Santorum shrinks Casey's poll lead

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Sen. Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania Republican, has dramatically narrowed the huge poll lead held by state Treasurer Bob Casey Jr. in November's election, and Republican strategists say his tough stance on immigration has been a key factor.

"Rick's immigration message is resonating," said John Braybender, Mr. Santorum's media consultant, who has helped the campaign produce two immigration ads in recent months. "People understand that the immigration issue is much more far-reaching than just border states."

Internal polling by the Santorum campaign -- as well as by House and Senate campaigns across the country -- suggests that the immigration issue will help Republicans in November. Mr. Santorum was the highest-ranking Senate Republican to vote against a bill approved earlier this year that would grant citizenship rights to some 10 million illegal aliens. Mr. Casey has said he would have supported the bill, though he did not like everything in it.

"We did a certain amount of internal polling, and when it got to immigration, it was very clear," Mr. Braybender said. "Rick's position versus Casey's was overwhelming."

Voters, he said, see the issue as more than just illegal aliens streaming across the border. It's also about giving them Social Security benefits, waiving certain back taxes and other matters of lawfulness and fairness. In one ad released recently, Mr. Santorum tells viewers about his own immigrant background, but uses the opportunity to point out that his grandparents came here legally and obeyed all the immigration laws.

"If Casey or anyone else thinks this is not an issue in Pennsylvania, they should start talking to voters," Mr. Braybender said.

Earlier this year, polls had Mr. Santorum lagging far behind Mr. Casey, most by double-digit margins. One poll had Mr. Santorum 23 percentage points down. But in the past month, that margin has shrunk to about six percentage points, according to an average of polls compiled by the Web site RealClearPolitics.com.

A poll conducted last month by Strategic Vision found Mr. Casey leading Mr. Santorum by 47 percent to 41 percent. That same poll found Mr. Santorum 16 points behind earlier in the year. The pollsters also asked 1,200 likely Pennsylvania voters whether they supported granting amnesty to illegal aliens and whether they favored building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Seventy-nine percent of respondents said they opposed amnesty; 82 percent said they support a wall. The poll has a three-percentage-point margin of error.

While some Republicans give the immigration issue most of the credit for Mr. Santorum's gains, campaign spokeswoman Virginia Davis pointed out that Mr. Santorum has discussed a wide array of issues.

"More and more Pennsylvanians are becoming engaged in the race and seeing the contrast between Senator Santorum, who has a record of working to protect our nation's security, reduce taxes and strengthen families, and Bob Casey Jr., who's running an issueless campaign devoid of any substance," she said.

Still, Casey spokesman Larry Smar said, Mr. Santorum's poll numbers are low.

"Rick Santorum is a two-term incumbent," he said. "He and his allies have spent over $7 million on ads, and Rick Santorum is still only getting 39 percent of the vote in the latest Keystone poll. People have had enough of Rick Santorum, and they want a change."

The two candidates will appear together Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" for their first debate of the campaign.