Santorum Has Momentum on His Side

  • by:
  • 03/02/2023

Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Rick Santorum is closing the gap in  his race against state Treasure Bob Casey Jr. A new Morning Call-Muhlenberg College poll has Santorum trailing Casey by 8 percentage points - that's down from 16 points as recently as two months ago.

In a survey conducted between April 17-24, 46% of registered voters support Casey, 38% support Santorum and 16% are undecided. Compare this with a survey done on February 16, which had 52% for Casey, 36% for Santorum and 12 % undecided.

Casey's lead has been slowly but steadily declining since November. Considering how little anyone actually seems to know about Casey and where he stands on any given issue, this should not come as a surprise as Election Day draws near and voters take a closer look at the candidates.

"Casey has equivocated or simply refused to articulate a comprehensive platform," says one GOP strategist. "All people really know is that his dad is [former governor] Bob Casey and that his campaign guys keep saying he's pro-life."

An independent organization, Americans for Job Security, has been running an ad critical of Casey's chronic absenteeism - "missing work 43% of the time," according to a Philadelphia Inquirer study cited in the ad. The pollster responsible for this latest survey identified the ad as being responsible for Santorum’s cutting Casey's margin by a third.

Santorum's continued deficit in the polls can be mostly attributable to the President's own job approval rating in Pennsylvania, which has reached an unprecedented low.

The ongoing violence in Iraq and rising oil prices are hurting the Republican senator, who has been a staunch ally of the Bush Administration. But if Casey is depending on Bush to lose it for Santorum, he might want to consider a few things:

  • For one, it's hard to imagine Bush sinking much lower. At some point his approval rating is going to bottom out. When that happens, Casey is going to be forced to put some substance behind his name.
  • The Santorum camp has yet to air any of its own ads. As they frame the campaign and make the case for re-election, the impact of the President's poll numbers will decrease and fewer voters will use their vote as a referendum on the administration.
  • Also, at some point Casey will have to debate Santorum. Santorum is known for being quick on his feet and going toe to toe with him on policy issues is simply not something even optimistic Democrats think Casey can handle.

Despite the increasingly positive poll results, Santorum has still got an uphill battle looking towards November. The most closely watched Senate race in the nation is heating up.

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