This morning, Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) debated Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) on NBC’s Meet The Press moderated by Tim Russert.

I thought Brown did a great job taking on DeWine. He kept him on the defensive and painted him as ineffective. He also hammered the Senator on his negative campaign and there were times when DeWine couldn’t defend his own record. DeWine spent much of the debate ducking Russert’s questions.

Here is the transcript.

Below, you’ll also find transcripts to the other Meet The Press debates from the past couple weeks.

OHIO: Sherrod Brown v. Mike DeWine

VIRGINIA: Jim Webb v. George Allen

PENNSYLVANIA: Bob Casey v. Rick Santorum

A new poll in Ohio has Sherrod Brown, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, leading his opponent Mike DeWine by a couple points.

This one’s gonna be a barn burner.

The University of Cincinnati poll has Sherrod Brown leading his opponent 51% to 47%. That’s certainly a good sign for Brown but this thing is still extremely close.

The DSCC is extremely focused on this race and organizers are on the ground working hard to ensure a Democratic pick-up in Ohio.

Read the results of the poll here.

Below are the dates for numerous Senate debates on NBC’s Meet the Press. Tune in, y’all!

via First Read:

September 3:
Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (R) and Bob Casey (D)

September 13:
Virginia Sen. George Allen (R) vs. Jim Webb (D)

October 1:
Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine (R) vs. Rep. Sherrod Brown (D)

October 8:
Missouri Sen. Jim Talent (R) vs. Claire McCaskill (D)

October 15:
Minnesota candidates Amy Klobuchar (D) and Mark Kennedy (R)

October 29:
Maryland Senate nominees (still TBD)

According to a new poll by the Columbus Dispatch, Democratic Congressmen Ted Strickland and Sherrod Brown have big leads in their respective races for Governor and Senate.

This is especially encouraging news as both Strickland and Brown are lesser known than both their Republican opponents. Loony-right vote stealer J. Kenneth Blackwell is Ohio’s Secretary of State and the GOP nominee for governor, while Strickland has never held office outside of his current gig in the U.S. House. Nevertheless, Strickland leads Blackwell by twenty points, 47%-27%. Sherrod Brown is a former Ohio Secretary of State but hasn’t held statewide office since 1990, when Brown was ousted by current Ohio Governor/Convicted Criminal Bob Taft. Nevertheless, Brown leads incumbent Republican Senator Mike DeWine by a margin of 45%-37%.

The upshot? Ohio voters are sick of their Republican “leaders” failing them with corruption, incompetence and mismanagement. Ohioans are ready for real change!

Republicans have once again proved that when it comes to pandering to the fear of the American people, their hubris knows no bounds. As if it weren’t shameless enough airing attack ads against Democrats showing the collapse of the Twin Towers, Ohio Senator Mike DeWine actually altered the photos in his ad to embellish the smoke billowing from the terror strike.

Mike DeWine is a typical Ohio Republican: keep out of the limelight, do very little for your constituents, and appear just moderate enough not to frighten suburban housewives away from the polls. DeWine, however, is getting a stiff challenge this year from Ohio Congressman Sherrod Brown. Brown is running on a platform of a higher minimum wage, fair trade to protect American jobs, and health care for every American. Desperate ads like this one and DeWine’s recent co-sponsorship of the Federal Hate Amendment prove that DeWine is no centrist; he also clearly thinks his Senate seat is at risk. DeWine will not be easy to defeat, but this kind of demagoguery shows Ohio needs a new Senator.

You may remember the testy beginnings of the Ohio Democratic Senate primary a few months back between Rep. Sherrod Brown and Iraq vet Paul Hackett. After a couple months, Hackett left the race and while it looked like there was no repairing the relationship between the two politicos, they are now united to defeat Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) in the fall.

The Washington Post:

Don’t expect Paul Hackett to be taking any vacations with Rep. Sherrod Brown this summer, but the two Ohio Democrats have buried their differences for the fall.

Hackett, a veteran of the Iraq war who has become a favorite of liberal bloggers and the Democratic “net roots,” endorsed Brown’s Ohio Senate candidacy yesterday — five months after leaving the race himself.

Hackett said his change of heart came Thursday while he was mowing his lawn. He called Brown, apologized for the way he exited the race and offered to help. The two men met in Cincinnati over the weekend to hash out the particulars of an endorsement.

Sen. Dewine is totally out of the mainstream and he’s a back-bencher who needs to go. He must be defeated in this election. Please check out Rep. Brown’s website and if you live in OH or will be visiting the state, get involved!