Strongly benefiting from Barack Obama’s unpopularity in the state Rob Portman has taken a 45-38 lead over over Lee Fisher in the Ohio Senate race.

Both of the candidates continue to be relatively unknown. 44% of voters don’t know enough about Fisher to have formed an opinion and the same is true for 43% when it comes to Portman. But Obama’s approval rating in the state is a pretty dreadful 41/54 spread and Fisher’s attracting only 9% of the vote from people unhappy with Obama. It’s going to be difficult for Democrats to win anywhere that the President’s disapproval is over 50% if their candidate doesn’t have a strong ability to make voters separate their feelings about Obama from their feelings about him/her.