Poll: Obama Leads Unpopular Romney in Pennsylvania

The horse race between the two is close, but their favorable ratings aren't.

Updated: August 16, 2012 | 4:23 p.m.
August 16, 2012 | 4:00 p.m.

President Barack Obama waves to the crowd during a campaign event at Herman Park, Monday, Aug. 13, 2012, in Boone, Iowa, during a three day campaign bus tour through Iowa. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Obama holds a slight lead over Mitt Romney in Pennsylvania, according to a poll released on Thursday showing Obama with a significant advantage over his Republican challenger in terms of personal popularity.

The Franklin & Marshall College poll has Obama leading Romney, 47 percent to 42 percent, with 7 percent of voters undecided. The poll was conducted mostly before Romney's announcement of Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., as his running mate.

Voters are split when it comes to their image of the president: 46 percent have a favorable opinion of him, while 45 percent view him unfavorably. But Romney's favorability rating is upside-down: Only 32 percent have a favorable opinion of the former Massachusetts governor, compared with 49 percent who view him unfavorably.

The poll was conducted Aug. 7-12 for a number of Keystone State media outlets, including The Philadelphia Daily News, The Patriot-News in Harrisburg,and Pittsburgh's Tribune Review. The poll surveyed 681 registered voters, for a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.8 percentage points.

The poll is the first public survey of the battleground state taken this month; a Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times poll of likely voters in late July showed Obama leading by a larger, 11-point margin.

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