President Obama is looking solid in Pennsylvania according to the latest survey by Public Policy Polling. He leads the former Massachusetts Governor 50 to 42, a 1 point boost from the firm’s March survey.
However, his approval ratings are still tepid; 49 percent approve of his job performance, 49 percent disapprove. Romney’s numbers are solidly negative; 37 percent hold a positive opinion of him compared 51 percent who view him negatively.
“Our polling for most of last year suggested Pennsylvania could be very competitive in 2012,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “But Barack Obama’s now looking more like the clear favorite to win the state again by a healthy margin as he did in 2008.”
Obama leads 48 to 24 percent among independents, 56 to 36 percent with women, and 64 to 28 percent among young voters.
Romney leads 48 to 43 percent among men, 47 to 45 percent among white voters, and 50 to 41 percent among voters ages 30 to 45. Voters 65 and older are split, 45 to 45 percent.
VP Blues
The pollster also found that picking a PA Republican as his VP would be of little help to Romney. Former Governor Tom Ridge gave ROmney the biggest boost out of Governor Tom Corbett, Senator Pat Toomey (who is frequently mentioned as a dark horse VP possibility), former Senator Rick Santorum, Ridge, and 2006 gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann.
Obama 50, Romney 42
Obama/Biden 49, Romney/Corbett 43
Obama/Biden 49, Romney/Toomey 40
Obama/Biden 51, Romney/Santorum 43
Obama/Biden 48, Romney/Ridge 43
Obama/Biden 48, Romney/Swann 37
Finally, approval numbers for Corbett and Toomey are each net negative. Corbett’s approval is 37 percent positive, 50 percent negative – a 7 jump in negatives since PPP last polled the Guv in November. Toomey’s is 33 percent positive, 36 percent negative.
Only Tom Ridge enjoys net positive ratings: 50 percent of voters view him favorably to 32 percent who view him negatively.
PPP surveyed 671 Pennsylvania voters from May 17th to 20th via automated telephone interviews. The margin of error for the survey is +/-3.8 percent.
4 Responses
I saw chart on Fox today that had Obama +6, so a poll with +8 is not unreasonable. Let’s not forget, Romney is very unlikable, out-of-touch and a world class flip-flopper. No one believes a word chiming out of his mouth or even that Romney believes what he says.
An 8 point lead is hardly ‘solid’ and PA has a definite potential to be competitive. Take note of the source of the poll. Daily Kos’ pollster.
Interesting that Mr. Gibson did not identify Public Policy Polling as a liberal polling firm whose polls are always heavily weighted towards the Democrats. Same firm predicted Dems would hold the House of Reps in 2010. Romney is closer in PA than Obama is in NC.
As a big fan of President Obama, I thank you Governor Corbett and the Republican Legislature for all your support. You are a great help to the President’s re-election efforts, reminding people why Pennsylvanians should not vote Republican!