As the fortunes of Democrats in his home state of Pennsylvania have waned, Sen. Bob Casey has pursued an ingenious strategy: anonymity.

President Barack Obama’s job rating among Pennsylvania voters is 51 – 44 percent, his highest standing in the Commonwealth since July 2009 when it was 56 – 33 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
But Pennsylvania voters tell the independent Quinnipiac University survey they oppose two of President Obama’s key issues: Voters say 52 – 40 percent that the U.S. should not be involved in Afghanistan; Voters say 48 – 42 percent that Congress should repeal Obama’s health care reform.
Sen. Bob Casey Jr. has a 44 – 24 percent approval rating, but even after four years in office, 31 percent of the state’s voters are undecided about him. By 46 – 28 percent, voters say Casey deserves another term in office.
Asked about the 2012 election, 45 percent say they would vote for the president and 39 percent say they would vote for the Republican who runs against him. By a narrow 48 – 45 percent Pennsylvania voters say Obama deserves a second term in the Oval Office.
Sen. Casey’s 44 – 24 percent job approval score is a jump from his 39 – 29 percent approval rating in Quinnipiac University’s December 16 poll. In today’s survey, Democrats approve 58 – 10 percent and independent voters approve 42 – 30 percent. He gets a negative 32 – 37 percent score from Republicans.
“Although Sen. Bob Casey, the son of a former governor with the same name, was a statewide elected official for eight years as state auditor general and has served four years as senator, it is somewhat surprising that 31 percent of Pennsylvania voters haven’t decided whether they think he is doing a good job,” Brown said. “That’s not that much lower than the 39 percent who don’t have an opinion about the Commonwealth’s other senator, Pat Toomey, who has been in office just six weeks.”

Toomey’s approval rating is 41–21 percent.