News & Brews October 11, 2024
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About that ‘poll’ on the Dems’ agenda
A few days ago, Spotlight PA ran a story with the headline, “As Democrat fight to keep control of the Pa. House, poll shows their agenda is popular.” Sounds very scientific, right? Not so fast. Turns out the “poll” in question never bothered to ask about the House Republicans’ agenda—or about the agenda of the Senate Republicans who control that chamber. Broad + Liberty reports that this is just one of the poll’s problems. Beyond this, the so-called “poll” also engages in what’s known as “double-barrel bias,” which, as the story explains, “occurs when you ask someone about multiple issues, but only give them the ability to provide a single answer.” But wait, there’s more! You’ll also find “question-order bias” in the poll. which involves asking one question the answer to which may skew a respondent’s answer to a following question. In short, the poll was little more than a Democrat media campaign disguised as research.
Obama heads to Pa. to court Black men for Harris
Former President Barack Obama came to Pittsburgh yesterday in an effort to help Kamala Harris gain support among Black men—a demographic from whom some Democrats are concerned Harris isn’t getting as much support as she needs. Obama also played the gender card to try to build opposition to Trump. Obama, of course, was key to kicking Biden off the presidential ticket. (Or, as the AP spins it, “Obama was among the key Democrats who were part of a behind-the-scenes effort to encourage Biden, his former vice president, to drop out of the 2024 race.”) Ah, “encourage.”
Political donations, no-bid contracts, and transparency
Spotlight PA reports on a little-known provision in Pennsylvania’s Election Code that requires companies that receive no-bid government contracts “to report campaign contributions by owners and employees.” While this info must be reported, however, the Department of State does not make it available online. Instead, accessing it requires requesting it directly from the Department. (Of course, even the reports that the Department of State DOES make available online often aren’t made available in a timely manner, with the public sometime having to wait weeks for campaign finance reports that have already been submitted to be posted online. So there’s that.)
Shapiro joins Harris bus tour
Fresh off the least productive legislative session in years. Gov. Shapiro is going on tour—a battleground bus tour, that is. The Hill reports that Shapiro will join Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers for a Blue Wall bus tour to build support for Harris. Will it work? We’ll see.
Judge blocks Penn State from removing trustee
A few months ago, I shared that a Penn State trustee was “suing the board for allegedly withholding information about how the university manages its $4.6 billion endowment.” Now, a Centre County judge is blocking the board’s attempt to remove the trustee, calling it “retaliatory.” The attempt is reportedly for a different alleged offense. But the judge wrote, “Allowing his removal would re-cast a shadow over the financial operations of defendants, to the detriment of every PSU (Penn State University) stakeholder except those at the very top of PSU’s hierarchy.”