Today’s Reuters/Ipsos poll on the Pennsylvania Senate race is the latest sign that Democrats’ troubles this fall may run deeper than expected.
Republican Pat Toomey is out to a 10-point lead over Democrat Joe Sestak among likely voters.
Sestak, who beat Arlen Specter in the Democratic primary, had been singled out by progressives as the left’s answer to “tea party” candidates — an outsider sent in to reclaim the party and Washington from moderates and career politicians.
Sestak took out Specter, but may have his hands full with Toomey, a conservative former congressman.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll follows Monday’s eye-opening Gallup poll, which shows voters prefer Republicans over Democrats by more than 10 points on the “generic ballot” test — the question of whether voters prefer a Democratic or Republican congressional candidate.
That gap is the largest GOP edge at this stage in 68 years.
