Summarizing what I said yesterday, we have 7 vulnerable Senate seats - Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Montana, Missouri, Tennessee, and Virginia. Our candidates in Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia are holding on to slight leads. Conrad Burns has surged in the polls and has pulled into a dead heat with his Democratic opponent, leading Republicans to re-commit to his re-election.

While in any other year, I would fully support Lincoln Chafee, the simple circumstances of this year dictate otherwise. Rhode Island is just not a state in which we can make much progress during times like these. Yesterday, I pointed out why it is crucial Rick Santorum be re-elected. Tonight I look at the Ohio Senate race.

Mike DeWine has been a popular Ohio politician for a very long time. He began his career as a prosecutor, then served as a State Senator before being elected to Congress for three terms. Elected Lieutenant Governor in 1990, he ran for the Senate in 1992 and lost to 51% to 42%. However, he ran for an open seat in 1994 and won 53% to 39%. In 2000, DeWine was re-elected by a overwhelming 60% to 39% margin.

In Washington, DeWine has been a strong advocate for conservative principles, from the war on Terror which has kept us safe for five years, to judicial nominations that protect the American people from activist judges, to the fiscal policies that have led to one of the strongest economic recoveries in American history. Newspapers including the Akron Beacon Journal, the Canton Repository, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Cincinnati Post, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Columbus Dispatch, the Coshocton Tribune, the Dayton Daily News, the Findlay Courier, the Newark Advocate, the Plain Dealer, the Times-Reporter, the Wheeling Intelligencer, and the Zanesville Times-Recorder have all endorsed his re-election.

Why?

It is a reflection of Mike DeWine's strong record in Ohio and Washington. But it also has to do with the personality and record of his Democratic opponent, Sherrod Brown.

The shrill and highly-partisan Brown has quite a record. Indeed, his left-wing record rivals that his fellow Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich. Brown scored an 84.2 in the National Journal's liberal scale, meaning he votedmore liberally than 84.2 percent of his colleagues. He was the second most liberal Congressman, behind Kucinich, and even more liberal than Marcy Kaptur, who scored 75.2%. As a Congressman, Brown has only passed four bills. On vote after vote, including the initial vote on the Patriot Act, Brown has been one of a small coterie of extremely liberal Democrats voting against legislation that has kept America safe. And as Secretary of State, Sherrod Brown led an office engulfed by scandal.

Polling here has not looked very good for DeWine. SurveyUSA has him down 20. Rasmussen has him down 11. Mason-Dixon has him down 8. Quinnipiac has him down 12. However, in the strongest possible terms, I encourage everyone to ignore the polls on this race. Too much is at stake.

Ohio voted in 2000 and 2004 for President Bush, but the state party has endured a rough two years thanks to Bob Taft. However, that day is ending. A new day approaches. As we go into the final week of this campaign, let no one fail to recognize the crucial importance of Mike DeWine's re-election. All Ohio Republicans and conservatives need to realize what their inaction the next week could do.

Can the Republican Party, can conservativism, indeed, can America afford six years of Sherrod Brown in the United States Senate?

The answer is a resounding NO.