As Democrat Lee Fisher, Ohio’s Jewish lieutenant governor, struggles in the polls, he seems to need all the help he can get in his race for senator of the Buckeye State. Indeed, a new poll put him 22 points behind Rob Portman, his Republican opponent and former Bush official. Formerly, Fisher, who now polls at 36% of the vote, was only 15 points behind.

The campaign first brought in Matthew Morrison, who plays Mr. Schu on Glee, the popular Fox TV show set in Ohio. But the numbers didn’t show an improvement. So today, a memo from Fisher’s team showed us that he’s really pulling out the big guns this time: yes, ladies and gentlemen, it’s President Barlet for Fisher. We mean, um, actor Martin Sheen.

Fisher for Ohio forwarded an email form Sheen, the Dayton, Ohio-born actor who immortalized the much-beloved President Josiah Bartlet on “The West Wing.”

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“I know Ohio’s workers are struggling, and I’m deeply concerned about our country and our state,” he wrote. “I strongly believe we need Lee Fisher in the U.S. Senate. He stands for the working people of this state and is committed to bringing jobs to Ohioans while protecting health care reform, Social Security, and unemployment insurance. Congressman Portman is absolutely the wrong choice. He supports big businesses at the expense of Ohio jobs and thinks being Senator is nothing more than a stepping stone for higher office. In fact, he told a Plain Dealer reporter that he’d like to be President, but that would ‘mean probably running for Senate’ first. And now The Washington Post is speculating that he could run as early as 2016. That kind of blatant opportunism is the opposite of what Ohioans need at this critical time.”

Of course, no mailing is complete without an appeal: the letter requests $10.

“My father was an immigrant who worked his whole life in a National Cash Register Company factory in Dayton to support our large family,” Sheen continued. “He taught me the responsibilities of citizenship and the importance of supporting our fellow workers. I enthusiastically support Lee Fisher for U.S. Senate because he stands for the principles my father and I have felt so strongly about. I know he has the needs of Ohio’s workers at heart and I encourage you to support him today.”

Cue the theme music…

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