The new Rasmussen poll of Pennsylvania finds Sen. Arlen Specter just barely ahead of his Democratic primary challenger, Rep. Joe Sestak.
The numbers: Specter 46%, Sestak 42%, with a ±3% margin of error. In early August, Specter had been ahead by 47%-34%. Sestak has been challenging Specter — who switched form the Republicans to the Democrats in order to avoid certain defeat in the GOP primary — on the grounds that he’s not a real Democrat, and both of them have been moving noticeably to the left (though Specter has logically taken a greater journey, given his starting point as a moderate Republican).
In the general election match-ups, Republican former Rep. Pat Toomey leads Specter by 45%-40%, while Sestak edges out Toomey 38%-37%, with a ±3% margin of error.
