Despite Repeated Visits, Obama’s Approval Rating Has “Deteriorated” In The Keystone State

“President Obama’s Approval Rating In Pennsylvania Has Deteriorated To The Point That There Is No State He Hopes To Win Next Year Which Sees Him Worse.” (“Obama, Romney Tied In Pennsylvania,” Public Policy Polling, 11/22/11)

• “Another Day, Another Poll Suggesting That Pennsylvania May Be The Shakiest Right Now Among The States President Obama’s Campaign Counts On In Its Strategic Plans For 2012.” (Thomas Fitzgerald, “Obama Slips In New PA Poll; Tied With Romney,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/22/11)

“Pennsylvania Should Be Barack Obama’s Most Worrisome State In 2012.” “Pennsylvania should be Barack Obama’s most worrisome state in 2012- if the Republicans can win there it opens a whole lot of scenarios for getting them to 270 electoral votes that wouldn’t exist otherwise.” (“Obama Struggling In Pennsylvania,Public Policy Polling, 11/22/11)

“Obama Has Dreadful Poll Numbers In The State, With Only 42% Of Voters Approving Of Him To 53% Who Disapprove.” (“Obama Struggling In Pennsylvania, Public Policy Polling, 11/22/11)

Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling: “Pennsylvania is Barack Obama’s most worrisome state for 2012.” (“Obama, Romney Tied In Pennsylvania,” Public Policy Polling, 11/22/11)

• Debnam: “He’s slipped there more than in any other large state and the electoral college picture changes fundamentally if it goes into the GOP column.” (“Obama, Romney Tied In Pennsylvania,” Public Policy Polling, 11/22/11)

“Since January, Obama Has Visited The State 11 Times. Vice President Joe Biden Has Been There Seven Times.” (Colby Itkowitz, “PPP: Pa. Tough State For Obama,” The Morning Call’s “Pennsylvania Ave.,” 11/22/11)

Especially Among The Working Class, Leading Obama & Democrats To Abandon Them

Franklin & Marshall College Professor Terry Madonna Says Obama Can’t Win Pennsylvania If He Can’t Win Biden’s Hometown Of Scranton. “Obama’s prospects in Pennsylvania will depend on how much support he gets in such Democratic strongholds as Scranton, an old coal mining town that was Biden’s home until he was 10 years old. ‘If the president can’t win Scranton, he’s not going to win the state,’ said Terry Madonna, a political scientist at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.”(Kate Anderson Brower, “Biden’s Hometown Of Scranton Offers Evidence Of Re-Election Uphill Climb,” Bloomberg, 10/20/11)

• KantarMedia/CMAG President Ken Goldstein: Obama Doesn’t Need To “Just Win” Scranton, He Needs To “Really Win Scranton.”  “Obama and Republican nominee Senator John McCain, of Arizona, spent more than $5 million in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton media market in 2008, which put it in the top 10 percent of targeted markets, according to New York-based KantarMedia/CMAG, which tracks political advertising. Ken Goldstein, the company’s president, said he expects the same results in 2012. With its high percentage of Democratic voters, the re- election will ‘want to maximize’ those votes. ‘They don’t need to just win Scranton, they need to really win Scranton,’ said Goldstein.” (Kate Anderson Brower, “Biden’s Hometown Of Scranton Offers Evidence Of Re-Election Uphill Climb,” Bloomberg, 10/20/11)

Obama’s Support Is Waning Among “Working-Class Democrats” In Pennsylvania, “Largely Based On A Loss Of Trust.” “Obama has a Pennsylvania problem, particularly with working-class Democrats and women who supported Hillary Clinton in 2008. He eventually won them over (along with young people and blacks), beating Republican John McCain by nearly 10 points. Today, not so much — largely based on loss of trust. Candidates know they can evoke strong negative feelings and still win back voters. But voters’ trust is nearly impossible to recover.” (Salena Zito, “Obama’s Pennsylvania Problem” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 10/16/11)

• Democratic Strategists: Obama’s Task To Win Back The Trust Of Voters “Is More Of A Challenge.”  “’A lot of working-class and middle-class Democrats in Pennsylvania see candidates through the prism of their values,’ said one party strategist working to win back distrustful voters for Obama. This time, he admitted, the task ‘is more of a challenge.’” (Salena Zito, “Obama’s Pennsylvania Problem” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 10/16/11)

In 2012, Democrats Plan To “Explicitly Abandon The White Working Class.” “For decades, Democrats have suffered continuous and increasingly severe losses among white voters. But preparations by Democratic operatives for the 2012 election make it clear for the first time that the party will explicitly abandon the white working class.” (Thomas B. Edsall, “The Future Of The Obama Coalition,” The New York Times’ “Campaign Stops,” 11/27/11)

• “The 2012 Approach Treats White Voters Without College Degrees As An Unattainable Cohort.” (Thomas B. Edsall, “The Future Of The Obama Coalition,” The New York Times’ “Campaign Stops,” 11/27/11)

For Democrats, “All Pretense Of Trying To Win A Majority Of The White Working Class Has Been Effectively Jettisoned.” “All pretense of trying to win a majority of the white working class has been effectively jettisoned in favor of cementing a center-left coalition made up, on the one hand, of voters who have gotten ahead on the basis of educational attainment — professors, artists, designers, editors, human resources managers, lawyers, librarians, social workers, teachers and therapists — and a second, substantial constituency of lower-income voters who are disproportionately African-American and Hispanic.” (Thomas B. Edsall, “The Future Of The Obama Coalition,” The New York Times’ “Campaign Stops,” 11/27/11)