Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

June 25, 2009

Specter Approval Plummets

A new Franklin & Marshall poll in Pennsylvania finds Sen. Arlen Specter's (D-PA) job approval rating dropped from 52% in March to 34% in June. However, even more troubling for the senator is that the proportion of state residents who believe he deserves re-election has declined from 40% to 28%.

Among Democrats, 43% say Specter deserves re-election, with 39% saying they want someone else.

In a primary match up with Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA), Specter leads 33% to 13%, but a very large 48% remain undecided.

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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