Crescent-News.com - Marc Kovac - Presidental polls show Obama leading McCain in Ohio

COLUMBUS -- It must be a presidential election year, because my electronic in-box is filling up with purportedly legitimate poll data quicker than newspaper reporters at a free buffet.

A quick Google search identified 16,000-plus news stories on these opinion studies, including ample coverage of Robert Mugabe's thoughts on the situation in Zimbabwe.

"What's the right age for a president?" blares one headline. "Most say U.S. on wrong track," declares another.

Many are giving the early edge to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, though the margins of error at this point probably make some states too close to call.

Which ones should you trust? I keep close tabs on and regularly report the findings of the Connecticut-based Quinnipiac Polling Institute and on the University of Cincinnati's Ohio Poll. They both regularly gauge Ohioans' opinions on candidates and issues, and their questions and sample sizes seem more representative than those of out-of-state, Johnny-come-lately outfits with more questionable survey methods.

That said, here are the results of a couple of other polls released last week. For what it's worth:

* North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling gave Barack Obama a 50 percent-39 percent lead over John McCain. That group conducted its poll of 733 likely voters in mid-May.

* The Midwest Democracy Network, in questioning 402 Ohioans as part of a multi-state poll, determined that 36 percent of respondents "trust government to do what is right either most of the time or almost always." Another 16 percent believe the state Legislature is doing a good job, while 22 percent believed the same about the state's courts.

And, a whopping 62 percent "said they would seek political candidates who understand that government reforms will be needed in order to make progress on policy priorities."

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There are more than one million Ohioans currently receiving food stamps, about half of which are children, according to a report released by Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown last week.

And, since 1970, the number of residents in the state living in poverty increased some 43 percent (that's versus an overall 8 percent increase in the total population).

Other findings included:

* "The number of Ohio recipients of food assistance (both public and private) increased by over 7 percent statewide in 2008."

* "The number of Ohio recipients of food assistance (both public and private) increased by nearly 1 percent in the last month alone."

* "For many metropolitan areas, this figure was higher, including 8-9 percent increases in Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton and Toledo and an over 11 percent increase in Van Wert."

The Democratic office-holder released the stats to draw attention to the need for more assistance for families.

"Ohio families are struggling to pay their housing costs, fill their gas tanks and put food on their tables," he said. "It's alarming that the number of Ohio families in need of food assistance has risen so rapidly in the past year. We must provide immediate resources to families in need, particularly children that depend on the school lunch program for nutritious meals."

(Marc Kovac is the Dix Newspapers Capital Bureau chief. E-mail him at mkovac@dixcom.com.)