerry had 16,” said Sally Powless an Ohio delegate from Toledo and a member of AFSCME. ”Kerry went in 17 counties and Barack is going to go after all of them. You can’t just go in urban areas, you have to get support everywhere.”

Some of the loudest applause at the Democratic convention came with rhetoric tailored to the middle class. Other lines that targeted Exxon-Mobil or companies that ship jobs overseas brought delegations to their feet.

So when Obama says he will cut taxes for 95 percent of working families, it’s a reaction to the lay of the land in places like Ohio.

“So many plants have been closed down,” said Jane Ragland, another Ohio delegate from rural Chillicothe about 46 miles south of Columbus. ”We in rural areas have the manpower and we’re in need of employment.”

So when Obama spoke of his heroes like the “woman [who] talk[s] about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle-management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman,” he’s relating to the personal experiences of blue collar and women voters.

The personal touch is working.

“I know how he feels,” Ragland said. “I know the stumbling blocks he had before he got to be where he’s at. If he can raise above the odds, we all can. That’s what he has to get across.”

And that message is resonating in Iowa, Gov. Chet Culver said in an interview.

“He’s just got to do what he’s been doing across the county and spread his message,” he said. “It’s a historic moment to see the torch passed to the next generation of American leaders,” and Iowans are looking forward to it.