The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page A11

Saturday, October 30, 2004 THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER www.philly.com All CAMPAIGN 2004 Hoeffel still unknown to one-third of Pa. voters in poll GOP incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter is siphoning off votes from his challenger's Democratic base. fel, 50 percent to 35 percent. "The poll shows Specter is in the center where he has always been, and people know he is in the center where he has always been," Nicholas said.

On a series of issues, Specter often garnered more support than Hoeffel from across the political spectrum. For example, Specter earned a plurality among proponents and opponents of abortion and gun control. Linda Verani, a 37-year-old Bucks County school teacher, said she thought Specter had done a lot for Pennsylvania. But she also heard Hoeffel's line that Specter has supported Bush 89 percent of the time, and she did not like that. "The fact that he is close to George Bush scares me," said Verani, who will vote the straight Democratic ticket.

the more than half-million people added to the Pennsylvania voter-registration rolls since April intend to vote. The new registrants include 260,000 Democrats and 156,000 Republicans. "But almost all of the unknowns would have to break Hoeffel's way for him to win," Hagen said. The survey of 1,488 registered voters statewide had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points. Hoeffel's spotty presence on TV with commercials might be one reason he remained unknown to 36 percent of the electorate an improvement from the 51 percent who couldn't rate him in the September Temple Inquirer poll, but still high for the week before an election, Hagen said.

Hoeffel was largely off the air statewide for two days this week. Beth Hudson, a King of Prussia independent, is supporting Kerry as well as Specter, but partly because she hasn't heard enough about Hoeffel. She said she could not recall seeing Hoeffel's ads, but she has also been so overwhelmed by political commercials that "I tune them all out." "I know Arlen Specter," Hudson, 44, said. "I am satisfied with what he is doing." Hoeffel, speaking after a Philadelphia labor rally yesterday, said he remained hopeful because Pennsylvania challengers have traditionally closed wide polling gaps in the last days of campaigning. "Sen.

Specter has not put this election away," Hoeffel said. "He needs to be higher than that to survive what should be a Democratic wave on Tuesday with more straight-party voting than you may have seen in 25 to 30 years." Hoeffel contends Specter has more problems with Republicans than he does among Democrats, citing his narrow victory in the April Republican primary and the booing he has received during several Bush-Cheney ral- lies in Western Pennsylvania. One such Republican is James Harney, an Allegheny County poll respondent who intends to vote for the more conservative Clymer. "Specter is always on the Democratic side, going against the President," said Harney, 66, a salesman who backed Specter's primary challenger, U.S. Rep.

Patrick J. Toomey. "I am tired of his liberal leanings." But the poll didn't reflect deep GOP trouble for Specter. Seventy-two percent of Republicans polled said they favored Specter, 8 percent supported Hoeffel, and 10 percent backed Clymer. Among Democrats, 51 percent favored Hoeffel and 30 percent backed Specter.

Christopher Nicholas, Specter's campaign manager, said that as Specter has maintained his standing, Hoeffel lost support. In the last TempleInquirer survey, which did not poll for the minor-party candidates, Specter led Hoef By Carrie Budoff INQUIRER STAFF WRITER In the final week of the U.S. Senate race, U.S. Rep. Joseph M.

Hoeffel remained unknown to one-third of Pennsylvania voters and unable to lock down his Democratic base in his campaign to unseat Republican incumbent Arlen Specter, according to a new poll by Temple University and The Inquirer. The poll suggests that Specter continued to hold appeal among Democrats, despite Ho-effel's central message that the four-term senator had abandoned his moderate politics to become a loyal supporter of President Bush. Almost 30 percent of voters backing Democrat John Kerry planned to split their ticket for Specter, while only 5 percent supporting Bush would cross over for Hoeffel, the poll found. At the same time, Specter led in union households and the Philadelphia suburbs, part of which Hoeffel has represented in Congress since 1999. The poll, which was conducted over a six-day period that ended Wednesday, found 51 percent of likely voters favored Specter and 29 percent favored Hoeffel.

Five percent supported James Clymer of the Constitution Party, 3 percent backed Betsy Summers of the Libertarian Party, and 12 percent remain undecided. "Hoeffel is far behind with not much time to make up the ground," said Michael Hagen, an associate professor at Temple and director of the university's Institute for Public Affairs, which conducted the poll. Despite the large gap, several factors could change the outcome, Hagen said, such as how Contact staff writer Carrie Budoff at 610-313-8211 or cbudoffphillynews.com. Daschle straggles in close, Political Roundup Catholics urged to vote with church in mind expensive reelection bid The Senate minority leader is in the most watched race for the chamber. By Chet Brokaw DOUG DREYER Associated Press Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota makes a campaign stop at Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D.

He faces Republican John Thune, a former congressman. Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia and Bishop Joseph Galante of Camden issued pastoral statements this week urging Catholics who are always key swing voters in a presidential election to heed church teachings when they vote Tuesday. Special weight must be given to abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research, and other life issues, they said. "Catholic citizens must directly oppose the promotion of laws" that violate the church's life teachings, Rigali declared in the archdiocese newspaper issued Thursday. Galante went a step further, saying a Catholic's religious identity superseded his or her national identity.

