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By Rob Kall (about the author) Page 1 of 3 page(s)

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For OpEdNews: Rob Kall - Writer

The OpEdNews.com / Zogby People's Poll is the first poll run by a progressive organization and possibly the first poll run by a media website, certainly by a progressive media website.

Zogby International conducted interviews of 850 likely Pennsylvania voters online on January 26th and 27th. The poll consisted of 22 questions related to the PA race for US Senate and a total of over 70 questions, including 27 issue-related questions on impeachment, Bush's NSA spying and hearings, electronic voting, war in Iraq, withdrawal from Iraq, nationalized health care, privatization of voter registration and election technology and more.

The PA Senate Race: Santorum vs. ?

The poll is the first to ask about all five PA US senate race candidates and provide positions each holds.

When people find out about candidate positions on key issues, Casey plummets from a twelve point lead to a dead heat, with a non-significant two point lead.

Santorum loses when matched with any of the democratic candidates. Both of the self identified progressive democratic candidates draw higher percentages than Casey, with Pennacchio having the largest percentage of votes against Santorum, at a not quite significant 4.4 points higher than Casey. Casey, at non-significant levels, actually gets MORE votes from Republicans once they find out more about him and Santorum.
Casey refused to respond, so we constructed his positions from media and speeches.
OpEdNews.com's conclusion on this race-- Santorum wants Casey as his opponent because he wins the demographic game. Casey loses massively in some categories, when voters find out about Casey, which Santorum will sure insure. For example, Casy's support among 18-24 year olds drops from 63% to 40%, with Protestants, it drops from 47.3% to 30%, with liberals, from 95.4% to 68%, with moderates, from 64% to 53%, but Casey actually gains support from conservates, going from 3.9% to 5%, a non-significant, but interesting finding.

The poll first asked panelists how they would vote, matching up all five candidates (three Democratic, two Republican) without any information provided to them, then presented them with information on the position the candidates take on a number of issues. All candidates were invited at the same time to participate and given three days to respond. They were told that if they did not respond, then the issue positions would be constructed based on website, media and other statements the candidates made. All candidates responded except Bob Casey, jr., who replied that he would not participate in the poll. OpEdNews.com made one last request by phone and email after the deadline, offering the Casey campaign an opportunity to participate and they stated they were not participating. That same evening, Casey was also a no-show at debate sponsored by the league of women voters in Harrisburg PA.

Click here to see the questions as asked in the poll

Stats from the poll regarding the Senate Race. Stats for issue poll questions will be included with articles covering those topics in greater detail over the next few days.

Here is information that was presented to the panelists

Rick Santorum (Republican)
On abortion pro-life
On stem cell research opposed
Accepts PAC money yes
War in Iraq it was the right thing to do
Troops in Iraq stay the course
National Health Care opposed
Raising the minimum wage supports an increase of $1.10
NAFTA/CAFTA supports CAFTA; opposed NAFTA
Alito confirmation to Supreme Court supports confirmation

Bob Casey, Jr. (Democrat)
On abortion pro-lfe
On stem cell research opposed
Accepts PAC money yes
War in Iraq supported
Troops in Iraq stay the course
National Health Care opposed
Raising the minimum wage supports
NAFTA/CAFTA opposed both
Alito confirmation to Supreme Court supports confirmation

Chuck Pennacchio (Democrat)
On abortion pro-choice
On stem cell research supports
Accepts PAC money no
War in Iraq opposed
Troops in Iraq out as soon as safely possible
National Health Care supports
Raising the minimum wage supports living wage with different levels depending on where the worker lives
NAFTA/CAFTA opposed both
Alito confirmation to Supreme Court supports a filibuster

Alan Sandals (Democrat)
On abortion pro-choice
On stem cell research supports
Accepts PAC money yes
War in Iraq opposed
Troops in Iraq out as soon as safely possible
National Health Care supports
Raising the minimum wage supports
NAFTA/CAFTA opposed both
Alito confirmation to Supreme Court supports a filibuster

John Featherman (Republican)
On abortion pro-choice
On stem cell research supports
Accepts PAC money no
War in Iraq did support, but not since no WMD found
Troops in Iraq out as soon as safely possible
National Health Care opposed
Raising the minimum wage opposed
NAFTA/CAFTA support both
Alito confirmation to Supreme Court supports confirmation

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Rob Kall is executive editor, publisher and site architect of OpEdNews.com, Host of the Rob Kall Bottom Up Radio Show (WNJC 1360 AM), President of Futurehealth, Inc, (more...)

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