A survey of Pennsylvania Democrats that was done in part after the news broke about Sen. Barack Obama’s controversial comment that some small-town folks are “bitter” and cling to religion and guns in difficult times, shows him now trailing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Keystone State by 20 percentage points.
American Research Group says this morning that its latest poll shows Clinton ahead 57%-37%. The survey of 600 “likely” Democratic primary voters was begun Friday and completed on Sunday. The news about Obama’s “bitter” comments
broke late Friday afternoon. In ARG’s previous Pennsylvania survey, done a week earlier, Clinton and Obama were tied at 45%. That tie, though, was an “outlier.”
Most Pennsylvania polls have given Clinton at least a 5 percentage point lead. ARG’s new survey has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points. As we always say: Polls are snapshots of current public opinion, not forecasts of what will happen on any Election Day that’s still a ways off. Pennsylvania’s primary is getting closer, though. It’s one week from tomorrow.
Update at 1:30 p.m. ET: Nationally, however, Obama’s lead over Clinton is holding steady,
according to Gallup’s daily tracking poll. It shows him ahead of Clinton 50%-40%, vs. 50%-41% yesterday.
