Meghan Schiller
Politics PA
A new poll has bad news for Barack Obama.
Today’s press release from Public Policy Polling shows President Obama continuing to struggle with a 46% approval rating and 48% disapproval rating. Even in Pennsylvania, normally classified as a blue state, he’s tied with Republican front-runner Mitt Romney at 44%. For a man who once won the Keystone state by 10 points, his campaign herr may not be quite as easy this election time around.
John Kerry secured the state, as well as Al Gore in the previous two elections, so how significantly are PA voters turning away from Obama?
Some say desperation for a new face could be the issue, believing that a new person will approach the debt issue in a fresh and realistic way. But, Obama supporters argue that it’s impossible for one man to fix the problems created by years of Republican decision making.
Either way, Republicans present the most unified front with 85% disapproval, and only 10% in approval of the President. Independents are reported as on the fence, with 44/45 ratings.
Nominating Romney, who most closely contests Obama, appears to be the best move for Republicans at present. The other options, including Bachmann, Pawlenty Santorum, Cain and Palin, prove to be less competitive in PA.
Luckily for Obama, Romney isn’t regarded as the Republican party’s golden boy, but he’s successfully holding 80% of the GOP vote and 18% of the Democratic vote. The other contenders fail to garner more than 15% approval from Democrats, making Romney the best option for both frustrated parties.
It seems unlikely that Hillary Democrats will opt for Michele Bachmann, who trails Romney by 7 points, but the gender factor must be considered. Either way, she’s pulled significantly ahead of Palin without much effort.
It’s important to note that polls are not the most reliable reflection of the public’s views, but merely an attempted temperature reading of the current political atmosphere.
Post-Osama Bin Laden, a CNN poll showed 58% of Americans were in approval of Obama’s handling of Afghanistan. With emotions of hope running high, voters seemed to channel their positive energy into positive votes.
Last month’s Quinnipiac poll also painted a hopeful picture for Democrats. Things seemed to be looking up for Obama, but the poll showed he still has to carve out a significant chunk of quality time for this frustrated state.
Expect the emotions of voters to change too many times to count leading up to the 2012 election. Given this fact, one can wonder the true weight of polling results this early in the game.
The split polls seem to allude to voters’ rebellious frustration with both Democrats and Republicans alike.
PPP surveyed 545 Pennsylvania voters from June 30th to July 5th. No interviews were
conducted July 3rd or 4th. The margin of error for the survey is +/-4.2%.
Read more: http://www.politicspa.com/ppp-poll-shows-trouble-for-obama-in-pa/25963/