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MCAP Poll: Santorum Losing Momentum in PA

By Danielle Ardner, Contributing Writer

Erie – Rick Santorum’s lead over Mitt Romney in Pennsylvania has slipped to six points, according to the latest poll by the Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics (MCAP).

MCAP surveyed 425 registered Republicans living in Pennsylvania and found that 37 percent support for Santorum, while 31 percent would give their vote to Romney. Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich garnered ten and nine percent of the hypothetical drawing, respectively.

“The 6 percentage point lead suggests a tightening race with a month to go before the Pennsylvania primary, and the difference between the two candidates is within the poll’s margin of error,” MCAP Director Dr. Joseph Morris stated.

50 percent of respondents believe that Romney has the advantage to defeat President Obama in November, compared to 24 percent for Santorum.  At the same time, 49 percent of Republicans believe that the lengthy nomination process has diminished the GOP’s ability to contend with the President.

Though a strong majority (69 percent) of those polled self-identified as conservative, 83 percent said it would be very or somewhat important for a Republican president to be willing to compromise on important issues.  The survey also found that 53 percent of those polled believe it is more important “to compromise with the other party if it is necessary to get things done,” than to “stick to his principles, no matter what” (41 percent).

Respondents were asked to choose one word to describe the GOP hopefuls: “intelligent” (22) for Gingrich, “old” (18) for Paul, “businessman” (12) for Romney, and “conservative” (45) for Santorum. Romney was also described as “moderate” (10), “rich” (9), and “arrogant” (9), while Santorum was characterized with “honest” (24), “moral” (11), and “good” (9).

The survey found that the economy and health care were the top issues on the minds of registered GOP voters in the Keystone State.

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