If the election were held today, the flailing reelection campaign of Senator Rick Santorum would come crashing to an end with the incumbent losing to his Democratic challenger Bobby Casey Junior by 12-points (corrected). That is the conclusion of a new poll released today. The McClatchy/MSNBC Poll by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research gives Casey 51% and Santorum 39%, with ten percent unsure/other. This is a three-point increase over the 9-point deficit Santorum had in this poll's prior release in early October.
Poll respondents, surveyed by telephone between October 18 and 21, gave two-term Senator Rick Santorum a favorable rating of only 33%. His opponent, perennial campaigner and son of a dead governor, received an approval rating of only 44%. Casey's 28% unfavorable rating was far less than Santorum's 48% -- which summarizes why there is no room for Santorum to turn this around in the last two weeks. According to these numbers, nearly ten percent of respondents are voting for Santorum despite their negative feelings towrds him.
While Santorum is going to lose this election, the polling throughout the campaign clearly show that Casey Junior is not winning it -- he's merely the beneficiary of a widespread abandonment of Santorum and the failed Republican policies which he has enthusiastically supported over his two terms as Senator. According to this poll, 32% of the respondents are voting AGAINST someone in the Senatorial race. Unfortunately, the numbers released today do not break those responses down between Casey and Santorum supporters.
Over on the Gubernatorial side, Ed Rendell parlays his robust 57% favorable rating into a 21-point lead over ex-jock Lynn Swann. Fifty-six percent of poll respondents said that they would vote for the incumbent Governor, against only 35% support for Lynn Swann.
Respondents, by a wide margin, disapprove of the manner in which the Republicans have been running things. The President gets a 56% DISapproval rating from Pennsylvania voters, which includes a 46% STRONGLY disapprove number. Congress does even worse -- 63% disapprove of how the Republican-controlled Congress is doing it's job. Remarkably, only 1% strongly approve of Congressional performance. That's ALOT of Republican voters holding noses this midterm.
In the more-bad-news-for-Santorum department . . . .
The Republicans control it all -- the failures of this Government are theirs. As the third-ranked Republican in Congress, Santorum, more than most, has direct personal responsbility for those failures. Now, he is being held to account for creating, supporting, and engineering failure.
Gee, Senator, I guess buying that "santorum2008" domain name (in 2004) was a mite premature, huh?
Poll respondents, surveyed by telephone between October 18 and 21, gave two-term Senator Rick Santorum a favorable rating of only 33%. His opponent, perennial campaigner and son of a dead governor, received an approval rating of only 44%. Casey's 28% unfavorable rating was far less than Santorum's 48% -- which summarizes why there is no room for Santorum to turn this around in the last two weeks. According to these numbers, nearly ten percent of respondents are voting for Santorum despite their negative feelings towrds him.
While Santorum is going to lose this election, the polling throughout the campaign clearly show that Casey Junior is not winning it -- he's merely the beneficiary of a widespread abandonment of Santorum and the failed Republican policies which he has enthusiastically supported over his two terms as Senator. According to this poll, 32% of the respondents are voting AGAINST someone in the Senatorial race. Unfortunately, the numbers released today do not break those responses down between Casey and Santorum supporters.
Over on the Gubernatorial side, Ed Rendell parlays his robust 57% favorable rating into a 21-point lead over ex-jock Lynn Swann. Fifty-six percent of poll respondents said that they would vote for the incumbent Governor, against only 35% support for Lynn Swann.
Respondents, by a wide margin, disapprove of the manner in which the Republicans have been running things. The President gets a 56% DISapproval rating from Pennsylvania voters, which includes a 46% STRONGLY disapprove number. Congress does even worse -- 63% disapprove of how the Republican-controlled Congress is doing it's job. Remarkably, only 1% strongly approve of Congressional performance. That's ALOT of Republican voters holding noses this midterm.
In the more-bad-news-for-Santorum department . . . .
+ Voters rank Iraq & Health Care as the top issues for them. Santorum's scare-out-the-vote message on immigration isn't exciting anyone, at 6% it ranks below "Other" as an issue of concern.Throughout the campaign, Santorum has blamed the media for his impending retirement from Government work. What this and all other polls from this past year demonstrate is that the fault lie not in the media, but in Santorum.
+ The Bush/Santorum Iraq policies are rejected by 60% of Pennsylvania voters. Even more -- 66% -- say that the Bush/Santorum economic policies have them worried.
+ Still MORE -- 69% -- aren't buying that the Bush/Santorum policies are making us safer -- they expect another successful terrorist attack in the United States.
The Republicans control it all -- the failures of this Government are theirs. As the third-ranked Republican in Congress, Santorum, more than most, has direct personal responsbility for those failures. Now, he is being held to account for creating, supporting, and engineering failure.
Gee, Senator, I guess buying that "santorum2008" domain name (in 2004) was a mite premature, huh?
