KERRY LEADING AMONG OHIO INDEPENDENTS? Guest-blogging at Josh Marshall's Talking Points Thursday, Democratic pol-analyst Ruy Teixeira had the following:

A very recent (June 21-23) ARG poll of likely voters in Ohio has Kerry ahead by 6 (49-43), even with Nader in the mix. (He has an identical 6 point lead (50-44) when Nader is not included.) Polls taken in the last month or so have tended to show Bush ahead in this key state, so this is welcome news for the Kerry campaign.

Especially good news is Kerry's wide 15 point lead among independents (53-38). That's up from a 5 point Kerry lead in May. In Ohio, independents very much hold the balance since the numbers of Republican and Democratic voters in presidential elections are roughly equal and tend to be roughly equally polarized in favor of their candidate. In 2000, Bush won the state by 4 points and independents by 15 points. If Kerry can maintain anything like his current lead among Ohio's independents, Bush will be toast in the state.

And, he should have added, if people turn out to vote in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.

(Teixeira's own blog is Donkey Rising.)