A new survey of Ohio from Democratic-leaning firm Public Policy Polling shows President Obama up 7 points over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (50 percent to 43 percent), but Romney may be assisted in the state by a native son. If Romney were to choose Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) as a vice presidential nominee, a few Ohio voters to jump on board, although the Obama-Biden ticket still leads 49 percent to 44 percent over a potential Romney-Portman option.
This despite that many Ohioans don’t know that much about Portman, who was elected in 2010. From PPP:
Rob Portman has received perhaps more attention as a potential running mate for Romney than anyone else over the last month but even with all of that publicity he remains a relatively obscure figure in the state. 36% of voters have no opinion on his job performance, the highest level of indifference we’ve found to any of the 87 sitting Senators we’ve polled on in their home states. Those who do have a take on Portman are closely divided with 31% approving of him to 33% who disapprove.
The TPM Poll Average of the presidential race in Ohio shows Obama with a 5.2 percent advantage at the moment.
