It’s looking more and more like Ed Rendell and yours truly were correct that Pennsylvania is very much in play:
President Obama’s support among likely Pennsylvania voters slipped to a narrow lead over Republican challenger Mitt Romney as concern over the economy intensified, according to a Susquehanna Polling & Research survey released on Friday. The poll, conducted for the Republican State Committee, shows Obama leading Romney 46 percent to 43 percent, with a 3.46 percentage point margin of error. Obama’s lead is half what the Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling found in a survey released on Wednesday.
“You’re looking at the potential for a pretty close race,” said Jim Lee, president of the Susquehanna polling firm.
The poll of 800 likely voters took place July 19-23. A Susquehanna Poll from June showed Obama leading 48 percent to 43 percent. As has been the case throughout this campaign, the economy remains atop voters’ list of concerns, with 53 percent saying job creation, economic issues or improving the economy will most influence how they vote. Taxes, spending and budget deficits come in second with 26 percent listing those as their top concerns. No other issue breaks single digits.
The poll found 50 percent of people think the country is on the wrong track, compared with 29 percent who think it is headed in the right direction. Eleven percent are undecided. Lee said he thought McCain’s campaign made a mistake in spending time and resources to try to win Pennsylvania in 2008, because polls then showed Obama was heavily favored. “I don’t know how the Romney folks can’t look at this and say, ‘We have a shot here,’” he said.
