In Ohio, Gov. Ted Strickland will face voters in less than a year, with unemployment at 10.5 percent; last month, it was 10.1 percent. I cannot help but wonder if there is some sort of ingenious strategy at work, in which state-government policy hinders job creation and lowers the bar as much as possible until, say, the middle of next year, and then any modest improvements will feel like significant job gains . . .