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.