Catholics may legitimately disagree on the justness of a war or the best remedies for poverty, Galante stated in his diocese's newspaper, but "abortion and euthanasia have unique status and must weigh more heavily on the Catholic conscience." Although President Bush's conservative stances are in accord with the church's on abortion and other life issues, the bishops did not mention Bush or Democrat John Kerry by name. David O'Reilly Aloha, Mr. Vice President Making a major detour on the campaign trail, Vice President Cheney tomorrow night will rally voters in Hawaii. The Bush-Cheney campaign says that Hawaii is within reach and that every electoral vote is worth fighting for in Hawaii's case, four electoral votes. "The polls look so good in Hawaii that we are going to drop in," Cheney told hundreds of cheering Republican volunteers yesterday morning in Wisconsin.

Gov. Linda Lingle, Hawaii's first Republican governor in four decades, said the Cheney visit was a response to polls showing the candidates neck and neck, a remarkable turn in a state that Democrat Al Gore won by 18 percentage points in 2000. During the campaign, no major national political figure has set foot in the state, 4,800 miles from Washington. Now, as Election Day approaches, former Vice President Gore was scheduled to be in Hawaii yesterday to appear with Kerry's daughter Alexandra for a get-out-the-vote rally. AP Bush camp drops '70s tune The Bush campaign abruptly stopped using the 1970s hit "Still the One" at campaign rallies yesterday after the songwriter, no fan of the President, said the Republicans never got permission.

John Hall, a former Democratic county legislator in Upstate New York, cowrote the song and recorded it with his band Orleans in 1976. He complained yesterday morning about the campaign's playing the song at the President's events. The cheery pop tune opened and ended a Bush campaign rally in New Hampshire yesterday but then vanished from the political playlist. "Out of deference to Mr. Hall's views, the song will no longer be played," Bush campaign spokeswoman Nicole Devenish said.

Hall wrote "Still the One" with his then-wife, Johanna D. Hall. The two, as well as surviving members of the band, are supporters of Sen. John Kerry. Upon learning of the campaign's decision to pull the song, Hall welcomed the news and said, "It's obviously attractive as a slogan, but this election should be about content and facts." AP Schilling sidelines himself World Series star Curt Schilling canceled a scheduled campaign appearance with President Bush yesterday.

An e-mailer identifying himself as Schilling posted a message on a fan Web site saying an ankle injury would prevent the Boston Red Sox pitcher from attending. "I am now not medically cleared to do anything until I see Doc on Sunday, so I cannot travel with President Bush," the message read. AP ASSOCIATED PRESS REDFIELD, S.D. In the nation's most dramatic and most expensive Senate race, Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota is scrambling to maintain his political life in a state that solidly supports President Bush. Daschle, 56, and Republican challenger John Thune, 43, a former congressman, had spent $26.3 million more than $50 for each of the state's 502,000 registered voters as of mid-October.

That does not include the millions of dollars being spent by outside groups, most of which oppose Daschle. The race is a dead heat. In many ways, it is a rerun of Thune's first try for the Senate in 2002, when he lost by just 524 votes to Tim Johnson, South Dakota's other Democratic senator. Many saw that race as a surrogate battle between Daschle and Bush, who helped recruit Thune. Daschle is a much juicier target as one of the most visible Democrats in government and the one in the best tactical position to block Bush's initiatives in a Senate now divided 51-49 in favor of the GOP.

Of the eight or nine pivotal races determining which party will control the Senate next year, South Dakota's is the most watched. Despite an unending string of attack ads on television, radio and in full-page newspaper spreads, both candidates agree that the contest is likely to be decided by who has the better get-out-the-vote effort. It could be decided on the state's nine Indian reservations, where Democrats have traditionally fared better than Republicans. "I believe this election, like the one two years ago, is going to be decided by a handful of votes," Thune said. "It's going to be a close election, so every single vote is going to matter." Election officials anticipate a record turnout of about has stayed away from South Dakota this year to focus on his own reelection.

To avoid retirement, Daschle once again needs significant support from Republicans in a state where the GOP has a 5-4 registration advantage. In speeches on the campaign trail, where crowds are often treated to pie and coffee, Daschle tells voters his position as his party's leader in the Senate has brought them water projects, highways and drought aid. "I sit at one of the most powerful desks in the world, and right now that desk belongs to the people of South Dakota," Daschle said in an interview. "Right now we're at the front of the line in the Senate, in the Congress. The question is whether we want to go to the back of the line or stay at the front." It's an argument many South Dakotans buy.

