Harrisburg Patriot-News
A new poll has Republican challenger Tom Smith within striking distance of U.S. Bob Casey Jr.
The poll, conducted by Susquehanna Polling and Research for the Smith campaign, has Casey drawing 45 percent and Smith, an retired Armstrong County coal executive, drawing 42 percent. The poll administrators say the three-point gap is within the poll’s margin of error.
“It’s no surprise this race has continued to tighten as voters are beginning to better understand the differences between Bob Casey, an ineffective career politician, and Tom Smith, a self-made job creator,” Smith Campaign Manager Jim Conroy said in a news release.
However, the new poll contradicts a string of independent polls that show Casey maintaining a comfortable 15-point lead on average. And a poll released Tuesday by the Morning Call and Muhlenberg College is consistent with previous findings.
In that poll, Casey continues to lead Smith handily, 44 percent to Smith’s 30 percent.
Casey campaign manager Larry Smar dismissed the validity of the Susquehanna poll and painted Smith as being out of step with Pennsylvania voters.
“While Bob Casey is standing up for middle-class families and fighting unfair foreign trade, Tea Party Tom Smith is pushing a radical agenda to dismantle Medicare, privatize Social Security and give tax breaks to the wealthy,” Smar said in an email.
Read more: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/09/casey_lead_evaporates_in_new_i.html