Poll shows Kerry with apparent slight lead over Bush in Pa.

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/pmupdate/s_180198.html

Sen. John Kerry has overtaken the other Democratic presidential candidates in the battleground state of Pennsylvania and apparently holds a slight lead over President Bush nine months before the election, a new poll shows.

The survey released this morning by the Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University Polling Institute showed the senator from Massachusetts favored by 61 percent of Pennsylvania Democrats, compared to only 15 percent for runner-up Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.

In a hypothetical one-on-one match, Kerry was supported by 50 percent of the respondents and Bush by 45 percent.

The results were accompanied by a decline in the president's statewide approval rating to 47 percent -- the lowest detected by Quinnipiac since it began polling in Pennsylvania in June 2002 -- and signs of widespread concern about the state's economy.