Poll Watch: Rasmussen (R) Pennsylvania 2012 Presidential Survey

Rasmussen (R) Pennsylvania 2012 Presidential Poll

• Barack Obama 51% [51%] (51%) {48%} [47%] (45%)
• Mitt Romney 46% [46%] (39%) {44%} [41%] (44%)
• Some other candidate 1% [1%] (3%) {4%} [7%]
• Undecided 2% [1%] (7%) {5%} [5%]
  

Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable impression of Mitt Romney?

• Very favorable 33% [35%] (24%) {19%} [20%]
• Somewhat favorable 15% [14%] (17%) {27%} [26%]
• Somewhat unfavorable 21% [17%] (16%) {23%} [25%]
• Very unfavorable 28% [31%] (39%) {28%} [27%]

Favorable / Unfavorable {Net}

• Mitt Romney 48% [49%] (41%) {46%} [46%] / 49% [48%] (55%) {51%} [52%] {-1%} 

How would you rate the job Barack Obama has been doing as president?

• Strongly approve 29% [33%] (29%) {27%} [28%] (24%)
• Somewhat approve 22% [20%] (25%) {23%} [24%] (21%)
• Somewhat disapprove 9% [7%] (9%) {8%} [7%] (14%)
• Strongly disapprove 40% [40%] (36%) {40%} [40%] (40%)

President Obama Job Approval

• Approve 51% [53%] (54%) {50%} [52%] (45%)
  
• Disapprove 49% [47%] (45%) {48%} [47%] (54%)

Survey of 500 likely voters was conducted October 24, 2012. The margin of error is +/- 4.5 percentage points.  Results from the poll conducted October 9, 2012 are in square brackets.  Results from the poll conducted September 19, 2012 are in parentheses.  Results from the poll conducted July 18, 2012 are in curly brackets.  Results from the poll conducted May 21, 2012 are in square brackets.  Results from the poll conducted February 8-23, 2012 are in parentheses.

Inside the numbers:

The race is nearly tied among the 90% of Pennsylvania voters who say they are certain to vote, with Obama earning 49% to Romney's 48%.

Both candidates earn 85% support from likely voters in their respective parties. They're tied at 46% apiece among voters not affiliated with either of the major political parties.

They're also tied at 48% each when all Pennsylvania voters are asked which candidate they trust more to handle the economy. When it comes to dealing with national security, Obama has a 10-point lead - 53% to 43% - in terms of voter trust. This marks little change when it comes to the economy but an increase in trust on national security for the president from a week ago.