At Saks Family Restaurant, Ronald Nielson, a retired teacher and lifelong Republican, talked about how Daschle had helped get a grant to save Redfield's hospital and money to help build a footbridge in a town beautification project. "How can we give that position up?" Nielson said in introducing Daschle to a crowd of about 100 people. Thune counters that the election is not about clout but rather about which candidate represents the views of most South Dakotans. He tells supporters that Daschle has misused his clout to block Bush's judicial appointments and is out of touch with most South Dakotans on such issues as abortion, same-sex marriage and flag-burning. "Clout is a double-edged sword" with Daschle, Thune said.

"His arguments will be that somehow if we don't have him that we'll just fade into the sunset. The reality in my view is that any senator worth his salt is going to get their fair share of the federal dollars." 375,000 voters. Record numbers across the state have already cast absentee ballots. About 10,000 remained undecided in the campaign's final weeks. Daschle campaign staffers said they knew most of those persuadable voters by name, and had worked to get their votes.

Republican Party officials said about 7,000 volunteers and staff members would participate in the GOP's get-out-the-vote effort. Both sides point to precedents. The last party leader in the Senate to lose a reelection bid was Ernest McFarland of Arizona, a Democrat who was majority leader when Barry Goldwater turned him out of office in 1952. Republicans prefer to look back only to 1994, when voters in eastern Washington state took away Democratic House Speaker Thomas Foley's seat and the GOP gained control of the House for the first time in four decades. Bush campaigned for Thune four times two years ago but Pa.

extends absentee-ballot deadline; further extension sought who have accused him of trying to suppress the military vote. His main phone line has been swamped by more than 1,000 calls, prompted by conservative talk-show hosts who have urged listeners to complain. The volume has forced the administration to route calls to a recorded message explaining the governor's position on the issue, said Kate Philips, Rendell's press secretary. The Republican Party was exploiting the issue "big time to try and create the impression that Democrats don't care about the military," Rendell said in one of two conference calls with reporters yesterday. Judge Yvette Kane.

Although mired in the subtleties of arcane election law, the question of whether to extend the deadline came down to timing: How far back could the state push it and still certify election results by the Dec. 7 cutoff date? Counties had delayed sending absentee ballots overseas because of uncertainty over whether the courts would allow Ralph Nader to be a presidential candidate. Nonetheless, Rendell officials have said that all but two counties rural Huntingdon and Venango met a Sept. 20 deadline for those mailings. But many soldiers serving abroad have yet to receive ballots because of wartime postage delays, GOP officials have argued.

Under the agreement, overseas ballots postmarked on or before Nov. 2 will be counted as tion. Pennsylvania's 67 counties have sent about 26,700 absentee ballots overseas, but it is unclear how many were mailed to military personnel, who tend to vote Republican. Until yesterday, Rendell opposed moving the deadline, arguing that it would confuse voters and put undue burden on already overburdened county election boards. He had said he would support an extension if given evidence that military voters had not received their ballots on time.

Yesterday, he acknowledged that the situation with Reitz was just such proof. "We all stood up for that soldier's rights," the governor said. Attorneys for the Rendell administration and for the two soldiers hashed out the agreement during three hours of closed-door talks with U.S. District long as they reach their county election bureaus by 5 p.m. Nov.

10. Rendell's stance softened as the day progressed. In the early morning, he had offered to extend the deadline until Nov. 5, then, hours later, he offered Nov. 9, before eventually giving up one more day.

By settling on Nov. 10, the state leaves itself enough time to count the ballots and factor them into a new law triggering a recount in statewide races closer than half of one percentage point, said Mark Aronchick, a Philadelphia election-law expert hired by the Rendell administration. Yesterday's accord pertains only to votes cast for presidential candidates. The two sides have agreed to file an emergency request with Commonwealth Court to extend the deadline until Nov. 10 for state offices as BALLOTS from Al said they were pleased with the compromise, although it was unlikely it would allow their sons' votes to return home.

"I've accepted that fact, but I hope what we did will help others have their votes counted," said Susan Schramm, the mother of Matthew J. Schramm of Schwenksville, Montgomery County, who is serving in Kuwait. "We owe it to the rest of them. They have offered up their lives for us." Robert J. Reitz, the father of Steven J.

Reitz of Venango County, who is stationed in Iraq and who received his ballot Thursday, said, "We've done some good for our troops overseas." Before the agreement, overseas ballots had to be received by yesterday to be counted for all state offices and by Election Day for the presidential elec well. The settlement to the case comes nine days after Kane rejected a request by the U.S. Justice Department to extend the deadline by two weeks. Kane ruled at that time that federal lawyers failed to prove their case, in part because they never presented evidence that a single overseas voter would be harmed. Yesterday, she lauded the parents of the two soldiers for their persistence to "ensure that your young people are not disenfranchised." Attorneys for the father of an Army soldier from Altoona and Alan Novak, chairman of the Republican State Committee, filed a separate motion in Commonwealth Court late yesterday seeking a 30-day extension.

For more than a week, Rendell has come under intense pressure from GOP officials Contact staff writer Mario F. Cattabiani at 717-787-5990 or mcattabianiphillynews.com. Inquirer staff writers Nathan Gorenstein and John Sullivan contributed to this article..