Romney hopes to ride Ohio's 2010 GOP wave to Nov.

FILE - In this May 5, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama arrives to speak at a campaign rally at The Ohio State University,in Columbus, Ohio. In this critical presidential battleground, Republicans hope 2010 is the best predictor of this year?s elections. Democrats hope it?s 2011. No state saw a more sweeping GOP victory in the 2010 midterm elections than Ohio, but that led to a setback when voters rejected an anti-union law a year later. All this forms the backdrop of the race between President Barack Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney in a state with a history of voting for the presidential winner. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)

FILE - In this May 5, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama arrives to speak at a campaign rally at The Ohio State University,in Columbus, Ohio. In this critical presidential battleground, Republicans hope 2010 is the best predictor of this year?s elections. Democrats hope it?s 2011. No state saw a more sweeping GOP victory in the 2010 midterm elections than Ohio, but that led to a setback when voters rejected an anti-union law a year later. All this forms the backdrop of the race between President Barack Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney in a state with a history of voting for the presidential winner. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)

FILE - In this March 5, 2012 file photo, Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks in Canton, Ohio. In this critical presidential battleground, Republicans hope 2010 is the best predictor of this year?s elections. Democrats hope it?s 2011. No state saw a more sweeping GOP victory in the 2010 midterm elections than Ohio, but that led to a setback when voters rejected an anti-union law a year later. All this forms the backdrop of the race between President Barack Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney in a state with a history of voting for the presidential winner. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

LORAIN, Ohio (AP) ? Democrats are trying to overcome their 2010 disaster in Ohio and deliver the crucial swing state again for President Barack Obama.

Obama's 5-percentage point win four years ago in Ohio was followed two years later by a GOP sweep of major state offices.

But Democrats drew new hope from a 2011 referendum that soundly repudiated the Republican governor's anti-union efforts.

Now Obama and Republican Mitt Romney are pouring heavy resources into a state that has been crucial in election after election. Both men will be in the state Thursday.

Democrats hope to make Romney's opposition to the 2009 federal bailout of the auto industry a key issue in this manufacturing state.

Republicans say hostility to Obama's health care law may sink him.

Associated Press

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