Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

October 14, 2009

Specter Staring at "Near Fatal" Re-Election Numbers

A new Susquehanna Polling and Research survey finds that only 31% of Pennsylvania voters believe Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) should be re-elected, and 59% believe it's time to give someone else a chance.

Said pollster Jim Lee: "When I see a re-elect in the low 30s, that's ... near fatal."

In the general election, Specter remains locked in a statistical dead heat with Pat Toomey (R), 41% to 41% with 12% undecided.

In a Democratic primary, Specter holds a 44% to 16% lead over challenger Rep. Joe Sestak (D), with 22% of voters undecided. Interestingly, 18% of those polled said they would not vote for either candidate or would vote for someone else.

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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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