I
reported two weeks ago today that Rep. Melissa Hart, Rick Santorum's evil twin sister in Pennsylvania's 4th Congressional District, conducted a poll 3 weeks earlier (5, at this point) but had yet to release the results.
Now we know why: she is petrified of what she found.
According to a new poll conducted for Jason Altmire, Hart's Democratic challenger, by Anzalone-Liszt Research, Altmire is now at 48-44 - in favor of Hart, but within the 4.9% margin of error.
This is truly a remarkable turn of events. As I've explained in previous posts, there were some early indications that this could be a real race, including a poll a few months ago that put the contest at 55-39 in Hart's favor. That result came despite Altmire running no media ads (YET) and having little name recognition outside of local Pa. political circles.
However, Altmire has been waging a fierce -- and very traditional -- ground war, meeting with local leaders and canvassing key neighborhoods throughout the entire district.
But Altmire has been bringing in some good money. He had a good last quarter and my understanding is that he is continuing to bring in money - even from some Republicans - at an excellent clip.
In the very near future, that money will be used to start whatever kind of media blitz can be bought with the money he has on hand - which, admittedly, will be significantly less than what Hart will have in her coffers.
The most important point here is this: For the first time since she was elected to the House, Hart has a real race on her hands. And that's a very sad statement, because the majority of registered voters in PA-04 are Democrats.
BUT, it also means that, with a respectable amount of money and some committed volunteers, Altmire can get out the Democratic vote and win this election.
Altmire has serious health care expertise, including having served on President Clinton's health care task force in the early 1990s. To enter this race, he quit what was likely a darn good paying gig as the chief government/community relations guy for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the largest health care organization in western Pa. by far. Pittsburgh is a small city. Gigs like that are few and far between here. So Altmire's in it to win it.
Altmire is pro-life, but strongly in favor of greater funding for embryonic stem cell research, and for moving toward universal health care. While he has not been as outspoken on Iraq as I'd say most of us might like, when he does talk about it, he hits all of the right notes.
The last financial reporting cycle ends on Sept. 30. So if you're on ActBlue and you have an extra $10 or $20 (or more!), throw it Jason Altmire's way. Given these most recent poll results, it may send one more rubber stamper packing.