A new poll out this morning in Ohio's open Senate race from the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) shows Republican Rob Portman opening up a lead over Democratic Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher.

Portman led Fisher 45 percent to 38 percent in the poll of 475 likely Ohio voters surveyed August 27th to 29th. The margin of error was 4.5 percent.

Voters have a similar lack of familiarity for both candidates: Forty-four percent said they're not sure what their opinion is of Fisher, and 43 percent said the same of Portman. But Portman's favorability rating among those with an opinion is slightly higher: Twenty-nine percent said they viewed him favorably, and 28 percent found him unfavorable. Fisher's split was more negative at 24 favorable/32 unfavorable.

The larger factor bringing down Fisher appears to be the president. President Obama's approval rating is 41 percent with 54 percent disapproving. The President's signature legislative achievement - health care reform - also appears to be a drag. Fifty-three percent of the voters surveyed said they opposed the law compared with 37 percent who said they approved it.

Republicans lost more cache in Ohio than in many other swing states over the last two election cycles due to some of the state party's own problems, from former Republican Gov. Bob Taft's troubled administration to Tom Noe's coin scandal. But for Democrats running there now, it doesn't seem that the GOP's problems have stuck: Forty-four percent of respondents called themselves moderate in the poll; 40 percent labeled themselves conservatives and just 16 percent said they were liberal.

Nevertheless, PPP believes Fisher still has a chance to flip the seat. PPP President Dean Debnam wrote in his analysis of the poll, "Lee Fisher has to galvanize his base to win this race. If only 40 percent of the electorate is Democrats, and only 70 percent of them vote for him, he loses."