1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

Ohio has been under Republican supermajority control for roughly 15 years. Republicans control the governor's office, the legislature, and for most of that time the courts as well. In other words, this IS the conservative vision for Ohio. Fully implemented. There is nowhere to hide. Let's look at the results. Ohio now ranks: 30th in overall education 41st in higher education 34th in overall health 39th in economy 43rd in infant mortality 47th in overdose death rates Ohio lost roughly 300,000 manufacturing jobs over the last quarter century while our employment-to-population ratio fell from 64% to under 60%. Young people continue leaving the state because the economic opportunities are increasingly concentrated into just a handful of metro areas while rural communities continue to collapse. Ohio's overdose crisis became one of the worst in America. Cleveland's overdose death rate reached nearly triple the national average and 13 of the top 60 opioid death-rate cities in the United States are in Ohio. Read that again. Infant mortality in Ohio remains among the worst in the nation at roughly 7 deaths per 1,000 births, while the national average is 5.6. Unacceptable in one of the richest countries on Earth. Meanwhile, Ohio Republicans have spent the last decade attempting to gaslight us about: drag queens library books trans kids immigrant caravans It makes sense. It's a wildly effective strategy for them, especially in the areas most severely affected by their lack of leadership. They manufacture this culture war nonsense designed to keep people angry and emotionally activated while the state steadily declines underneath them. At some point you have to ask a difficult question: If these outcomes aren't instantly disqualifying to Republican voters, then what ARE their priorities? Human beings will ultimately vote based on what matters most to them. The most frightening part may be how effectively millions of Americans have lost the ability to process information objectively. Data is ignored. Experts are dismissed. Universities are "indoctrination." Journalism is labeled "fake news." Scientific consensus is denied in favor of religious beliefs. Any evidence that challenges the narrative is immediately rejected before it can even be examined. That isn't political thought anymore. It's identity protection. Once politics becomes tribal identity instead of measurable outcomes, people stop asking: "Is this working?" They only ask: "Does this help me and "my side" feel powerful?" Ohio is what happens when emotional grievance replaces critical thinking for a decade and a half. Continued support of this status quo would seem to be a glaring admission to the world that you lack the ability to process data in a meaningful way. This makes it impossible to make informed, rational decisions.