Negative Ads Flood The Airwaves In Ohio Senate Race

Ohio was recently rated one of the most competitive Senate races in the country.  But that might be changing. A new Quinnipiac/CBS/New York Times poll shows that first-term Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown is leading his challenger, State Treasurer Josh Mandel, 50 to 40 percent, with 9 percent undecided.

Part of the reason: a barrage of negative ads hitting the airwaves may have backfired.

Mandel, a 34-year-old Iraq war veteran, has received six "Pants on Fire" ratings for his ads from PolitiFact. Brown pounced on that by putting out an ad labeling Mandel "the candidate of the big lie."

But PolitiFact rated claims in that ad as "false."

Brown, a populist career politician, could also be getting a bump as a down-ticket candidate. The same Quinnipiac poll giving Brown a 10-point lead over Mandel also showed President Obama leading Mitt Romney 53 to 43 percent.

Brown and Mandel will face off in their first debate on October 15.