"As Ohio goes, so goes America." This the pronouncement from a political commentator in George Clooney's latest film, The Ides of March. The setting for the Ides of March is the Ohio Democratic presidential primary. It's an appropriate enough place to set a political thriller, Ohio being one of those proverbial battleground states, as the political pundits like to remind us. The state usually does figure large in primaries and general elections. Just ask John Kerry, whose presidential aspirations found their graveyard in Ohio in 2004. The Ides of March is based on the play Farragut North , by Beau Willimon. The playwright was apparently a staffer on another 2004 campaign, that of Howard Dean, which fizzled out after a big showing in Iowa. In adapting Willimon's play, Clooney and his writing partner Grant Heslov have added the character of presidential candidate and standing governor, Mike Morris (Clooney). Morris is something...