CQ Politics has just downgraded the Ohio Senate race between GOP incumbent Mike DeWine and Dem challenger Sherrod Brown, moving it from "No clear Favorite" to "Leans Democratic":

This is a breakthrough for Brown, who is running on a liberal-leaning but populist economic platform and his strong opposition to President Bush’s policies on the war in Iraq...

It is a mark of how terrible the political environment is for Ohio Republicans that they are unable to exploit Brown’s voting record. The Republicans have focused on what they argue are major deficiencies in Brown’s record on national security issues and taxes. But Brown has focused on the state’s hemorrhaging of manufacturing jobs and his opposition to trade pacts that he says have contributed to economic dislocations.

Including DeWine, CQ has now rated three GOP incumbent Senators as underdogs. The other two are Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.