Posted on 06/21/2006 4:00:10 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
Sen. Rick Santorum's approval rating has skidded to a four-year low, the latest sign of distress for the outspoken conservative and ally of President Bush, according to a poll released Wednesday.
The lead for Santorum's Democratic opponent, state Treasurer Bob Casey, has stretched to 18 percentage points since early May.
Casey leads Santorum by 52 percent to 34 percent - the biggest margin since October, when the numbers were the same, according to the Quinnipiac University poll.
Only 38 percent of respondents said they approved of the way Santorum, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate, is handling his job. Forty-five percent said they disapproved and 16 percent did not express an opinion.
It was the first time Santorum's approval rating dropped below 40 percent since Quinnipiac began measuring it in June 2002.
Bush's approval rating in the state rebounded somewhat in the latest poll, to 34 percent from 30 percent in May. The proportion of Pennsylvania voters who approved of Bush's handling of the war in Iraq increased to 35 percent from 29 percent.
"Senator Santorum appears to be his own worst enemy in his battle for re-election," said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Connecticut-based university's polling institute.
In the May survey, Casey, the son of late Democratic Gov. Robert P. Casey, led Santorum by 49 percent to 36 percent.
More than 40 percent of Casey's supporters said they are more against electing Santorum to a third term than for Casey, the poll showed.
Virginia Davis, a Santorum campaign spokesman, said polls are unreliable at this stage in the campaign. Santorum plans to air the first statewide TV commercials of his campaign on Friday, she said. Larry Smar, a spokesman for the Casey campaign, agreed that it is too early to read too much into the polls but that Casey's continuing strength in polling bodes well for the November election.
Quinnipiac conducted telephone interviews with 1,076 Pennsylvania voters between June 13 and Monday. The results carry a sampling margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Santorum touched a nerve with these guys, for one...
The only poll that counts is the one at the ballot box on Election Day. And Silent's Bob's not that popular.
Make that Silent Bob....
PA voters like those of DC can't help voting for anything that says Democrat.
Nope. Bob Casey is the one "pro-lifer" who absolutely refuses to talk about abortion.
Yes, QU is notoriously biased to the Democrats. I'd wait for another polling outfit to confirm a deficit like this.
that's cause Casey's a FAUX-LIFER
Only the hint of it, since there are anti-Santorm/GOP news postings.
It will be a tough fight. I think that will easily be the tougherst reelection fight one of our candidates faces and that Santorum is very likely to go down. Shame because he is a very good senator. A little too conservative for a state that tends to vote Dem in presidential races, and RINO for the other senate seat.
I think this will be an even trade on election night.
Here in PA some conservatives are angry with Santorum for campaigning for Specter. They're now saying they don't care if Santorum loses.
Worth saying three times! LOL
Why? (Just a simple question)
FMCDH(BITS)
Which one is in favor of withdrawal of troops in Iraq, homosexual marriage, voting rights for illegal immigrants, abortion on demand, open borders, and forgetful of 9/11?
I would say thats it proper for several reasons. One is the need for Republican Unity. I suspect that for the citizens of Penn, the two Senators have to work together quite a bit. That would not be helped by the two Senators from the same Party sniping at each other. Further, I think since Spector supported him in the past reelection as well as I believe in the general the first time he ran, it was proper that Santorum stood up for him then.
Santorum did not hold a gun up to conservatives heads and make them vote for Spectre. Santorum was loyal to a person that helped him in the past. Would I have prefered someone else than Spectre as Senator. Yes. But I have to admit that he has on the whole been a fair leader of the Judicary committee. He has not stopped any of Bush's judges that I have heard of.
Polls by Quinnipiac? They are worthless, they are so false. Completely manipulated by the left to give the desired result.
...makes you sing stupid show tunes getting all excited about a 92% conservative losing to a candidate from the party of treason.
Even Reagan supported Specter when Specter ran in the primary in '86.
Santorum is hammering Casey in radio ads in the Pittsburgh area about the immigration issue. Santorum voted against the Senate bill and is criticizing every aspect of it. Casey apparently favors amnesty. The mayor of Hazleton's action against illegals resonates with Pennsylvanians. I have a feeling Casey's stand will hurt him badly. Santorum isn't dead yet.
Specter had no viable Conservative opposition in the '86 primary. Interesting to note that had DINO Rep. Don Bailey been the Democrat nominee against Specter that year, rather than ultraleft Rep. Bob Edgar (now head of the Council of Churches, a Communist front group), Specter would've been a one-term wonder.
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