OH-SEN: Poll: Brown Opens 12-Point Lead
Dem Sherrod Brown appears to be pulling away from GOP Senator Mike DeWine. A new Quinnipiac poll released today shows Brown leading DeWine by 12 points, 53%-41%. The new poll -- whose spread dwarfs that of most recent polls -- comes amid a big disupte over whether national GOP strategists have decided to pull resources out of the race. Yesterday's Times reported that the RNC was pulling out funds, while analyst Stuart Rothenberg countered that the RNC was sinking more than $1 million into the race. Yesterday Election Central spoke to a Brown adviser who was skeptical that the RNC was really yanking funds. More on this later.
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Good to see. And although I know the RNC would be loathe to abandon a senate seat, they almost have to let DeWine push himself along. If the GOP can maintain even a one-seat lead in the Senate (and I count Lieberman as a Republican now), they get to set chairmanships, committee memberships, etc., and they can only have that by clinging desperately to the two or three seats they have chances at. Put simply, they either win a couple, or none at all.
October 17, 2006 8:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
While a GOP head-fake in Ohio wouldn't terribly surprise me, Sherrod Brown seems to have opened up daylight between himself and Mike DeWine, and that seems to be impervious to whatever DeWine is doing.
So at some point, the GOP has to ask themselves if it's worth dumping more money into Ohio (which I assume is a fairly expensive state to advertise in) rather than moving it to Missouri, Tennessee, Virginia, and New Jersey, all of which seem to be closer contests than Ohio at this point.
If the GOP can hold Virginia and win one of the other three, they hold the Senate. That's certainly how I'd play the red pieces, if it were my chessboard.
October 17, 2006 9:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
DeWine also has a ton of his own money, so I don't know why they wouldn't let him go forward on his own.
That said, whether the GOP pulls their money or not, keep in mind that DeWine has a ton of his own money, and in Ohio especially, we can never take things for granted before election day!
October 17, 2006 12:26 PM | Reply | Permalink