PrintNew PA poll shows dead heat; Romney up in new MI poll
These polls could be outliers - or they could be signs of a coming Romney victory.
Whatever they are, they are welcome.
President Obama and Republican Mitt Romney entered the final days of the presidential race tied in a state that the campaigns only recently began contesting, a Tribune-Review poll shows.
The poll showed the race for Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes locked up at 47 percent in its final week. Romney was scheduled to campaign in the Philadelphia area on Sunday, and former President Bill Clinton planned to stump for Obama on Monday. The campaigns have begun to saturate the airwaves with millions of dollars in presidential advertising.
"They're both in here because of exactly what you're seeing" in this poll, said Jim Lee, president of Susquehanna Polling & Research, which surveyed 800 likely voters Oct. 29-31. Most of the interviews occurred after Hurricane Sandy inundated Eastern and Central Pennsylvania. The poll's error margin is 3.46 percentage points.
Nearly 60 percent of people say the country is on the wrong track, and economic concerns continue to dominate. Almost half of likely voters say economic issues are the primary driver of their choice for president.
Meanwhile, in Michigan, Romney has a slim lead over the president:
WJBK Fox 2 -
Who are you most likely to vote for in the Presidential election - Democratic President Barack Obama, or Republican Nominee, Governor Mitt Romney, another candidate, or are you undecided?
Republican Nominee Mitt Romney 46.86%
President Barack Obama 46.24%
Another candidate 4.94%
Undecided 1.96%
Not to throw cold water on the party, but Democratic pollster PPP has Obama up 6 in PA and 3 in WI. Rich Baehr, AT's political correspondent, has been pointing out PPP's thumb on the scale for Democrats for months, but that 6 point spread is closer to what most other polls have been showing in the Keystone State.
Rasmussen has the race tied nationally at 49. It should be pointed out that 48 hours before the election, no national tracking poll gives the president 50% of the vote.
