<em>Poll: </em> Obama Rating Increases Among Pennsylvania Voters

HAMDEN, Ct. (CBS) - What do Pennsylvanians think about President Obama, his programs and policies, and one of his most important allies in the US Senate -- Bob Casey of Pennsylvania?

The latest Quinnipiac poll finds that President Obama's job approval rating among Pennsylvania voters has increased.

"It's now 51 percent approved, 44 percent disapproved," says Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.  "That's the highest it has been since July of 2009, more than 18 months ago, when it was  56  percent approved, 33 percent disapproved.

"The last time Quinnipiac surveyed, back in December, it was a split verdict, 44 to 43," notes Brown.  "So Mr. Obama's numbers are growing a bit in the Keystone State."

Brown says that although the president's numbers are strong in Pennsylvania, voters are less enamored of the US involvement in Afghanistan -- by 52 percent to 40 percent -- with most saying the US should not be involved in the war.

And, by a margin of 48 percent to 42 percent, most say Congress should repeal Obama's health care reform legislation.

Also, Sen. Casey -- who is up for re-election in 2012 -- has a 44 percent to 24 percent approval rating.  Thirty-four percent of Pennsylvanians, Brown says, are undecided.

"And that is a fairly high number for someone who has been in office for so long," adds Brown.

Reported by John McDevitt, KYW Newsradio 1060.