I’ve been watching the polls for several weeks waiting for Ohio to turn blue, or at least a darker purple. Because, “As Ohio goes, so goes the nation.” But the polling as of October 21 showed Clinton and Trump in a dead heat, 45%-45%.

Unlike the Michigan-bred, I’ve always respected Ohio for its moderate governors and US Senators, for its fine writers from O. Henry to Toni Morrison, for the fine beer of the Great Lakes Brewing Company,  and for its reputable state-university system. Aside from the smugness of The Ohio State University, it is a state without pretense, a workingman/workingwoman’s state.

But, hello, Columbus, this flirtation with Donald Trump is unforgivable. What is wrong with this stubborn minority that clings to Trump despite all manner of egotism, bigotry, elitism and misogyny?  This 45% has been more or less consistent for the past year, impervious to every kind of foot-in-mouth utterance from the arrogant one.

If working people are suffocated by the trade treaties that sent jobs packing to Mexico and Japan, then they need to take a breath. Hillary Clinton will bring more jobs to Ohio with her infrastructure programs than the dismantling of treaties would over a lifetime. Manufacturing is not the future for the blue collar worker, but the renewal of roads and bridges and highways promises decades of employment for the Midwest.

If they are worried about the alleged tidal wave of immigration, they should know that the current vetting of immigrants is more rigorous than for many ages past. According to those who carefully track immigration, there has been a zero net increase in immigration over the past seven years. Deportations = immigration, legal and otherwise.

On Sixty Minutes on Sunday, a number of Ohioans declared they could never trust Hillary Clinton, who perhaps has not always been forthcoming, but is hardly more duplicitous than your average U.S. Senator or Secretary of State. And if the inference is that Donald Trump is more trustworthy than Hillary, that is hill-arious. Can you really trust a billionaire who won’t release his tax returns, and who answers every accusation leveled at him with “Liar!” Really, would you trust your savings with this man? Or your country?

Of course, it wouldn’t be a swing state if it had a decisive political hue, but I need to remind the citizens of Columbus and Cleveland that voting has already begun by mail and will cease in two weeks. There’s no point in delayed commitment, and, in fact, Ohioans may be taunting the election gods by refusing to take a stand.

Consider the bizarre turn of events late in the fourth quarter of the Penn State-Ohio State game, wherein a blocked field goal turned into a touchdown for the blue-trending state over the stubbornly purple state. In short order the purple state lost, marring its undefeated season and deflating its number two ranking.  The football team of the bluish-purple state raised its national profile higher than at any point since it joined the Big Ten.

Coincidence? I think not, Columbus.