BUCKEYE STATE

Ohio Poll: Obama 50, Romney 48

President gets positive rating on Sandy.

In its final poll before Election Day, The Columbus Dispatch found that President Obama led Mitt Romney 50 percent to 48 percent in Ohio—within the poll’s 2.2 percent margin of error. The bitterly contested battleground state is thought crucial to each candidate’s chances this year, with Obama hoping to sew it up and effectively block the Republican ticket’s routes to 270 electoral votes. The candidates and their running mates have made a combined 83 visits to Ohio this year. Meanwhile, according to a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, Obama’s Sandy approval rating should make him feel better: 68 percent think he did a good job.