Did Obama Save Ohio?

That's the title of major Matt Bai piece coming up this Sunday in the NYT Magazine, but the subtitle should be, "And Save a Second Term?"

What Obama’s economy will look like in 20 years is impossible to know. But the lesson here is that economic data often lag behind the political reality, and it can be hard to claim credit in the short term for progress that can be put in perspective only years after the fact. There’s no reasonable way to look at the state and not agree that Obama took steps that stabilized Ohio and made it possible for the state to find its footing, even if the expansion hasn’t been robust or pervasive. But if the candidate himself can’t make that argument effectively (or if he won’t even assume the risk of trying), then his vindication may come not at the ballot box this November but in some reconsideration of the data years into his retirement.