The race tightens (Santorum/Casey) [View All]

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_467457.html

A Pittsburgh Tribune-Review poll shows Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum closing the gap against Democratic challenger Robert P. Casey Jr., in a contest many analysts see as the nation's premier Senate race.

The Keystone Poll of 551 Pennsylvania voters shows Casey, the state treasurer from Scranton, leading Santorum, of Penn Hills, by five percentage points -- 44 to 39 percent. Green Party nominee Carl Romanelli, a former Luzerne County family court officer, garnered 4 percent, and 13 percent of respondents were undecided.

The poll, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points, was conducted over five days beginning last week and ending Monday.

"Santorum is sort of scratching and clawing his way" into contention, said G. Terry Madonna, a political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster County, who conducted the poll for the Trib and several other news media outlets. In November, Casey led Santorum by 51 to 35 percent.

"It's still probably the premier race, because Santorum is the number-three Republican in the Senate and he's a national figure," said Stuart Rothenberg, editor and publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report in Washington, D.C. But Rothenberg does not consider it one of the two or three most competitive Senate contests and still calls it a "Democrat-leaning" race.

This is Scaife Rag, but the poll was also done for WTAE-4 TV Pittsburgh and several other PA newspapers.