Edwards, while running short on money and time, has more of a chance to pull off an eleventh-hour victory in Ohio than in any other of the Super Tuesday states, political experts say.
"If Edwards does it right, he could undermine the official union support thrown at Kerry's feet," said John Green, director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at Akron University. "Going right to working-class people, he could pull off an upset."
On the day that Kerry began his push with a town hall meeting in Dayton and a rally in Columbus, Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken spoke of the high political stakes at play.
"Welcome to the battle of Ohio," Luken said. "This will be ground zero in terms of this presidential campaign."
In Youngstown last week, two contrasting campaign stops demonstrated the potential for shifting political fortunes.
Union members invited Edwards on Sunday to a packed rally at a Teamsters hall.
"The bosses called me and said, 'What the heck are you doing? We're endorsing the other guy,' " said Bob Bernat, secretary-treasurer of Local 377. "I told them that Edwards needed a chance to speak his mind."
Two days later, Kerry aides changed plans and closed to the public a meeting with workers at a local manufacturing plant.
One of those who felt snubbed was state Sen. Bob Hagan, who had attended the Edwards rally. Though he had been leaning toward Kerry, Hagan promptly changed his mind and endorsed Edwards.
"What John Kerry did was an offense," he said. "Just because you're the front-runner doesn't mean you can start taking your supporters for granted. Because no support is etched in stone."
Experts say both Kerry and Edwards risk running afoul of industrial Ohio's "politics of resentment" against candidates who pander to regional problems to win votes -- and then are never seen again.
"Youngstown is tired of being portrayed as a poster child for deindustrialization," said John B. Russo, director of labor studies at Youngstown State University and coauthor of "Steeltown USA: Work and Memory in Youngstown."
"Workers don't like candidates dancing on their graves for sound bites. They want answers to the job loss problem."
A Milken Institute ranking of 200 cities nationwide in terms of economic vitality saw Ohio cities rank near or at the bottom: Akron at 180th, Cleveland at 194th and Youngstown second to last at 199th. Canton ranked the highest among Ohio cities at 149th.
