Oh, Frack

After catching every light and cruising towards the presidency, the Biden campaign has hit an oil slick. Towards the end of Thursday's debate Biden awkwardly discussed transitioning from oil and fracking.  The campaign immediately began environmental cleanup, but the damage had been done.

The first quality post debate polls are in for Pennsylvania and Texas.  Sienna has Biden down 4 in Texas, more importantly, Insider Advantage has Biden down 2 in Pennsylvania.  Texas is not a shock, but this is the first reputable keystone state poll to show Trump ahead.  Only more polling will tell us if this is an outlier or a harbinger.  

The Answer

 Desperate to change the subject from the virus, the Trump campaign has focused on so called "court packing."  The media has joined the fray, and the Biden campaign has struggled for an answer.

Let me suggest an answer for Biden:  "I favor tradition, and will not propose adding justices to the Supreme Court.  But that is not a complete answer to your question.  If the House and the Senate seek to restore ideological balance to the court, will I veto their bill?

Judge Barrett has stated she would have voted to eliminate protection for pre-existing conditions, and to take away insurance for 20 million Americans.  She may follow her strong ideological bent, and refuse to honor precedent on gay marriage, and choice.   I will refrain from vetoing the bill if, and only if, restoring moderation on the court is the only way to protect healthcare and other fundamental rights."

The Orphan Party

The Pennsylvania Republican party is like the child who, having killed his parents, seeks clemency because he is an orphan.  

Counting mail-in ballots is labor intensive.  They must be removed from the envelope, signatures verified, checked for completeness, and then loaded into the vote counting machine.  That is why many states, like Florida and Colorado, allow early processing.  Early processing is critical with the pandemic amplified mail-in ballot surge.

Eagerly getting into the sickbed with Trump, the Pennsylvania Republican controlled legislature has festered fears of fraudulent ballots, particularly those that are not counted on election day.  They voted for an "election integrity committee" with broad powers.

To ensure the committee has ample opportunity to parlay paranoia, the GOP ensured that counting would take weeks.  They blocked any and all proposals to allow early processing of ballots.  Hopefully few voters will endorse adoption of this orphan party.