Raleigh, N.C. – Pennsylvanians are split on Vice President Joe Biden, their Scranton-born son, making him roughly as popular as President Obama is here. 44% see Biden favorably and an equal proportion unfavorably. It is 46-37 with independents, slightly better than the president’s 47-41 approval spread with them.
Of four recent presidential candidates who were either born in or grew up in the state, Biden is overwhelmingly voters’ favorites. 42% like Biden best, with 25% picking former Sen. Rick Santorum, 14% Ron Paul, and 11% Newt Gingrich. Paul gets most of his strength from independents—Biden beats him out 39-30 with them. Santorum is tops with the GOP (46%), followed by Gingrich’s 22% and Paul’s 15%. Biden is Democrats’ pick (73%).
Pennsylvania voters like Biden’s hometown, with 37% seeing it favorably and 15% unfavorably, stronger numbers than for perhaps Scranton’s most recent famous product, the Dunder Mifflin paper company. The fictional setting of NBC’s “The Office” is not a known quantity to most voters. 74% have no opinion of it, while those who do break down 17-9 positively. The youth of the show’s audience bears out in the crosstabs: voters under 30 see the company in a good light (36-13), and its favor and notoriety go down from there, to 23-11 to 11-9 to 5-4 with successively older age brackets. Dunder Mifflin also does best with voters in the 570 area code which contains Scranton (27-11).
While Scranton is a popular city statewide, it is not voters’ favorite. That would be Pittsburgh, which has a 57-17 favorability margin. Of eight cities PPP asked about, the only one of which voters have a net negative opinion is by far its most populous, Philadelphia. Only 37% see it favorably and 42% unfavorably. Between the western and eastern bookends are Bethlehem (42-10), Erie (41-11), Scranton, Allentown (34-22), Reading (31-26), and Harrisburg (38-34).
Philly is seen very well by the people in the area codes surrounding it, but worse in areas further west. Pitt is seen well by every area of the state, particularly the western parts nearest it. Harrisburg is the only city disliked by its own area code and liked by others.
PPP surveyed 671 Pennsylvania voters from May 17th to 20th. The margin of error for the survey is +/-3.8%. This poll was not paid for or authorized by any campaign or political organization. PPP surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
Q1 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Joe Biden?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 44%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 44%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 12%
Q2 Joe Biden, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, and Rick
Santorum were all either born in or grew up in
Pennsylvania. Of these candidates who have
recently run for President, which do you have
the highest opinion of?
Joe Biden……………………………………………….. 42%
Newt Gingrich …………………………………………. 11%
Ron Paul ………………………………………………… 14%
Rick Santorum………………………………………… 25%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 8%
Q3 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the city of Philadelphia?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 37%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 42%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 22%
Q4 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the city of Pittsburgh?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 57%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 17%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 25%
Q5 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the city of Allentown?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 34%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 22%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 44%
Q6 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the city of Erie?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 41%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 11%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 48%
Q7 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the city of Reading?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 31%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 26%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 42%
Q8 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the city of Scranton?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 37%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 15%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 48%
Q9 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the city of Bethlehem?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 42%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 10%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 48%
Q10 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the city of Harrisburg?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 38%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 34%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 28%
Q11 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the Dunder Mifflin paper company?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 17%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 9%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 74%
Q12 Do you have enough Santorum in your life, or
not?
Have enough Santorum……………………………. 52%
Do not ……………………………………………………. 18%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 29%
Q13 Who did you vote for President in 2008?
John McCain…………………………………………… 44%
Barack Obama………………………………………… 49%
Someone else/Don’t remember …………………. 7%
Q14 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 12%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 18%
Moderate………………………………………………… 28%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 22%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 19%
Q15 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 50%
Man……………………………………………………….. 50%
Q16 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If a Republican,
press 2. If you are an independent or identify
with another party, press 3.
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 46%
Republican……………………………………………… 42%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 12%
Q17 If you are white, press 1. If African-American,
press 2. If other, press 3.
White …………………………………………………….. 85%
African-American …………………………………….. 11%
Other……………………………………………………… 4%
Q18 If you are 18 to 29 years old, press 1. If 30 to
45, press 2. If 46 to 65, press 3. If you are
older than 65, press 4.
18 to 29………………………………………………….. 16%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 26%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 38%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 20%
Q19 Area Code
215………………………………………………………… 17%
412………………………………………………………… 11%
570………………………………………………………… 14%
610………………………………………………………… 15%
717………………………………………………………… 18%
724………………………………………………………… 15%
814………………………………………………………… 10%
