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Ohio, A Bellwether State
Q. What the heck is a bellwether
state?
A. A bellwether state
is a state that frequently favors the winner in national elections.
Elections observers watch these states closely as indicators of the final
results of an election. Ohio is considered a bellwether state for
its long record of voting with the winner in presidential elections.
Old
Reliable (aka The
Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition) gives the following
definitions and uses of bellwether:
definition 1.
The leading sheep of a flock, on whose neck
a bell is hung.
early usage:
(1867) II. 254 Men are for
the most part like sheep, who always follow the bell-wether.
definition 2.
fig. A chief or leader. (Mostly contemptuous.)
early usage:
(1730) I. 73 The principal bell-weathers of this mutiny. (1794) SOUTHEY
Wat Tyler III. i. Wks. II. 50 You bell-wether of the mob. (1848) LOWELL
Biglow P. i, 'Taint afollerin' your bell-wethers Will excuse ye in His
sight.
Hence... bell-wethering, the fact
of leading and being led like sheep and bell-wetherishness, tendency to
follow one who takes the lead.
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