Ohio senate: Brown (D) 45% DeWine (R) 42%

[oberliner]

Once again, the challenger in Ohio's highly competitive race for U.S. Senate has edged out the GOP incumbent in the Rasmussen Reports election poll. Democrat Sherrod Brown now leads Republican Senator Mike DeWine 45% to 42%.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/rasmussen/20060826/pl_rasmussen... ;_ylt=AuZuBhemz0D9_umfjxpCRJqyFz4D;_ylu=X3oDMTA0cDJlYmhvBHNlYwM-

[Eric J in MN]

1. Sorry to see it so close.

I'm expecting the Republicans to limit the number of voting machines in black neighborhoods and near liberal college campuses in 2006, like they did in 2004.

Anyway, I donated $50 to Democrat Sherrod Brown this morning:
http://www.sherrodbrown.com/

[WCGreen]

2. Ohio is a pretty evenly split state....

Always has been....

[Radical Activist]

3. Wow.

Looks like we might pick up both PA and OH. This could be a good year.

[Idioteque]

5. If we don't pick up PA and OH, we will have a very bad year. n/t

[blue sky at night]

4. this is good news.......

regardless of the closeness of the numbers, the public is showing a side here. I intend to get out and canvass for Sherod and Ted when the time comes.

[OhioBlue]

12. good for you!

encourage dem voters to vote absentee too.

[TheFarseer]

6. no gay marriage amendment to save them

like in 2004. Too bad there's no time to put an abortion amendment on the ballot.

[Awsi Dooger]

7. Makes sense

I've been criticized for not believing the polls indicating an 8+ point lead for Brown, but the dynamics of this race don't indicate that margin is logical. Brown is more liberal than anyone elected statewide in Ohio for major office in quite some time, and DeWine's approval numbers are low but not horrific. Figures to be a tight race.

[OzarkDem]

9. Rasmussen is a GOP pollster

His numbers have been waaay off in this race from the beginning. Deliberately so.

[Ignacio Upton]

10. Not entirely true

Granted Rasmussen is a Repub (and his interpretation of Bush's job approval is generally higher than other pollsters because he uses "somewhat approve/disapprove" vs "strongly approve/disapprove") when it comes to the individual state races, he's been more accurate. His numbers aren't ridiculously out of range of other pollsters. I'd say that Zogby has the worst credibility out of the major pollsters.

[OzarkDem]

11. Actually, you're wrong

Zogby, IIRC, polled closer than Rasmussen in the last election and SurveyUSA did better than any.

[TheVirginian]

13. You're missing what he was saying.

There are many different things to poll about. Did they poll statewide races, the presidential campaign, ballot initiatives, congressional campaigns, or what? Rasmussen was the most accurate, I believe, for both statewide campaigns and for the presidential election by state. SurveyUSA does really well with more local races and down-ballot initiatives and candidates. I don't remember Zogby doing particularly well last cycle; I agree with the poster that Zogby really doesn't have that much credibility, at least when it comes to statewide campaigns.

[OzarkDem]

16. Sorry, I'm not buying it

I've seen Rasmussen do some really strange stuff in this race. They're lying. I have a habit of not trusting GOP pollsters, doubt you'll ever convince me otherwise.

[OzarkDem]

8. Its Rasmussen, oversamples conservatives

Real number is probably about where it was before - 8%.

[Zynx]

14. When it's all said and done, the Strickland landslide will carry Brown

to a five point victory.

[Imagevision]

15. Unemployment in Ohio is 6.3 percent, up from 4.2 percent