Inside Pitch

Ohio Gov. John Kasich - who has been no stranger to controversy in his year and a half in office - seems to be gaining popularity with voters, according to a new poll released this week.

Public Policy Polling, a North Carolina Democrat polling firm, released a poll of Ohio voters Wednesday showing that 41 percent approve of Kasich's job performance, while another 41 percent disapprove.

The two members of the Hamilton County board of commissioners who are up for re-election this year – Republican Greg Hartmann and Democrat Todd Portune – will have no major party opponents in the Nov. 6 election.

Leaders of both major political parties said giving the commissioners a free ride was not part of a deal. Four years ago, both Portune and Hartmann faced weak opponents who had little or no party backing.

The two political parties tried and failed to come up with county commission candidates by Monday’s 4 p.m. deadline.

Here’s a video of the author of the Washington Post’s “The Fix,” political writer Chris Cillizza on the upside and downside of picking Sen. Rob Portman as Mitt Romney’s running mate. On the plus side, Cillizza says the Terrace Park Republican’s strength “is his reliability….he could step in and do the job on day one.” His liability?