US Sen: Brown (D) Internal Polling Shows Race Tied

Contradicting a Plain Dealer/Mason-Dixon poll that shows an eleven point lead for Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Cedarville), an internal poll of 800 likely voters conducted for the campaign of Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Avon Lake) by The Feldman Group shows the race at 45% to 44% in favor of Brown, and 11% undecided, with a margin of error of 3.5%.

Buttressing the favorable results for Brown, the Feldman Group poll also reveals that:

* 68% of likely voters think the country is "pretty seriously off on the wrong track," compared to 22% saying it's on the right track.

* 71% rate Bush's performance as President at "Fair" or "Poor," with only 29% at "Good" or "Excellent".

* Ratings of DeWine's peformance are 5% "Excellent," 29% "Good," 39% "Fair," 14% "Poor," and 13% "Don't know".

* Only 30% say DeWine deserves reelection, compared to 48% who say it should be someone else and 21% who don't know.

Given how poorly DeWine fared on the job approval and generic reelection questions, I think the Brown campaign is below where they should be in the head-to-head matchup, meaning that the campaign needs to improve its message and methods. Still, these results are encouraging after the dismal numbers in the Plain Dealer poll.