With less than a month before voters head to the polls, numbers are showing a shift in the presidential race. So we asked the Director of the Franklin and Marshall College Poll for his take on the latest numbers.
"As a pollster, I say don't use any single poll, but to look at an average done over recent, short period of time," said Terry Madonna. "That's probably a better way of thinking of out polls than to use any one single poll."
A recent Pew Research Center Poll shows Mitt Romney up 4 percent on the president. But a Gallup Poll shows President Obama up five percent. Voters here in Erie seem to agree about not taking one poll too seriously.
"The polls to me are somewhat hard to trust because some have Obama leading, some have Romney leading and there's polls on polls, all kinds of thinks going on," said Nick Taylor of Erie. "I don't know if polls have too much at this point."
We also asked Madonna what these numbers mean to Pennsylvania. He tells us the president still has a five percent lead, and it won't differ much until we see money spent here and visits to our state. Voters we spoke with seem to agree.
"Until I see the candidates come here, I doubt it'll be an issue," said Sam Talarico of Erie. "I do think that Obama still has a solid lead in the Electoral College, which is most important. Although in the popular vote may be fairly close."
Madonna says these polls give people an idea of who's winning in the battle ground states. And while Pennsylvania is becoming less of one, with 20 electoral votes up for grabs, it would be a big win for either candidate.
"So at this moment, if the election were held, even though Romney might win the popular vote narrowly, President Obama would be more likely to win the electoral vote," said Madonna.
Madonna did say, though, there is some possibility, given how close the election has become, that something could happen to change that. He believes that all depends on if Romney can continue this current surge.
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