Use of the term "Rust Belt" when referring to the Industrial Midwest or the Metals Heartland in national media is insulting. The term is a pejorative. Pejorative is defined by Dictionary.com as an adjective "having a disparaging, derogatory, or belittling effect."
It's time to end the practice, frankly. It's insulting to every current and former Ohioan, but it's also lazy.
The term is dated and long-past its usefulness, if it ever had one.
Ending use of the term starts with the Presidential elections this year. Ohio is in the spotlight greatest during such elections, but Ohio's economy is actually harmed more than it is helped by that spotlight every time our state is belittled.
Google Obama and "rust belt" and you get 632,000 entries. Do the same with Romney and you get 209,000. Biden and the term marry up 738,000 times. One is too many, but 1.5 million is absurd.
I'm also going to use this forum to call out every time one of the candidates gets caught using the term.
I can't find any Romney reference using it, and I did look.
However, WhiteHouse.gov has five entries using the term "Rust Belt," including two occasions of remarks of President Obama himself when visiting Ohio. Tsk. Tsk.
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This is one in a series on Life In A Swing State aimed at pushing Ohio's Swing State status in the state's favor just a little bit.
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