Quinnipiac Poll: Specter leads Sestak 49%-42%

A new Quinnipiac University poll shows Senator Arlen Specter pulling ahead of Patrick Toomey 49 percent to 42 percent in the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania.
That match up, is only theoretical, since both men still need to win their party’s nomination this May.
The new poll also looks at how Specter if fairing against fellow Democrat Joe Sestak.

A new Quinnipiac University poll shows Senator Arlen Specter pulling ahead of Patrick Toomey 49 percent to 42 percent  in the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania.
That match up, is only theoretical, since both men still need to win their party’s nomination this May.
The new poll also looks at how Specter if fairing against fellow Democrat Joe Sestak.
Scott Detrow has this report. [audio:100302SDPOLL.mp3]

About two and a half months before the Democratic primary, Specter holds a 53 to 29 percent lead over Congressman Sestak, with fourteen percent undecided.

The main explanation for the margin, according to assistant polling director Peter Brown, is the fact seven in ten Democratic voters don’t know enough about Sestak to form an opinion.

Brown: This is a race, again, where name recognition really matters. And until Mr. Sestak is able to tell voters who he is and what he’s for, Specter has a lead.

Brown says among respondents familiar with both candidates, Sestak holds a lead.
Just 38 percent of voters think Specter deserves another term in Washington, though six in ten Democrats say he should be reelected.
A recent Franklin and Marshall College poll found only one in four voters think Specter deserves another term.