U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum fell further behind Democratic Senate candidate Robert P. Casey Jr. in the latest
Quinnipiac University survey, a drop the pollster attributed to the Republican's work on several controversial national issues.
Casey leads Santorum by 49 percent to 35 percent, with 13 percent undecided, in the poll, which was taken
April 13-18, after several high-profile weeks for the two-term senator.
Santorum has been prominent in pushing President Bush's plan to overhaul Social Security and congressional
intervention in the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case - positions that prompted one-third or more of the 1,395 respondents to
say they would be less likely to vote for him.
Bush's standing among Pennsylvanians - his 43 percent approval rating is one of the lowest in three years
- also isn't helping Santorum, said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of Quinnipiac's polling institute.
"A number of things have piled up against him," Richards said. "It is kind of the glow of the incumbency
tarnishing." The beneficiary has been Casey, the state treasurer, who has been low-key since announcing his candidacy March
4, Richards added.
Richards, as well as both campaigns, cautioned that the election is still 19 months away. But the poll lends
support to analysts' predictions that Santorum, a top Senate Republican and a target of national Democrats, could be one of
the most vulnerable incumbents up for reelection in 2006.
John Brabender, Santorum's media consultant, said the poll could be an outgrowth of anti-incumbent sentiment
stemming from any number of issues. Quinnipiac's February poll showed Santorum 5 percentage points behind Casey.
Santorum "will still fight for all the things he has" in the past, Brabender said...
The poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points, did not ask respondents about
Chuck Pennacchio, a Bucks County professor running as a Democrat.
