A new poll of Pennsylvania voters shows President Barack Obama holding a 6-point lead over challenger Mitt Romney as the campaign heads toward November.
The polling was conducted by researchers at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, led by professor and state political analyst G. Terry Madonna.
The survey found the state's voters currently prefer Obama over Romney 44 percent to 38 percent, with 15 percent undecided. Obama was viewed favorably by 46 percent of those surveyed to 32 percent for Romney.
"Gov. Romney has not led in a single Pennsylvania poll to this point," Madonna said in a telephone interview today with the Centre Daily Times. "This race is stable. There has been no break-away. And the results here are consistent with what we've seen nationally."
Much of the polling was done before Romney announced that Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan would be his running mate.
The college interviewed 681 Pennsylvania voters from Aug. 7 through Sunday, when the Ryan announcement was made by the Republican campaign.
"The Ryan pick was not aimed at swing voters who might be undecided," Madonna said. "Rather, I think it was meant to energize those (conservative) voters who are not overly enthusiastic about Romney."
Other poll findings:
-- In the U.S. Senate race, Democratic incumbent Bob Casey leads Tom Smith, 35 percent to 23 percent, with 39 percent listed as undecided.
-- Obama was seen to have a "better understanding of the concerns of ordinary Americans" than Romney, 57 percent to 30 percent.
-- Obama was "better able to handle foreign policy issues" (53 to 34 percent); "better able to handle the job as military chief" (47 to 37 percent) and "closest to respondents' views on abortion and gay marriage" (47 to 37 percent).
-- Romney was seen as "the candidate most prepared to fix our economic problems" (44 to 42 percent), reflecting a switch from June, when Obama led 44-38 percent.
-- Obama's overall job performance remains more negative than positive, with 43 percent positive (good or excellent job) and 56 percent negative (fair or poor job).
The survey results showed the state's voters favor repealing the heath care law: 48 percent strongly or somewhat favor while 42 percent strongly or somewhat oppose a repeal.
And 57 percent said they believe the state is moving in the wrong direction, while 30 percent said it is moving in the right direction.
The poll has a sampling error of +/- 3.8 percentage points.
Complete results can be found at politics.fandm.edu.
