Senator Rob Portman surges ahead of Strickland in polls following stand against gun control proposals

The post recent Quinnipiac University poll of three swing states shows U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) opening up a seven-point lead on anti-gun rights Democrat Ted Strickland.

According to the poll, Sen. Portman leads Mr. Strickland 47-40%. Last month, Quinnipiac’s survey found the pair were locked in a dead heat, and earlier in the contest, Mr. Portman trailed by as much as nine points.

I believe Ted Strickland's stunning and sudden loss in support can be laid squarely at the feet of his decision to abandon gun owners.

It is commonly known that most voters don't pay attention until closer to an election.

And so, when Quinnipiac first began polling, voters were clearly unaware that:

• In 2010, after his narrow defeat to John Kasich, 2010, Strickland turned his back on the gun rights community that had kept his re-election race competitive, naming an anti-gun appointment to the Ohio Supreme Court.
• In 2012, Strickland insulted gun owners' intelligence by trying to get them to ignore Barack Obama's already-abysmal record of support for gun control, endorsing the president's reelection bid and claiming that Obama "supports and respects the Second Amendment."
• In 2014, Strickland went to Washington D.C. to take what he calls his "dream job" as president of the Center for American Progress - a liberal, anti-gun think tank that supports national regulation of concealed carry licenses, monthly background checks for permit-holders and reckless lawsuits that would put American gun manufacturers out of business. He has bragged the anti-Second Amendment group "paid me more money than I've ever made in my life."

As voters began paying attention, however, as the 2016 primary got underway, they have watched a man they believed was a supporter of their rights attack them at every turn. As their country fell under attack from radical Islamic terrorists, they have seen Strickland join the gun control chorus that blames Americans and the Second Amendment. They have heard him call for a so-called "universal" background check gun registration scheme. They have noted that Strickland now favors a so-called "assault weapons" ban. In a campaign email following the terror attack in Orlando, Strickland even announced that he was joining Senate Democrats who staged a filibuster on the floor of the U.S. Senate to demand action on gun control.

In short, voters have finally become aware that former Governor Ted Strickland completely and totally lost his way in Washington D.C.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the San Bernadino and Orlando terror attacks and despite media misrepresentation, voters have watched as Senator Portman stood firm, insisting on due process rights be maintained for those wishing to make gun purchases who are named on the terror watchlist. They've seen Portman join other senators in refusing to hold hearings on President Obama's latest anti-gun rights Supreme Court nominee.

And as they view the actions of these two men when it comes to their Second Amendment rights, the polls have shown voters shifting farther and farther away from Strickland and toward Senator Portman.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, BFA PAC Vice Chairman, and an NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.

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