The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Howard Wilkinson examines the upcoming Ohio elections, noting that Republican Senate candidate Rob Portman has the advantage of solid financial support and a brutal Democrat primary on the other side of the aisle. The Ohio Republican Party, with new state chairman Kevin DeWine at the helm, sees an opportunity for a major comeback, fueled by Ohio’s double-digit unemployment rate and the state’s budget woes. They are watching as the once-astronomical approval ratings of both President Obama and the Democratic governor, Ted Strickland, plummet; and they are convinced that voters, when they go to the polls in November, will be looking for change… Portman has the backing of nearly every significant GOP leader in the state; and has amassed a multi-million campaign fund that is the largest of any GOP non-incumbent Senate candidate in the country. Portman may have one other advantage – Ohio Democrats are horribly split over who their candidate should be. Lieutenant Gov. Lee Fisher has the backing of most of the party’s leaders, from Strickland on down, but Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is running nearly even with Fisher in the polls. She has little money but strong grassroots support. Ohio Democratic Party leaders fear that a bloody Fisher-Brunner primary battle could leave the winner in a weak position in a campaign against Portman.