Cong. 2nd: Wulsin (D) and Schmidt (R) Tied in Poll

The campaign of Ohio 2nd District congressional candidate Dr. Victoria Wulsin (D-Indian Hill) has released the results of a recent poll showing her tied with embattled incumbent Rep. Jean Schmidt in this heavily Republican district:

44% Wulsin (D)
44% Schmidt (R)
11% undecided

The poll, conducted this past weekend (July 7-9) by Washington-based Momentum Analysis, also reveals that Wulsin leads in Hamilton County (the most populous county in the district) by 50% to 37%, and leads among independents by 53% to 36%, and that Schmidt's job approval rating is a dismal 33% (even lower than George W. Bush's job approval rating of 41%).

Schmidt's litany of caustic moments includes one which gained national attention, i.e., rising on the floor of Congress last year to attack Rep. Jack Murtha (D-PA), a decorated former Marine with combat experience in Korea and Vietnam, as a "coward," as reported in the Washington Post at the time here.

This is a startling and very important poll result. The poll also shows that 47% of the district's residents identify themselves as Republican, to only 34% identifying as Democrats. However, only 43% of the respondents said that they want to see the Republicans keep control of Congress (compared to 42% who want to see the Democrats regain control) and only 30% said that they would vote to re-elect Schmidt, while 19% said they would consider voting for someone else and 34% said they would vote to replace her. While the dissatisfaction with Schmidt is markedly high, the dissatisfaction with Republicans in general is also strong, reflecting an extraordinary shift in the public mood in this red district.