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Rasmussen Poll: 7 Point Romney Post-Debate Pa. Bump Written by Keegan Gibson, Managing Editor Mitt Romney has bounced back from a Pa. low according to the latest poll from Rasmussen. He trails President Obama by 5 points, 51 percent to 46. But that’s a 7 point jump for Romney since’ Rasmussen’s previous Pa. poll, taken in mid-September.Rasmussen surveyed 500 likely Pa. voters on October 9 via automated polling to land lines. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percent.It supports the narrative – reflected in polling nationally and in Pa. – that Romney is experiencing a noteworthy bounce...

Mitt Romney's strong performance in the first presidential debate may have put Pennsylvania back in play, and closed the gap with President Obama in other battleground states. A Siena Research Institute Poll on Tuesday showed the Republican nominee trailing Mr. Obama by only three percentage points, 43 percent to 40 percent, in the Keystone State. Other polls prior to the debate had shown Mr. Obama with as much as a 12-point lead. "Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes suddenly appear to be up for grabs," said poll director Don Levy. "Romney not only has Republican support but now leads in vote-rich areas...

Obama’s 10 percentage point lead (47%-37%) in a poll conducted last month by EPIC-MRA of Lansing dropped to 3 points (48% to 45%), according to the poll of 600 likely voters conducted by EPIC-MRA of Lansing. The gap between Romney and Obama was within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points… “Romney has come back like gangbusters,” said EPIC-MRA President Bernie Porn. “Whether or not it’s long-lasting, only time will tell, but probably the remaining debates will be key.” Conducted in the three days following the Wednesday debate, the poll showed more than five times...

Suddenly, Casey in a battle against Smith By Colby Itkowitz, Call Washington Bureau October 8, 2012 WASHINGTON — Suddenly, Pennsylvania's sleepy U.S. Senate race is getting buzz. And like the snooze button on an alarm clock, the buzz reveals just how long incumbent Bob Casey's campaign team has overslept, allowing unknown Republican Tom Smith to draw closer. Until the past few days, Smith has controlled the narrative: He's the farm-boy-turned-coal-miner with a large family who mocks Casey (nicknamed Senator Zero in Smith ads) as an ineffective lawmaker. Smith's a businessman who until last week was airing two and a half...

Barack Obama leads Mitt Romney by a 2 point margin, identical to his lead in late September according to Susquehanna Polling and Research. But the Republican’s debate performance contributed to a 6 point jump in his favorability rating. In a poll conducted just after the first presidential debate, from Oct. 4 to 6, 47 percent of respondents said they support Obama; 45 percent support Romney. 3 percent support Libertarian Gary Johnson. The Obama-Romney head-to-head numbers are identical the most recent Susquehanna Polling and Research survey released on Sept. 23. The margin of that poll, commissioned by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review closely...

Just in. The Susquehanna Poll (from the Susquehanna Polling and Research folks ) have just released their post-debate poll of Pennsylvania. Bottom line: Romney is suddenly surging, with Obama leading by a mere two points -- which is to say a "virtual dead heat." Concludes the poll: There is (my emphasis) "clear evidence the debates have helped solidify the Keystone State as a tossup election in November and one well within Romney's reach."

Mitt Romney made a bold prediction Friday during his first public campaign stop in months in a state where polls show him lagging and that GOP insiders say he has all but given up. "We're going to take Pennsylvania," he promised an animated crowd at Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Wayne. His assessment earlier in the day at a Union League fund-raiser in Philadelphia was sober, yet optimistic. "We really would shock people if early in the evening on Nov. 6, it looked like Pennsylvania was going to come our way," he told donors before adding that he...

WAYNE, Pa. — Mitt Romney declared Pennsylvania a battleground during a mid-morning rally here Friday, despite public polls showing him well behind in the race for the state’s prized 20 electoral votes. “I’ve got a little secret here and that is that the Obama campaign thinks that Pennsylvania is in their pocket. They don’t need to worry about it,” Romney said during a visit to a military academy in the Philadelphia suburbs. “And you’re right and they’re wrong. We’re going to win Pennsylvania and we’re going to take the White House.”

WAYNE, Pa. With 39 days until the election, Mitt Romney on Friday spent precious time campaigning in Pennsylvania, a state he hadn't visited in more than two months and where polls show him trailing President Obama by an average of 8 percentage points. Brushing aside the numbers, the Republican nominee told a crowd of several hundred people at the Valley Forge Military Academy & College that Obama is taking the state for granted. "I've got a little secret here and that is that the Obama campaign thinks Pennsylvania is in their pocket -- they don't need to worry about it."...

September 25, 2012 Pennsylvania: GOP Poll Shows Tie in 12th District Race Shira Toeplitz A new GOP poll shows a dead heat between Rep. Mark Critz (D) and attorney Keith Rothfus (R) in southwestern Pennsylvania.Both candidates scored 38 percent in the survey paid for by the National Republican Congressional Committee and the GOP nominee. Twenty-four percent of respondents reported they were undecided.Party committees, candidates and outside groups have barraged the airwaves in the district. But in the past few weeks, Democratic groups accounted for more airtime.Republicans say Rothfus improved his position in the race despite the Democratic ad campaign. In...

