Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania were all closer races than Ohio in the 2004 presidential election. However, Kerry won those states. Iowa and New Mexico were also closer than Ohio, and won by Bush. I recall articles about suspicious ballots and counting in Madison, WI. Kerry would have needed 64,000 votes to switch in OH to win that state. Then Bush would only have needed 6,000 votes to switch in WI to still win overall. Ohio was not the closest race. There was no one "key" state. Kerry lost because many saw him as a candidate who stood for very little, and would adopt about any position to win. If Democrats want to win, they need to get a better candidate out of their primaries. Gore and Kerry were both opportunistic loosers.