Hmm... the last couple polls have shown this a little closer and I'm not sure of any real reason why Mandel's support is suddenly dropping. Maybe this is just noise.
Then again I haven't seen any Mandel commercials the last couple weeks so perhaps the folks have forgotten that man they briefly saw on TV putting his boots on
Many Republicans hope for this race to eventually tighten, but I doubt it absent something unexpected happening in the nation scene or in this race specificially. Sherrod Brown is somewhat related to the mold of the type of Ohio Democrats whom I occasionally vote for; Brown is too far left for my tastes but his politics are of the right strain and he is vocal on the right issues for an Ohio Democrat. I wrote Sherrod Brown a lovely letter a few months ago and he replied quickly. His response was full of lovely bits semi-related to what I wrote him about, enough to entice and endear many voters I expect; yet it was still a "Thanks for your opinion"
even though I'm going to completely ignore it type of response. Basically, Sherrod Brown is a good politician and while he is extremely liberal, he comes across as competent and calm to the voters.
Brown is a very skilled politician (at least on the state level) and Mandel is going to need to come up with something more convincing that whatever he has shown so far to win the election.