Reuters-Ipsos just put out a new poll showing John Kasich up 48-39 on Ted Strickland.
And the good news doesn’t end there.
Rob Portman has also staked out a 43-36 lead on Lee Fisher.
The rest of the poll confirms a lot of what we already knew.
Jobs and the economy are far and away the most important issue in the campaign with 79% citing it as the biggest problem. Second was weak government and corrupt politicians.
Both aren’t exactly good news for Ted and Lee.
Are Ohioans optimistic that Ted and Lee’s administration are turning around Ohio? With nearly 2/3 saying the state is headed down the wrong track, that’s a big, fat no.
Joe Hallett and the Ohio Democratic Party like to think Democrats are enthusiastic. Well, as I just mentioned yesterday, that just isn’t happening. The Reuters poll confirmed my theory with 75% of Republicans saying they are certain to vote versus just 52% of Democrats.
If there is any good news at all for Ted, it’s that 93% of Ohioans believe bankers and wall street are the biggest culprits for the economic downturn.
But after millions and millions of dollars spent on advertising, Strickland press conferences, and organized political events designed to highlight Kasich’s attachment to Wall Street, that tactic hasn’t done much good, has it? In fact, if these numbers are accurate, things have actually gotten worse since the tactic was fully implemented.
Hmm…it’s almost as if someone predicted things would get worse for Ted after Kasich “twisted the knife” on Lehman.
With the incumbent Democrat pulling in just 39% of the vote, it’s time for Ted Strickland and his team to get very, very, very worried. Remember, traditionally it’s bad news when an incumbent isn’t hitting 50%. Ted’s at 39%.
As for Lee, for someone who has been around as long as him to get just 36% of the vote is simply astounding. And unfortunately for him, he doesn’t have any money to really move those numbers.
Do these numbers mean we should rest on our laurels? Not by a long shot. There are still 84 days until election day. Anything can happen. Additionally, this is just one poll. If we see the same trend over the next few weeks, we’ll have further confirmation on the state of the race.
But as Larry David says, this is pretty good.
