PA GOP chairman claims presidential race tied in state
We begin today's post with a caveat: Rob Gleason, chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, is really excited about a new poll. He just hasn't shown it to any of the reporters yet.
PA GOP chairman claims presidential race tied in state
Chris Brennan
We begin today's post with a caveat: Rob Gleason, chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, is really excited about a new poll. He just hasn't shown it to any of the reporters yet.
UPDATE: The Pennsylvania Republican Party released the poll about two hours after Gleason's conference call with reporters. You can read it here.
Gleason, who has been eager to keep Pennsylvania as a swing state in the 2012 presidential election, says a poll conducted by Susquehanna Polling from Saturday to Monday of 800 likely voters in Pennsylvania puts the race between President Obama and Republican Nominee Mitt Romney at a statistical tie here. The race breaks at 48-47 percent, giving Obama just a one-point lead, well within the 3.4 percent margin of error.
Gleason said he shared the poll Wednesday with the Romney campaign and predicted "a lot of activity by the Romney campaign in the next couple of days" in Pennsylvania.
"There will be TV commercials going up soon," Gleason said. "I can say that for sure. I'm not sure what the volume will be."
Gleason, apparently sensing some skepticism from reporters who have not seen the poll, added "I would not try to B.S. you on this."
Most polls have shown Obama holding a lead in Pennsylvania. A recent Philadelphia Inquirer poll put that lead at 11 percentage points, a notion Gleason dismissed as "ridiculous."
The Romney campaign in Pennsylvania immediately touted the poll. A spokeswoman said she had to check about Gleason's claim that television ads are on the horizon.
A spokesman for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party quickly responded to Gleason's claims about Romney commercials here, saying via email: " We always expected Romney and his special interest allies to make a strong play for the state in the final weeks."
This comment has been deleted.— mikeb7121
Comment removed.- I could not stop laughing reading the Romney reaction, "... we have to check back regarding TV ad" :-)
Romney needs to issue passport to his cayman island money to travel to PA. I care about waste of any and all American money; but Romney's Cayman and Chinese money can pour into PA.
— Seed -
Mikeb with the hattrick: racist, factually incorrect, and clueless. Obama never waived the work requirement for Welfare, and Pennsylvania is 83.8% white. But those lazy minorities are the reason Romney's getting thumped, right? It really is a mystery why the GOP is the party of cranky white guys.— DiTurno - This comment has been deleted.— Tony Stark
- Comment removed.
- Mr. Gleason was longing with Rush before he came to the press conference.
Mr. Gleason needs to be tested for illegal drug use.— Seed - Romney has a very good chance of winning Pennsylvania— anti-tax
- Romney's chances hinge on the voter suppression, I mean voter ID law being upheld by the PA Court. If Voter IDs stay, that puts the state in play for Romney. If not, Obama will win.— mjwilliams75
- BTW - Nice job by the GOP killing the bi-partisan, self-funded Veterans Jobs Bill. Nothing but a bunch of doooooooshbags hiding their racism and hatred behind a group of imbeciles who'll believe anything they're told. By a rich white guy.— CiceroSpuriousDeodatus
- CiceroSpuriousDeodatus, And the bi-partisan, self-funded Veterans Jobs Bill they killed was to benefit the Veterans of the wars those same Republicans thought up (neo-cons), engaged in (Cheney?) and screwed up (Rumsfeld).
The disgrace of it all is that their only - self admitted - reason for killing the Bill was their pledge not allow anything that might reflect credit on the President. - This comment has been deleted. — hannibal barca
- Comment removed.
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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