(CNN) – Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Ohio Monday is the fifth to the state by either Biden or President Barack Obama over the past four weeks. But the flurry of trips by the top two men in the White House doesn't seem to be making a dent in a state where Democrats face challenging elections this year.
The vice president teams up with Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland at campaign events in Akron and Dayton. Next month the president joins Strickland on the campaign trail. The October 17 event will be the 11th time Obama has visited Ohio since he became president.
Biden's visit comes as the two most recent polls of likely Ohio voters indicate Strickland is slipping against former Rep. John Kasich, the Republican gubernatorial nominee. According to a CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday, Strickland trails Kasich by seven points. And a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday indicates that Kasich holds a 17 point advantage over the first term governor.
In the race to succeed retiring Republican Sen. George Voinovich, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, the Democratic nominee, trails former Bush administration cabinet official and former Rep. Rob Portman by 11 points in the CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation poll. According to the Quinnipiac University survey, Portman holds a 20 point margin over Fisher.
And Republicans are confident they may be able to win back five to six Democrat held House seats in the state. Add that all together and it spells trouble for the Democrats in a state that's not only important this year but will also be crucial in the next race for the White House.
Ohio secured George W. Bush's re-election in 2004, but two years ago Obama won the state by five percent over Sen. John McCain in the presidential election. But according to the Quinnipiac poll, six out of ten Ohio voters disapprove of the job Obama's doing in the White House, with 38 percent saying they approve. The 60 percent disapproval is a new high for the president's disapproval rating in the Buckeye state.
The state's unemployment rate may have something to do with these numbers. Ohio's jobless level stands at 10.1 percent, above the national average.
"Ohio is the new Michigan. The state's economy is a mess, and Democrats are paying a steep political price for it," says Stuart Rothenberg, editor and publisher of the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report.
Democrats made major gains in Ohio in 2006 and 2008. 2010 will not be a repeat performance.
UPDATE:
"Another rosy speech from Vice President Biden won't change the fact that Ohio has lost over 130,000 jobs since the stimulus was enacted," Republican National Committee spokesman Ryan Tronovitch tells CNN.
Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn
From CNN Politics
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help | CNN Newsource | License Footage
I can care less about the gubernatoral race. I just want to see Bonehead Boehner out of Congress.
Go get them Joe,before the right wing fascists take over the world.
Bush put the people of Ohio in soup lines. I can't possibly see how Ohioians would want to stand in line to vote Republican just like they stood in line to get a bowl of soup.
not spanked ... whip like a yard dog... ,but the democrats are even worse.. new ideas,, new leadership ,,new direction.. quick ...!!!!!!
Hey Biden...
Try to remember – Lake Erie is one of the great lakes, not some place to hang out on halloween.
You're welcome... buffoon.
The Dumb O crats are done, Its time Americans take back their country from these socialist tax and spend Dumb O Crats, led by Dear Leader OBama. Let Biden the idiot come and campaign. No one is going to listen to this idiot when they are just trying to survive due to the Dems screwing everything up. Go Republicans the true Americans
Biden does not have a clue about how to run a country. I have never seen such a boob. The real problem is that there are so many stupid people in this country who belive what he says.
Scott, let me be as frank as I can... Republicans HAVE DESTROYED THIS GREAT NATION! Dems couldn't have created this much damage in just 1.5 years. What taxes have gone up on you since 2009? Right, none. This old line "tax and spend" is just plain dumb, like you. "Borrow and spend" from Republicans is better, right? You are clueless, utterly clueless...
I don't think Ohio is dumb enough to think that the GOP will do a better job there, not enough millionaires
I wonder what stupid comment he will make while there.Open mouth ,insert foot. Joe has it down to an art.
Don't worry, Democrats!!!!!
Biden is in charge.....
HA HA HA ha ha ha hahahahaha....
Watch out for ravenous orange people who are trying to outrun WhangDoodles!
