Poll: Casey sitting pretty

Things look good, 2 1/2 years out, for Bob Casey's reelection, says Public Policy Polling:

If Republicans want to beat Bob Casey for reelection in 2012 they're going to have to look somewhere other than Rick Santorum for a candidate. Casey leads Santorum 51-39 in a hypothetical rematch of their 2006 contest, an impressive performance given the very tough political climate for Democrats.

There are two particular signs of strength that bode well for Casey regardless of who his opponent in two years is. He wins 18% of the Republican vote, much more crossover support than just about any Democrat in the country right now is showing. And he leads Santorum 41-32 with independents, a strong contrast from the 41-21 deficit fellow Democrat Joe Sestak faces against Pat Toomey with unaffiliated voters right now.

For those wondering about PPP's poll performance, Nate Silver gave them a pretty good ranking in his evaluations a couple weeks back.