September 25, 2012 Trib Poll: Casey 46, Smith 41 Written by Keegan Gibson, Managing Editor Smith, left, and Casey Tom Smith is gaining on Sen. Bob Casey according a poll commissioned by The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The Democratic Senator leads the Republican former coal miner 46 percent to 41.The survey of 800 likely voters was conducted from Sept. 18 to 20 by Susquehanna Polling and Research, which is also a frequent pollster for Republican candidates and causes. The poll’s margin of error of 3.46 percent.The same poll showed President Obama leading Mitt Romney 47 percent to 45 percent.Pollster Jim Lee said...

Election 2012: Pennsylvania Senate Pennsylvania Senate: Casey (D) 49%, Smith (R) 42% Sunday, September 23, 2012 Incumbent Democrat Bob Casey, Jr. still holds the lead in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Pennsylvania Voters finds Casey with 49% support to 42% for his Republican challenger Tom Smith. Two percent (2%) like some other candidate in the race, and seven percent (7%) are undecided. ...... This Pennsylvania survey of 500 Likely Voters was conducted on September 19, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level...

During the lead up to the Senate vote on Obamacare all eyes were on a few rare Democrats who Pro-Lifers hoped would stand up against the Democrats’ culture of death and vote NO because of the sections mandating faith based hospitals to commit abortions. Pennsylvania Democrat Senator and putative Catholic Bob Casey was one of those quislings who talked a good game about being as pro-life but ultimately became the 60th and decisive vote to pass Obamacare. By doing this Casey forced his Church, the Roman Catholic Church, to face either closing its hospitals or knuckling under and committing abortions....

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With less than seven weeks remaining until Election Day, a new poll conducted by Susquehanna Polling and Research for the Pennsylvania Republican Party shows United States Senate candidate Tom Smith within the margin of error - trailing Democratic Senator Bob Casey 42% - 45%. "It's no surprise this race has continued to tighten as voters are beginning to better understand the differences between Bob Casey, an ineffective career politician and Tom Smith, a self-made job creator," said Smith Campaign Manager Jim Conroy. "In November, voters will have a clear choice between Bob Casey's support for job-killing policies, including higher taxes,...

The Pa. Republican Party will release an internal poll on Thursday that shows Mitt Romney within 1 point of Barack Obama. The survey was conducted on Sept. 17. by Susquehanna Polling and Research, a firm commonly used by Pa. Republicans. According to the average of public polling compiled by Real Clear Politics, Obama leads Romney in Pa. by 8.3 percent, 49 percent to 40.7. Republicans have spent the past week pushing back against signs, including a lack of TV ads, that the state is falling out of play. Last week, Gov. Tom Corbett and Sen. Pat Toomey each insisted that...

A new internal poll by the Pennsylvania Republican Party claims the GOP nominee Mitt Romney now trails President Barack Obama by a single point. The poll, conducted by Susquehanna Polling and Research, finds Obama drawing 48 percent of Pennsylvanians, while Romney garners 47 percent. The results will help state party leaders convince Romney campaign officials to ratchet up their efforts in the state and buy vital television ad time. The campaign has not been on the air in Pennsylvania since April. Though rare for party officials to discuss internal polls publicly, state GOP Chairman Rob Gleason is so excited by...

Karl Rove's weekly commentary on his updated Electoral Map: "Four states changed status since last week's Electoral College map. "Both Minnesota and Pennsylvania shifted from 'lean Obama' to 'safe Obama.' Michigan moved to 'lean Obama' for now. And Kentucky moved from 'lean' to 'safe' Romney. "Barack Obama now has 214 'safe' Electoral College votes and only two 'lean' states (27 EC votes). These changes come after a week of heavy polling (there were 41 polls conducted in 20 states last week, compared to 13 surveys taken in nine states the week prior) [SNIP] "With Kentucky's change, Mitt Romney has 154...

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Green Party has succeeded in getting its national ticket on the Pennsylvania ballot. State elections officials on Thursday approved the substitution of Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala as the party's presidential and vice presidential candidates. Stein is a Harvard-educated physician who ran against Mitt Romney for Massachusetts governor in 2002 and Honkala is a longtime citizen activist in Philadelphia. Officials approved the party's nomination petitions earlier this month, but paperwork confirming that Stein and Honkala are the candidates was not finalized until Thursday.

Philadelphia Speaking at the Workers Stand for America union rally in Philadelphia today, Democratic National Committee chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz wasted no time attacking newly announced Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan. Wasserman Schultz, addressing an estimated crowd of 40,000 union members, said that Ryan would "end Medicare as we know it," and made an extended attack on his budget plan. Speaking to reporters after the event, she doubled down on her comments. "I think Mitt Romney with his selection of Paul Ryan has doubled down on his interest in shredding the safety net for our seniors ... and...