Ipsos for Reuters (8/27-28, likely voters, no trendlines):
Joe Sestak (D): 37
Pat Toomey (R): 47
Undecided: 15
(MoE: ±4.9%)
Ipsos strikes in another state with another of their interesting both-LV-and-RV polls. The enthusiasm gap seems as big here in Pennsylvania as it does anywhere: the LV model spells certain doom for Dems, with Joe Sestak falling into a double-digit deficit against Pat Toomey, while the RV model (MoE 4%) says this is still a perfectly salvageable race, with Toomey leading Sestak 40-37. (Unfortunately, the LV model is the one that counts in the end.) Any remaining Arlen Specter fans won't feel vindicated by this poll: if Specter were running against Toomey, he'd be losing just as widely, 52-40.
Maybe realizing that the strategy he used so effectively and efficiently against Specter in the primary (wait, wait, wait some more, and then unleash a massive, expertly targeted salvo in the closing weeks) won't work if he gets himself in too deep of a hole beforehand, Joe Sestak is breaking open the piggybank and going on TV. His first ad is anti-Toomey spot, working the Wall Street angle (already thoroughly explored by the DSCC). It's a buy through Sept. 6th, for a total of $111K, with ads running in the Pittsburgh, Johnstown, Harrisburg, and Wilkes-Barre markets (not Philly, where presumably he's better known).
Dan Onorato (D): 34
Tom Corbett (R): 49
Undecided: 16
(MoE: ±4.9%)
Same deal with the gubernatorial race: the LV model yields a 15-point lead for GOP AG Tom Corbett over Dem Dan Onorato. Switch over to a registered voter model, and it's only a not-bad 43-37 advantage for Corbett. Again, plans of getting all those RVs to magically show up aren't really hopes you should hang your hat on, at this point in the game, though. |