With three-plus weeks to go, Barack Obama is working Ohio hard. And no wonder. Eking out a win there might seal the deal. Yesterday in Portsmouth, a folksy Obama (lapsing occasionally into his downhome accent — dropping “g’s” and all) tells a story about trying to convince the diehard Republican owner of a local diner to “give us a chance for four years, you might get more customers.”

Sound Bite: “I can take four more weeks of John McCain’s attacks but America can’t take four more years of John McCain’s-George Bush looklalike policies.”