Casey's edge over Santorum balloons
2006-09-27
Source: Morning Call
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rss feedA month after polls showed Sen. Rick Santorum clawing his way back into the U.S. Senate contest, Democrat Bob Casey Jr.'s lead is back in double digits, fueled by a nationally televised debate appearance and his first sustained advertising campaign since the race began 19 months ago.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday shows Casey leading Santorum, R-Pa., by 14 points among likely voters. That's double the margin the same pollster found in mid-August. It's the third poll in less than a week showing Casey leading by at least 10 points.
Key among the findings is that only 17 percent of voters in the Quinnipiac poll said they might change their minds before Election Day, down from more than a quarter of voters - 27 percent - in the August poll and a third in a June poll.
Six weeks from Election Day, political observers say the electorate is beginning to pay close attention to the two candidates, aided by a nationally televised debate on Sept. 3 and by a blitz of advertising from both candidates. Santorum was alone on the airwaves all summer; Casey's ads started about a month ago.
The effect, so far, is an advantage for Casey: Santorum's recent momentum has been halted.
''As people learn more about Casey to form an opinion, they think favorably of him,'' said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of Quinnipiac's Polling Institute at the school in Hamden, Conn.
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