Sestak nears Specter: poll
Mark down April 13 as a helluva day for Joe Sestak. We mentioned below how he kicked the other Specter challenger off the ballot and a WashPost column on how he could win -- a new Rasmussen poll has him inching to within 2 points of the five-term incumbent.
Interesting then that Specter -- as Pa2010's Dan Hirshhorn reported today -- is going on TV tomorrow. As Dan wrote (before the poll was released):
The Morning Call recently reported that Specter, leading comfortably in the polls and awash in cash, wouldn’t buy TV time until Sestak did so first—something that would fit conventional wisdom for an incumbent with a lead. For whatever reason, the campaign decided to shift gears. It remains to be seen when Sestak’s campaign will buy TV time, but Specter’s decision to hit the airwaves could force it to move up its timetable, or else let Specter control the early TV narrative.
Pennsylvania’s Democratic Primary is a month away, and the race between incumbent Senator Arlen Specter and challenger Joe Sestak is now a dead heat.
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely primary voters in the state finds Specter with 44% of the vote, his lowest level of support in 10 months of surveying. Sestak, a congressman from the Philadelphia suburbs, earns 42% support this month, a level he’s hit several times but never exceeded.
Four percent (4%) of likely Democratic primary voters prefer some other candidate in the race, and 10% are undecided.
A month ago, Specter had a 48% to 37% lead in the contest. But Specter has been losing ground since January.
Photo: Sestak. PennLive