Maybe Joe will tell us the truth on this road show and admit that his party has been a total and complete failurethe past 2 years and that they have failed to keep campaign promisesthet - they got "drunk with power" and rang up a few trillion in debt for our kids and grandchildren to repay or that they spent more pork than all previous administraions combined; or that his and Obama's views on the surge in Iraq were all worng; or that Obama's mission in Afghanistan is unknown – that they do not have a clue where Bin Laden is; and that it was never the US mission to fight the Taliban (who have never attacked the US and pos no threat to do so) or to prop up a corrupt Afghan government and defend heroin poppy fields so the Taliban can make a living; or that they forgot about immigration reform; or that they lied about the effects and cost of their health care takeover; or that Geitner really is a tax cheat but Obama wanted him to run the IRS anyway; or that the are really partisan to the core and coud care less what people really think about them. Or that Obama "acted stupidly" during the BP crisis .. or that they were just kidding about assing 5 million jobs in their first year; or that Obama's golf handicap has gone down 7 strokes becasue of the playing and practicing he has been able to do....
As the song goes, "Bring in the clowns..." Folks ya just gotta love politics; everyone thinks they are smarter than the next knucklehead. :-)
Shouldn't these people be working a little harder creating jobs and fixing the broken economy?
The President and VP haven't stopped campaigning since they won the election. If they had focused 1/2 of this time on the economy, maybe things would look better for them in this election season.
STAY IN WASHINGTON AND WORK!!!!!!!
Campaign (AKA LIE) all you want. The failure of your policies is undeniable. "recovery Summer" my foot! Tell it to the 16% that are unemployed while you throw us all deeper into debt with your insane spending.
Scott – the 'dumb o crats' as you call them have been so outdone by the reflublicans. If you're okay with giving to the wealthy, witchcraft, doing away with Social Security then keep those reflublican beliefs and look in the mirror when your calling anyone dumb. Reflublicans are only true Americans to the wealthy and wall street.
That is the BEST news I have heard!! Whenever they send Joe "I will find another way to put my foot in my mouth" Biden anywhere to "help" it does the opposite. It also shows the current fear in the Democrats. What do you expect? When you push your ideology and philosophy against the american people you will get your "awakening". The people have realized what a catastrophe the Democrats are and realize that although the Republicans are not perfect (especially in recent history but we will fix that) they actually have the best interest of the country at heart. Thanks Joe for going to Ohio and confirming how scared the Democrats are......I'm loving it!!
I don't understand how the Democrats could be in trouble in the polls after all they've accomplished FOR the American people. oh, yes, come to think of it, it's because there are so many folks out there whose IQs are barely two points above a rock, who've had their brains sucked out by the Zombie network, otherwise known as Fox 'News,' and who apprently have no long-term memory! blaming Obama and the Democrats for the shape the country is now is like blaming the US for World War II! wake up, people, stop buying into the lies of the 'right' and support the people who are helping you out of this mess!!!
Vice President Biden, please find the millions o f Americans who have lost their homes!!! They are MIA and we need their vote. Charter busses, make sure they are registered to their new addresses, even if its under the overpass. Get them to the polls in November!!! Whatever it takes!!!
Biden you will only help all politicans running that are not Democrat
please open mouth remove foot speak and then re-insert foot
you Obummer tool.........
I betcha there will be some "slammin," "blasting" and "bashing" of the Republicans there, just like all of the other drug addled Democrat liberals are doing, including some in this post. Hope you all just keep calling us names and demeaning and degrading us. It is really helping us. Thanks, you get to vent your little liberal spleen and we win the elections.
Remember Pennsylvania: TEA: Totalitarians for Euthanizing America. Victims of rape forced to have their attacker's children, Dismantling of Social Security so the RICH can pay less taxes and YOU can be screwed. Underfunding of healthcare so it will fail and YOU can be screwed again. Tax cuts to companies that send their jobs overseas – so YOU can be screwed. Republicans talk a sweet story – just like the Serpent at the Garden of Eden. Look at where that got Adam and Eve. And look at where that got America with Bush. Think carefully, someone is trying to sell you a used car – and you WILL live with what you buy!
For the sake of this argument, I wish John McCain had won the Presidency... Could you imagine what Republicans would be saying about the economy that they made?
If obammie, biden, pelosi, reid, etc. are always out campaigning, vacationing, etc., who is minding the store?