Welcome to the latest edition of the PennLive/Bravo Group Morning Scrapple, our snapshot of political opinion from the nation’s most important battleground state.
It may be cold outside, but we’re serving up a hot and fresh batch of Pennsylvania voter views on the issues impacting our Commonwealth and the United States. Below you’ll find data on ICE, Senator Fetterman and what brings PA voters to the ballot box.
And see what annoying political pundit cliches are most annoying, too.
Order Up.
February approvals
Generally speaking, is the United States heading in the right or wrong direction?
U.S. wrong track: 56% (January) → 57% (February)
U.S. right track: 37% (January) → 36% (February)
Generally speaking, is Pennsylvania heading in the right or wrong direction?
PA wrong track: 36% (January) → 39% (February)
PA right track: 41% (January) → 40% (February)
Do you approve or disapprove of the job Donald Trump is doing as President?
Donald Trump, President: 40% (January) → 41% (February) approve
Do you approve or disapprove of the job John Fetterman/Dave McCormick is doing in the US Senate?
Dave McCormick, U.S. Senator: 37% (January) → 40% (February) approve
John Fetterman, U.S. Senator: 44% (January) → 47% (February) approve
If the election for Pennsylvania Governor were held today, who would you vote for?
Vote for Shapiro: 58% (January) → 61% (February)
Issues
Respondents were asked to choose the top three issues most important to them:
ICE emotions
What feeling best describes your reaction to this image?
The image above shows ICE agents after a raid conducted in San Diego. We asked the same question about the same image in June 2025. Changes are tracked in parentheses.
Angry — 31% (+11)
Concerned — 16% (-2)
Patriotic — 15% (+1)
Ashamed — 10% (-8)
Hopeful — 10% (-1)
Unmoved — 7% (+3)
Inspired — 5% (-1)
Curious — 2% (No change)
Confused — 2% (No change)
Skeptical — 2% (-4)
Senator Fetterman in the news
Respondents were shown several real headlines that documented Senator John Fetterman’s position on specific issues.
For this exercise, the sample was split, with half the sample receiving the first (Group A) headline, and half the sample receiving the second (Group B) headline.
In each case, the follow-up question that respondents were asked was identical:
Do you support Senator Fetterman’s position?
Group A
Group B
USA on the world stage
How should the United States approach its role in the world?
Political pundit puffery
Which political commentary trope do you find most annoying? (Respondents could choose up to three)
“It is what it is” — 38%
“This is gaslighting” — 29%
“People need to stop pearl-clutching” — 24%
“At the end of the day” — 23%
“… Was not on my bingo card” — 19%
“Full Stop” — 15%
“Said the quiet part out loud” — 13%
“This is a feature, not a bug” — 12%
What brings you to the ballot?
Respondents were given the following choices and explanations:
Local focus — Addressing local issues in my community
More local than party — Local issues matter more than party positions
Equal — Local issues and party positions matter equally
More party than local — Party positions matter more than local issues
Party focus — Voting by party to address national issues
When deciding your vote for the US Congress, what matters to you most?
When deciding your vote for the Pennsylvania state senator and representative, what matters to you most?
2026 midterm elections
How motivated are you to vote, if at all, in the 2026 midterm elections for governor, U.S. House, state, and local officials?
If the congressional election were held today, who would have your vote?
We survey Pennsylvania-registered voters through digital advertising, randomized text-message outreach, and email recontact with prior opt-in survey participants. This multichannel recruitment ensures a refreshed and representative respondent pool.
This digital survey of 701 likely Pennsylvania voters was conducted from February 5-7, 2026. Results were weighted by age, gender, and political party to reflect Pennsylvania’s electorate, yielding a 95% credibility interval of ±4.1 percentage points. You can read more about our methodology here.
If you’d like to know more about our methodology or have a question, comment or concern please feel free to email us at morningscrapple@thebravogroup.com
Thank you for supporting Morning Scrapple!
