The Rasmussen Reports poll released Monday shows Sestak having overcome Specter's lead, and assuming a five-point lead himself. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 4-and-a-half points.
The 2010 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate has gotten close, and it's gotten nasty.
Joe Sestak says he feels the surge after doggedly trailing incumbent U.S. Senator Arlen Specter for a year. The "Big Mo'" suddenly seems to be in his direction.
Arlen Specter has collected the endorsements of 3 of Pennsylvania's most powerful newspapers: The Harrisburg Patriot News and The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Daily News. But the Specter camp is now running scared. As the 5-term senator told a local union official Monday, he's launching a new television ad campaign.
"We've got our game plan and it's all settled right here in Philadelphia," Specter told Patrick J. Eiding, Council President of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO. "We have a massive effort out. We've got a great TV spot with President Obama."
Specter's camp is urging the president to come to town to campaign arm-in-arm with him, but there may not be time for that as Specter's poll numbers drop due in part to the Sestak ad showing specter's long ties to the Republican party and Democrat red flags like Bush and Palin.
Specter's pushing for a large turnout in Philadelphia, hoping party bosses like Congressman Bob Brady, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Pennsylvania Governor and former Philadelphia Mayor Edward Rendell can generate enthusiasm for him. He's especially hoping for a boost among black voters.
"Sestak hopes that the shield is paper thin and that underneath it are Democratic rank-and-file voters who will reject the idea that Specter is one of them," independent pollster Terry Madonna told Action News.
"It's very vote-rich out in the southeastern area and it's the one place where Sestak is known to some extent," added Randall Miller of St. Joe's University.
Polls show less than 10% of likely voters remain undecided on who the Democratic nominee should be. Along with turnout, that will be the focus in the brutal days ahead leading to next Tuesday's primary which has put the Keystone State in the national spotlight.
