58% Say PA on the ‘Wrong’ Track

For immediate release: Thursday, August 26, 2010

The Franklin & Marshall College Poll…the 19th consecutive year of polling in Pennsylvania

Please find attached and below the results of the August, 2010 Franklin & Marshall College Poll of Pennsylvanians. Complete results can be found in the attachment or at http://politics.fandm.edu.
1) The percentage of Pennsylvanians who say the state is headed in the right direction now stands at 30 percent– a 15 year low–while 58 percent believe it is off on the wrong track.
2) Pennsylvanians continue to express pessimism about the economy. A third (33%) find their personal finances worse off this year than last, and only about one in four (24%) expect their personal finances to be better off a year from now. These figures have changed little since March.
3) In the governor’s race Tom Corbett holds an 11 point lead over Dan Onorato, (38% to 27%), among likely voters with slightly less than one third (31%) undecided and four percent who would chose someone else. Among registered adults, Corbett holds a one point lead, (29% to 28%), with 39 percent undecided and four percent supporting another candidate. Registered adults cite the economy, reducing spending/debt, and taxes (29%, 11%, and 9%), respectively, as the most important issues in their vote for governor.
4) Among likely voters, Pat Toomey leads Joe Sestak (40% to 31%) in their primary race for U.S. senate, with about one in four (26%) undecided and three percent with another choice. When registered adults are considered, Toomey’s lead narrows, 31 percent to 28 percent, with almost four in ten (38%) without a preference. More registered Pennsylvanians cite the economy (35%) as the most important issue in their vote for U.S. senate than did in May (26%).
5) President Obama’s job approval in Pennsylvania remain relatively weak with only 37 percent of voters finding his performance positive, specifically nine percent "excellent" and 28 percent "good." Five times as many Pennsylvanians (35%) rate the president’s job performance as "poor" compared to "excellent." Governor Ed Rendell’s job performance is even weaker–only 30 percent find his performance positive, seven percent find it "excellent" and 23 percent say it is "good." The same proportions (30%) say he is doing a "poor job."
6) Democrats are less likely to vote at the moment than Republicans. Only 37 percent of Democrats are likely to vote compared to 45 percent of Republicans. In another comparison, about one third (35%) of those who voted for Obama in 2008 are likely to vote now compared to half (50%) of McCain voters.
Methodology: The survey findings presented in this release are based on the results of interviews conducted August 16-23, 2010. The interviews were conducted at the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College under the direction of the poll’s Director Dr. G. Terry Madonna, Head Methodologist Berwood Yost, and Project Manager Angela Knittle. A complete methodological report can be found on pages two and three in the attachment.

The Franklin & Marshall College Poll is produced in conjunction with the Philadelphia Daily News, WGAL-TV (South Central PA), Pittsburgh Tribune Review, WTAE-TV (Pittsburgh), WPVI-TV6/ABC (Philadelphia), Times-Shamrock Newspapers, Harrisburg Patriot-News, and Lancaster Newspapers. It may be used in whole or in part, provided any use is attributed to Franklin & Marshall College.

Dr. G. Terry Madonna
Director, Center for Politics and Public Affairs
Director, Franklin and Marshall College Poll
Professor of Public Affairs
Franklin & Marshall College
P.O. Box 3003
Lancaster, PA. 17604
(717) 291-4052 Office
(717) 575-2164 Cell
(717) 358-4666 Fax
[email protected]