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Obama at All-Time Low in PA Poll

President Obama's job-approval rating in PA stands at an all time low after dropping nine percentage points in six weeks, according to the new Quinnipiac Poll.

    by Thomas Fitzgerald
    Published 
As gasoline prices rise daily, President Obama’s job-approval rating in Pennsylvania stands at an all-time low after dropping nine percentage points since February, according to a new Quinnipiac Poll of the state’s voters.
Obama gets negative reviews from 53 percent of Pennsylvania voters, compared to 42 percent who approve of the job he is doing in the White House, the survey founds. Six weeks ago, a majority of 51 percent approved of Obama’s performance, with 44 percent voicing disapproval in a Quinnipiac Poll.
The president’s net approval rating is underwater in Pennsylvania largely because independent voters have soured on him. Independents disapprove of Obama by a ratio of 57 percent to 37 percent, compared to a net approval of 50 percent to 46 percent in the February poll.
“President Barack Obama’s re-election team has work to do in the Keystone State,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “Although Pennsylvania has traditionally been a swing state, the size of his 2008 margin gave many observers the idea that it would not be a heavily contested state.”
The survey says that 52 percent of Pennsylvania voters believe Obama does not deserve a second term.
Obama carried the state 55 percent to 44 percent in 2008, and Democratic strategists regard Pennsylvania as a must-win for re-election. Some good news for Obama in the latest poll – despite the overall negative rating, he was running even with an unnamed Republican in a hypothetical 2012 matchup, 40 percent to 41percent.
“Perhaps this says as much about the popular view of the Republican field,” Brown said.
The poll is based on telephone interviews with 1,366 registered voters in Pennsylvania. Results are subject to a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.
 
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    Thomas Fitzgerald