By Whitney Roper, Contributing Writer

PA’s reputation as a swing state could potentially spell out trouble for President Obama come re-election time. That is, if the GOP offers up an acceptable nominee. According to Public Policy Polling, Obama’s ‘likeability’ isn’t as strong in PA as it once was.

His approval rating in the state is only 42% compared to the 52% of Pennsylvanians that are disapproving of Obama. Among democrats in the state, the President received an approval rating of a mere 68%, nationally that number is 81%. Furthermore, 54% of independents doubt Obama as well.

What may be more alarming than the fact that President Obama’s numbers aren’t nearly as high as they were in 2008 is that he is, for the most part, tied with potential presidential nominees who are already not well liked.

Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Sarah Palin are all GOP names being seriously thrown around for the Republican presidential nomination, none of which have that intimidating of a voter support base.

Gingrich and Palin may not be much of a threat to Obama; however, Romney leads Obama with one point at 43-42 and Huckabee only just trails behind at 45-44. Obama’s ‘lead’ on Santorum isn’t much more comfortable at 45-43.

The current Republican lineup for potential presidential nominees gives Obama a reasonable chance for reelection but if the GOP does select someone with stronger credentials, Obama might find himself struggling to keep his head afloat in Pennsylvania.