Pennsylvania Politics -- Bad News For Santorum

Quinnipiac reports:

CASEY LEADS SANTORUM 51 - 39% AMONG LIKELY VOTERS,

QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY PENNSYLVANIA POLL FINDS;

INCUMBENT’S MOMENTUM HAS STALLED

Democratic State Treasurer Robert Casey Jr. has regained his momentum in the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race and now leads incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum 51 – 39 percent among likely voters, with 4 percent for Green party candidate Carl Romanelli and 5 percent undecided, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

This compares to a 48 – 42 percent likely voter lead for Casey in an August 15 poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN uh-pe-ack) University.

Read the whole thing here.

Good news for Bob, bad for Rick. Santorum's minor surge last month has not only stalled, but he has lost whatever ground he gained back then. We'll have to wait to see if other polls support this but I have heard, from inside sources, that they do.

Stay tuned....

RELATED:

The Harrisburg Patriot-News notes that Casey has become the invisible man.

Six weeks before Election Day, Casey appears to be hunkering down with few public events scheduled. He is continuing a strategy that has worked well so far, even as polls show the race has tightened.

"The strategy was a good acknowledgment that this race is not about Bob Casey," said Jennifer Duffy of the Cook Political Report. "It's about Rick Santorum."

.....

Some Democrats are getting antsy about the lack of public events, and the strategy has led to debates inside Casey's campaign as poll numbers have tightened. But other Democrats, such as former Lt. Gov. Mark Singel, are reluctant to question the strategy.

"If it's working, it's working," Singel said.

Read the whole thing here.

Yup, he's right. It seems to be working. It was Henry Clay who famously said "I would rather be right than be President." Maybe Rick should rehearse saying "I would rather be right than be Senator."

AND THERE'S THIS:

Romanelli's future is still uncertain and in the hands of the courts.

As of now, Carl Romanelli, the Green Party U.S. Senate candidate, won't appear on the November ballot, and that could be good news for Democratic challenger Robert P. Casey Jr.

Senior Commonwealth Court Judge James Kelley said yesterday that Romanelli's name would not be on the ballot because he lacked enough valid signatures on his nominating papers. Romanelli's lawyers, pointing to a separate legal challenge before the state Supreme Court, said their candidate is conceding nothing and hopes to be on the ballot.

If the decision stands, it is widely seen as boosting Casey's effort to unseat Republican Sen. Rick Santorum.

[here]

If the appeal fails that will further cripple Santorum's chances.

Things are definitely not looking good for Senator Rick.