Polls Give Democrats Lead in Pennsylvania

[RamboLiberal]

http://news.aol.com/elections/story/_a/polls-give-democrats-lead-in/20060921113209990001?cid=946

The front-runners in Pennsylvania's election races for U.S. Senate and governor maintained their leads despite an escalation of TV advertising by the candidates, according to a statewide poll released Thursday.

Democratic challenger Bob Casey led incumbent Sen. Rick Santorum 45 percent to 38 percent among registered voters - virtually unchanged from the 44-39 percent result that the pollsters at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster reported from their Keystone Poll in August.

Green Party candidate Carl Romanelli, whose candidacy is expected to help Santorum by drawing support from Casey, was supported by 5 percent. Twelve percent were undecided.

In the governor's race, Democratic incumbent Ed Rendell led Republican Lynn Swann 52 percent to 34 percent in the September poll, compared with 53-34 percent in August. Fourteen percent were undecided.

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"Santorum's desperate smear campaign isn't working," said Casey campaign spokesman Larry Smar. "Pennsylvanians are making clear that they want a change."

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Pennsylvania-Elections.htm

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A second poll released hours later, the IssuesPA/Pew poll, showed Casey with a wider lead. That poll, by New Jersey-based Princeton Survey Research Associates International, showed Casey leading Santorum 47 percent to 28 percent. Twenty-two percent of the respondents were undecided and 3 percent favored Romanelli.

In the governor's race, the IssuesPA/Pew survey showed Rendell crushing Swann, 58 to 30 percent, and 11 percent undecided.

Santorum aired a spot featuring actors supposedly portraying four big donors to Casey's campaign meeting in a smoke-filled jail cell. The senator's campaign later conceded that none of the men had given money to Casey's Senate campaign and that two had contributed to Santorum's campaign, which donated the money to nonprofit groups.

Casey, currently state treasurer, ran a commercial featuring a working mother objecting to Santorum's contention that too often both parents of young children work when they don't need to.