"Or Some Other Candidate?"

Those four words in recent poll questions asked of likely Ohio voters by Survey USA are the main reason why I believe the results of these polls should be taken with a grain of salt. "Some other candidate" will not appear on the general election ballot in November, as the filing deadline for independent candidates passed over a month ago.

Still, the polls are good news for Ohio Democrats. Even if all of the voters who chose "some other candidate" would have gone for Republicans, the polls still indicate that Ted Strickland has a substantial lead and Sherrod Brown is competitive.

One other quibble with the poll questions: In the gubernatorial poll, Bill Peirce and Bob Fitrakis are identified, respectively, as a Libertarian and a Green. Assuming both of them are certified for the ballot, Dr. Peirce and Mr. Fitrakis will appear on the ballot as independents. It's a minor point, but it seems to me that the poll questions should track the actual ballot language as closely as possible.