PA Poll: Specter's Ratings Plummet

New Pennsylvania poll from Franklin and Marshall College has a tiny bit of good news but much more bad news for Democrat Arlen Specter.

The good news: Specter leads potential challenger Joe Sestak by 20 points in the Democratic primary. However, Sestak is not nearly as well known statewide as Specter, and 48% of Democrats remain undecided.

Specter 33
Sestak 13
Other 6
Undecided 48

Now the bad news for Specter: since switching parties on April 28 his ratings have taken a serious hit.

In March of this year Specter had a 52% job approval rating, today it's just 34%.

Specter's favorable rating has plummeted a net of 30 points in the past three months, swinging from a +24 (48 fav/24 unfav) in March to a -6 (31 fav/37 unfav) today.

Most troubling of all for Specter: 12 weeks ago 40% of voters said he deserved to be reelected, now only 28% support his reelection while 57% say it's "time for a change."

Other results from the poll: after a brief respite in March, Pennsylvanians are back to feeling more sour about the direction of the state. 44% say the Keystone state is headed in the right direction, while 48% say its moving down the wrong track. That's an 11-point negative swing since the last poll in March. Additionally, 43% of voters say they are "worse off" financially than they were a year ago, a seven-point increase from March.

F&M pegs President Obama's job approval rating at 55% while Governor Ed Rendell's approval rating is at a far more modest 38%.

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