President Donald Trump's job performance rating has declined measurably in Pennsylvania, but despite that shift, he maintains strong support among his core base.

That is the overall finding of a new Franklin & Marshall College Poll released this week.

The poll - conducted by the college's Center for Politics and Public Affairs - finds that Trump's support among Republicans and conservatives has slipped since May, declining, falling from 37 percent in a May poll to 29 percent in the September poll. The poll shows, though, that the president's core support from mostly rural, white and older state residents, remains stable.

"I don't think there's any doubt that the controversial nature of his leadership has something to do with that," said G. Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall. "That and his failure to deliver on his agenda. I don't think you can say that Congress has delivered repeal and replace or tax reform."

Broken down by issue, the president garners best ratings from Pennsylvania voters for the way he has dealt with terrorism: 49 percent of survey takers rate his performance as an "A" or a "B". At the same time, his administration receives its lowest ratings for improving the health care system: 50 rate his performance an "F". Trump also earned "F" scores for the way he has dealt with climate change and environmental issues.

The results of the latest F&M poll are consistent with national polls. A Marist poll in August, for instance, showed that just 35 percent of Americans give Trump a positive job performance rating. Over half, or 55 percent, disapprove of his leadership - the highest negative rating by Marist for him.

In general, Trump's favorable ratings state-by-state aligns closely to how well he did in each state in the election. In Pennsylvania, Trump reached into the blue-collar corners and pulled out an unexpected win and garnered the most solid support among voters in the southwest and northeast swaths of the state, where his promise to bring back fading industries resonated with voters.

"The way to think about this he has a firm base of support that is very loyal," Madonna said. "We know who they are and we know where they live. They live in southwestern PA. and northeast PA. and are scattered throughout the heartland."

Back in February, Pennsylvania voters gave Trump overall low favorable ratings - at 37 percent, while his unfavorables are at 57 percent.

In explaining why he gave the president a moderate job performance rating of 70 percent, Andrew Trace, a Landisville resident who voted across party lines, said it's just too early to assess with certainty.

"Honestly I would have to say he is doing well enough," he said. "As it is the country is falling apart and whether or not it's his fault remains to be seen but as president he is doing the best he believes he can be doing. Could he be doing better? Yes. Could he be doing worse? Yes."

Trace's assessment tracks along with one of the findings in the poll - notably that the majority of supporters believe he is doing a good job in handling terrorism - even though his support has dropped from 90 percent in May to 73 percent in September.

The score in the issue among Democrats remains a dismal 11 percent - a slight dip from the 14 percent reported in May.

Democrats in general gave the president woefully low marks - the majority in single digits.

Among Democrats only 11 percent gave the president an excellent or good job assessment; 89 percent said fair or poor. Among liberals only 5 percent said excellent or good; among college-educated voters only 14 percent gave him a good job performance review.

"Typically what you would like to see is that you would pick up some Democratic support but he has not done that at all," Madonna said. "He has not picked that up at all."

Claude Schach, a Tower City registered Republican who participated in the F&M poll, said the president earned a good job approval from him because he has fulfilled what he feels is the position's most important role.

"My main interest always has been that the job of the president is first and foremost to protect the security of the country," Schach said. " think is doing exactly what he needs to do, including his speech at the U.N. I think for years we have been dilly dallying with these people and have gotten nowhere... we look like suckers. I think it's about time we begin to exert ourselves - if we are going to survive as a nation."

Schach said he believes that to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act is "simply stupid." He faults both Democrats and Republicans and the deep polarization between them for the stalemate in Washington - something he had hoped Trump could shatter.

"I think he is failing," Schach said. "There are too many ridiculous tweets. If he would just go back to the White House and use his brain to come up with ideas to bring people together, he could do something."

Rita Buzby, a poll participant from Montgomery County, disagreed. She gave the president paltry marks.

"Just terrible. The lowest you can rate. He is unfit," she said. "Everything he did during his life and campaign shows he is selfish, a liar. He is unfair, incompetent. He is a con artist."

Here's a look at the findings of the F&M poll:

Not quite one in three (29 percent) registered voters in Pennsylvania believe Trump is doing an "excellent" or "good" job as president

A majority of Republicans (53 percent, down from 67 percent in May) rate the president's performance positively

Fewer Democrats (11 percent) or independents (21 percent) do so

Conservatives (55 percent, down from 76 percent in May) are more likely than moderates (23 percent) or liberals (4 percent) to give Trump positive job approval ratings

Republicans approval of Trump's handling of terrorism, foreign policy, and health care have declined since May

Three in ten (30 percent) of respondents described themselves as "Trump supporters"; two in five (43 percent) described themselves as "Trump opponents."

In general, supporters and opponents say their feelings about the president have not changed over the past few months

The data included in the F&M poll represent the responses of 398 Pennsylvania registered voters, including 191 Democrats, 152 Republicans, and 55 independents.