Ohio: General Motors

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, says Ohio workers and communities affected by General Motors' bankruptcy and planned plant closures deserve to know more about what the company and Obama administration will do to aid those being hurt and ensure a viable domestic auto industry in the future.

Ohio is the only state in the country whose exports have increased every year since 1998, and it's seventh in the country for exports overall. According to new numbers from the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration, Ohio's exports grew by nearly 7 percent in 2008 over the previous year, to $45.5 billion. The state's biggest manufactured exports are automotive and airplane parts, machinery, chemicals, electronics and computers.

About 11,400 Ohio companies sell their products internationally, and nearly 300,000 jobs in this state depend upon exports. Only California and Texas have more jobs linked to manufacturing exports.

Canada buys 46 percent of Ohio's exported goods, followed by Mexico, at 7 percent.

"I've been traveling around the state of Ohio because, as many of you know, I've been thinking about running for governor of the state of Ohio," Kasich told about 150 here last week at a Lincoln Day dinner jointly sponsored by the Republican parties in Seneca and Sandusky counties.

The former congressman from Westerville has been the hottest speaker on the GOP rubber-chicken circuit for two years and has about a dozen county Lincoln Day speeches lined up in February and March.

But political observers from both parties are beginning to wonder just when -- and if -- Kasich actually will declare his candidacy, contending that he can't wait too long if he hopes to seriously challenge the popular incumbent, Democrat Ted Strickland, who already has a $2 million head start.