RAS Poll: PA Senate--Toomey 48% Sestak 42%

[WI_DEM]

Wow! Ras has it tighter than the Reuters Poll from earlier today which gave Toomey a 10-point lead.

Rasmussen
8/30/10; 750 likely voters, 4% margin of error
Mode: Automated phone
(Rasmussen release)

Pennsylvania

2010 Senate
48% Toomey (R), 42% Sestak (D) (chart)

Favorable / Unfavorable
Pat Toomey: 56 / 34
Joe Sestak: 43 / 48

Job Approval / Disapproval
Pres. Obama: 42 / 58 (chart)
Gov. Rendell: 39 / 60 (chart)

[stevenleser]

1. With those Favorable/Unfavorable spreads, we are screwed in this race

Anyone on the ground in PA know what Sestak may have done to deserve those ratings?

[FBaggins]

2. Both candidate's unfavorables have been climbing.

So it could be negative ad buys on both sides. For Sestak it could also be poor handling of the claims that the WH tried to bribe him out of running against Specter.

[Inuca]

3. Looks horrible either way :- ( n/t

[stevenleser]

4. Yep. I'm starting to get sick and we are still 2 months out. n/t

[WI_DEM]

5. From what I'm reading PA may be one of the GOP's best states in getting

the governorship, senate and 2-3 house seats. On the other hand Dems have a shot at governorships in FL, TX & CA--if we win all three those would be big bragging rights.

[AlinPA]

6. Toomey's TV ads run continuously here (W. PA). It appears that he runs about 8X those of Sestak.

The TV is also full of those ads from "Americans for Prosperity" (the Koch brothers). I would say that nearly 50% of all TV advertising on the Pittsburgh area channels is Toomey and the Koch brothers' ads. By October that's all there will be.

[ShadowLiberal]

8. Same here in Eastern PA, Sestak is being badly outspent

What Sestak needs is a more effective ad that better makes it sink in to people just how radical Toomey is (based on Toomey's house voting record Toomey would be to the right of 99% of ALL the senators who have served in the last two decades in congress). We also need a better way to tie Toomey to wall street, since that ad doesn't seem to be working according to these polls.

[secondwind]

7. Have the dems cut Sestak loose because of his vulnerability?

[ShadowLiberal]

9. No, the DSCC is running attack ads against Toomey here for him, blaming Toomey for the recession

There's an ad they've had running for a few weeks that paints Toomey as a Wall Street guy who got us into this mess into the first place by pioneering derivatives and cutting oversight of wall street while in congress.