Turning to Ohio and beyond, Clinton must excite voters

The Michigan setback has exposed her struggles to energize voters against Bernie Sanders, who's riding a wave of populist zeal, even as Clinton remains the favorite to win the nomination.

"The fear I have is that people are confusing reality TV with reality," said Bob Lanning, 62, of Bay Village, a Clinton supporter who worries about Republican Donald Trump's appeal.

Lee Apple, 68, of Shaker Heights, who has cast a ballot for Clinton in early voting, expressed disappointment she had no choices to get more excited about, though she described Clinton as "the best option" and said she will volunteer for her.

[...] in Michigan, where polling also pointed to a Clinton victory, Sanders managed to energize younger people and liberals and woo working-class white voters with his argument that U.S. trade deals have cost manufacturing jobs.

Pushing back, Clinton is stressing job creation and manufacturing at events in Ohio and the other states voting Tuesday.

In 2012, Obama managed just to eke out a victory in the general election, campaigning as a savior of Ohio's auto industry.

David Niven, a political science professor at Cincinnati University, said Democrats should be considered "modest favorites" given the makeup of the state.

In the early contests thus far, Republicans have seen higher turnout in many states than they did in their 2012 primary race, while Democrats are not hitting their record high 2008 turnout numbers.