Expert: Low Voter Turnout Could Eat Into Wolf’s Margin Of Victory

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Democratic candidate for governor Tom Wolf seems the clear front-runner for Tuesday’s primary, but an expected low voter turnout could shrink his margin of victory significantly.

“I can see him winning by 4 or 5 percent,” said Dr. Thomas Baldino, professor of political science at Wilkes University. “I’d be surprised if he won by 13 percent, or even double digits.

The hype of an increasingly aggressive and negative ad campaign won’t change the fact that voters — particularly Democratic voters — usually don’t show up for midterm primaries or elections, Baldino said.

“It won’t be any historic low, but it’ll be low,” Baldino said. “In the aggregate, a registered Republican is more likely to vote than a registered Democrat.

Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/expert-low-voter-turnout-could-eat-into-wolf-s-margin-of-victory-1.1688714

Weiner Droops – “Carlos Danger” Places A Distant Fourth In New Mayoral Poll

, member of the United States House of Representatives. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With strong support from white Democratic likely primary voters and voters critical of the so- called stop-and-frisk police tactic, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio leads the Democratic race for New York City mayor with 30 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

With four weeks to go, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has 24 percent, with 22 percent for former Comptroller William Thompson, 10 percent for former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, 6 percent for Comptroller John Liu, 1 percent for former Council member Sal Albanese and 7 percent undecided, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

Stop-and-frisk is excessive and harasses innocent people, 60 percent of likely Democratic primary voters say, while 31 percent say it is an acceptable way to make the city safer. Among those critical of stop-and-frisk, 34 percent back de Blasio, with 24 percent for Thompson and 22 percent for Quinn.

Democratic likely voters support 66 – 25 percent the creation of an inspector general to independently monitor the New York Police Department.

Read more: http://www.quinnipiac.edu/institutes-and-centers/polling-institute/new-york-city/release-detail?ReleaseID=1935

Pennsylvania: Life Is Good, Despite Some Concerns

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A majority of Pennsylvanians back the gun control measures endorsed by the White House, and nearly as many support the National Rifle Association proposal to put armed guards in schools.

On pocketbook matters, angst is growing.  A majority have a negative view of Pennsylvania’s economy, and satisfaction with family income fell 10 percentage points from last year, according to The Morning Call/Muhlenberg College 2013 Pennsylvania Quality of Life survey.

John Geist, a 62-year-old from South Whitehall Township, is a Pennsylvanian who falls into both categories.

Geist used to consider himself middle class, but he was laid off when his company outsourced and had to settle for another manufacturing job earning substantially less.  It was the second time in his life he’d lost his job through no fault of his own.

Read more:

http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pa-quality-of-life-poll-guns-20130216,0,6655627.story

2012’s Most Annoying Words Are ‘Whatever,’ ‘Like’

NEW YORK— “You know,” “whatever” is a really annoying term — “like” “you know.  ” We’re “just sayin’.”

When it comes to the most annoying words or phrases used in conversation, those four top the list in 2012, according to the annual Marist Poll.

“Whatever” headed the list, cited by 32 percent of adults, and next came “like,” which 21 percent didn’t like.

Read more:  http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-whatever-like-2012-annoying-words-20121227,0,3660199.story