Will Pennsylvania Punish Obama?

Abby W. Schachter
New York Post

Over at AEI, James Pethokoukis reports on the “ugly” report out of the Philadelphia federal reserve . He quotes the report:

“Business conditions at manufacturing firms in the Philadelphia region worsened in May, according to the monthly survey issued Thursday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The Philly Fed index fell to -5.8 from 8.5 in April, well below expectations. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected the index to increase to 10.0. Reading below zero indicate that more companies are contracting instead of expanding. The new-orders index dropped to -1.2 from 2.7 in April and the employment index, a gauge of hiring expectations, also turned negative.”

This is on top of a not-really-very-good weekly jobs report adds up to bad economic news nationally, but will the administration be held accountable and especially will Pennsylvanians, given the manufacturing picture in the easter part of the state, take it out on Barack Obama come November?

Obama won Pennsylvania by 10 points over Sen. John McCain in 2008. And Real Clear Politics currently has the Keystone State leaning toward Obama for this cycle. But clearly Republicans do not agree with that assessment or why would Karl Rove’s outfit, Crossroads GPS, be spending millions for TV ad buys in the state ? Andwhy would the Romney campaign be rumoured to be seriously considering Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey for for Vice President?

One other data point: There’s a new poll of Pennsylvanians who were asked about the housing crash and Obama’s handling of the mortgage mess and the news isn’t good for the president . “Among independent voters, 48 percent of them disapprove of Obama’s plan, versus just 26 percent who approve.”

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