By Natalka Karaman, contributing writer

The results of the Franklin & Marshall poll are negative all-around. The approval ratings for top elected officials are low and more than half of the state thinks Pennsylvania is heading in the wrong direction.

The NRSC released a statement yesterday criticizing Senator Bob Casey and President Obama over the poor results of the F&M poll, which revealed that only about one third of Pennsylvania residents think positively of either of them.

The statement read, “Given their failure to create the jobs they promised while driving our national debt to $14.6 trillion, it’s no surprise that Pennsylvanians are eager to replace Bob Casey and President Obama next year.  Whether it’s their support for job-killing tax hikes, or their insistence on saddling our children and grandchildren with trillions of dollars in additional debt, Casey and Obama have been bad for the Keystone State.”

It’s worth noting that the same Franklin & Marshall survey found that 29 percent of registered voters gave U.S. Senator Pat Toomey positive job performance marks.  Governor Tom Corbett’s 32 percent job approval rating, meanwhile, is equal to Casey’s.

While neither party can claim a clear polling victory heading into Labor Day weekend, the results of the F&M survey must give Democrats a little more cause for apprehension, given that Casey and President Obama (unlike Toomey and Governor Corbett) will both be on Keystone State ballots next year.