Hillary Clinton Has the Edge on Joe Biden and Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania

Submitted by Anonymous on June 7, 2013 - 9:04am

Both Joe Biden and Rick Santorum can claim ties to Pennsylvania as they consider running for the presidency in 2016 -- but a new poll shows neither can be called a favorite son as Hillary Clinton eclipses them both in the Keystone State.

Quinnipiac University released a poll on Friday which finds Santorum in bad shape in his home state. Hes upside down with only 39 percent viewing him as favorable while 44 percent see him as unfavorable. Democratic front-runner Clinton routs Santorum in his backyard, beating him 53 percent to 36 percent.

While he has based most of his political career in neighboring Delaware, Joe Biden, who is considering a third presidential bid in 2016, has deep roots in the Scranton area. Biden also beats Santorum but does not do as well as Clinton does against him, only leading him 46 percent to 39 percent. The poll finds 49 percent of those surveyed see Biden as favorable while 42 percent view him as unfavorable.

Rand Paul does slightly better than Santorum. The Republican senator from Kentucky is somewhat unknown in Pennsylvania with 35 percent viewing him as favorable, 30 percent as unfavorable, while 35 percent dont know enough about him to have an opinion. Clinton crushes Paul by 15 percent in the poll but he keeps it closer against Biden. The vice presidentleads Paul by only 45 percent to 41 percent.

Clinton clearly is the most popular candidate in Pennsylvania despite Bidens and Santorums ties to the state. A solid majority -- 56 percent -- see her as favorable while 37 percent view her as unfavorable.

"Hillary Clinton hasn't uttered a whisper about running for president, but Pennsylvanians are giving her full-throated support," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, on Friday.

Despite winning the state twice, President Barack Obama gets mixed marks in the poll, with 48 percent approving his performance in the White House and the same percentage disapproving it.

The poll of 1,032 registered Pennsylvania voters was taken from May 30-June 4 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent.

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