Grover Norquist discusses his anti-tax pledge in Cleveland.

Ohio will be a battleground again in 2012 for the presidential election, and right now President Obama is hanging tough against likely opponent Mitt Romney.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney overtook former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in a new Buckeye State poll released Wednesday by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

The eight-day survey, which ended Monday, shows that 27 percent of Republicans here favor Romney. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who finished eight votes behind Romney in this month’s Iowa caucuses, received 18 percent; Gingrich received 17 percent.

Romney today would be the strongest candidate in a head-to-head showdown with President Barack Obama. The poll found that 44 percent of Ohio voters would vote for Obama, 42 percent for Romney — a virtual tie given the poll’s 2.4 percent margin of error.

The hypothetical match was a percentage point tighter in last month’s poll.

Romney was in favor of Issue 2, so I suspect that the Obama campaign will hammer him on that. If they do this in the spring and early summer, Romney might not be able to recover in Ohio, and there’s no way Romney can win the election without Ohio.

This news is disappointing.

The Cleveland casino won’t be opening in March after all.

Openings of the state’s first two casinos this spring will be pushed back, possibly by at least two months, because of delays in the licensing process.

The Casino Control Commission was told Wednesday that Ohio does not have enough time to properly investigate casinos in Cleveland and Toledo before their proposed opening dates.

Matt Cullen, COO of Rock Gaming LLC, says they are disappointed by discussions of postponing the anticipated March opening of Horseshoe Cleveland. However, Cullen says they respect the Commission’s diligence and dedication to address the many tasks associated with a new gaming jurisdiction.

You can see more about the new Horseshoe Casino at their website. It should provide a huge boost to Downtown Cleveland once it opens.

This is the classic question when it comes to real estate and personal finance. There are all sorts of calculations out there arguing both sides of this issue. Basically it boils down to this – there are tons of sunk costs when you buy a home, so if you’re looking at it strictly as an investment, the financial argument starts to break down vs renting. But if you want a home for your family and want to build a life there, then you have other benefits apart from the financial benefits.

Now the calculations are changing in light of the housing crisis. In Ohio and particularly in places like Cleveland, the foreclosure crisis has decimated some communities. Many people have lost their homes and now the demand for rentals is going through the roof. House values are plummeting.

Than can however change your calculation depending on your circumstances. If you are secure in your job and have been planning to purchase a home, now is the ideal time. Home prices are low as are interest rates. But you have to be careful to pick an area where home prices haven’t fallen too much. It might look like a deal, but you might be gambling with odds similar to cash bingo games. It’s like trying to catch a falling knife. You want to find a great deal, but if values move way down, then the whole neighborhood might crash.

The key is to look at the other houses in the area and on the block. See if the homeowners there plan on staying. You want to find an area that has great deals but that has all the fundamentals to survive in the long run. Si when looking for a “deal” you have to consider much more than price.

The new Cleveland casino is scheduled to open in March of 2012, and they’ve already been hiring a training dealers. Now they’re opening up applications for 750 casino positions in 40 different job areas.

There’s a pay range for each position, and starting salaries are listed on the web site. For example, security officers start at $12 an hour, beverage and buffet supervisors at $30,000 a year, and those who oversee slot machines will earn at least $39,000 annually.

Full-time positions offer a complete benefits package, including medical, dental and vision insurance, tuition reimbursement and a 401K retirement plan.

“We’re looking for personality,” said Glover, a Caesars Entertainment Corp. executive. “We’re looking for upbeat and positive attitudes, for people who have an ability to interact with strangers and provide excellent customer service.

“Some of that we’ll train, but we need a lot of those characteristics to be inherent in the individual.”

Clevelanders and other gambling fans in Ohio are naturally thrilled. First, it’s good for the local economy. But more importantly, gambling fans in the state now have another outlet to go with online sports betting.

It took a long time for Ohio to join the party. The conservative forces in Southern Ohio were always against legal gambling and they consistently defeated attempts to bring casinos to Ohio. But Dan Gilbert finally made it happen, so soon we’ll have a grand opening with plenty of economic activity in Downtown Cleveland.

The voters of Ohio soundly defeated Issue 2, thus repealing SB-5, the union-busting bill pushed by Governor Kasich.

Here is Kasich’s reaction, and you can see that he has been repudiated and perhaps humbled a bit by this smack-down. Kasich has been known for his arrogance and his combative style, so this is a real departure for him.

Kasich’s overreach gets put to the test in tomorrow’s election.

A new survey from Public Policy Polling (D) shows Ohio Democrats and public employee unions likely to win a big victory on Tuesday in the referendum on Republican Gov. John Kasich’s anti-public union bill, SB-5.

The poll shows only 36% of Ohioans will vote to support the law, while a decisive 59% oppose the bill and will vote to repeal it.

Kasich’s own approval mirrors those numbers, with only 33% approval and 57% disapproval. Kasich was elected in the 2010 Republican wave, defeating incumbent Democrat Ted Strickland by a 49%-47% margin. However, when asked if they could vote again, the respondents in this poll chose Strickland by a 55%-37% margin.

Let’s see exactly what happens tomorrow.

In pitching for his Issue 2 (SB5), Governor John Kasich made this blunder:

“We never thought (former Cleveland Browns quarterback) Bernie Kosar would bring the Browns back and win that big championship game,” Kasich said.

Kasich, a Steelers fan who grew up in suburban Pittsburgh, apparently didn’t know that Kosar never won a championship game with the Browns, going 0-3 in AFC title tilts with trips to the Super Bowl on the line.

No wonder this guy is such a terrible governor. How could we elect a Steelers fan?

The campaigns are heating up and we’re seeing quite a bit of political activity around Issue 2 leading up to the November elections. Governor John Kasich’s signature initiative, Senate Bill 5, has defined the political climate in this state since Kasich got elected and rammed this through the legislature.

The unions in Ohio were stunned, as this issue united them against the governor and the new law. Police and fire fighter unions were included in the bill, and many in these unions used to support the governor. All of that has changed, and now there’s a united effort to repeal the bill with Issue 2. You’re seeing all the commercials on television, and the poster printing companies will be very busy as the state is covered with yard signs.

The issue is also getting national attention, as this issue has galvanized the left and the union movement. Like Wisconsin, Ohio has become ground zero in this battle and will tee things up for epic fights in 2012.

Mitt Romney visited Ohio and immediately got himself into trouble by flipping and flopping his way to another incoherent set of positions. He ends up in a place where he 110% backs the Governor’s position, which may help him in the GOP primary but will definitely hurt him in a general election.

Richard Cordray gets a big job:

President Obama nominated Richard Cordray, the former attorney general of Ohio, to officially have your back. If and when Cordray is confirmed, he’ll run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency created last summer to defend consumers against abusive practices by banks and other financial institutions.

The article goes on to analyze why Cordray was selected. Many expect him to run for governor of Ohio in 2014, so this can be a big stepping stone for him.