NEWS AND OPINION:

Sen. Bernie Sanders has reaffirmed his support for Vice President Kamala Harris and her quest to become president. The Vermont independent, who endorsed Ms. Harris in August, has followed up with a statement issued through Our Revolution, a grassroots political action organization he founded after the 2016 presidential election.

“As polls in Pennsylvania remain deadlocked, every ounce of grassroots organizing will make a difference in the critical battleground state,” Mr. Sanders said in a new public outreach shared with Inside the Beltway.

“Our organizers are hearing from voters in Pennsylvania who are underwhelmed with Vice President Harris’ policy platform and may stay home on Election Day. But we’re having conversations, changing minds, and mobilizing these voters in pivotal Pennsylvania counties,” the self-proclaimed democratic socialist said.

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“Both Vice President Harris and Donald Trump were just in Pennsylvania because this could be the deciding state in November. With the polls so tight and Democrats losing the sizable voter registration edge they’ve had in Pennsylvania for decades, Kamala Harris could have a Pennsylvania problem,” Mr. Sanders continued.

“Our organizers and volunteers are hard at work. Our conversations are having a real impact on getting voters to the polls and mailing in their ballots, but we can only make sure our swing state organizing blitz reaches as many voters as possible with your grassroots support,” Mr. Sanders said.

“We can’t let the enthusiasm gap Harris is facing lead to a Trump victory. We must organize, organize, organize over these last few weeks and defeat Trump once and for all. When we organize, we win,” he concluded.

BUSY, BUSY TRUMP

In the meantime, Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump will continue on the campaign trail in the coming days, appearing at major venues in multiple cities.

He’ll be in Detroit on Friday, at Huntington Place — a 2.4 million-square-foot convention center. Come Saturday, Mr. Trump heads to Latrobe, Pennsylvania, to appear at a regional airport.

The candidate takes a rest Sunday, then is set to appear Monday at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, specifically at the “cozy 7,100-seat” Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

His campaign offers this written statement on the event: “Tar Heel State residents are feeling the pain of Kamala Harris and the Democrats’ reckless inflationary spending. Over half of North Carolinians say inflation has drastically impacted their spending this year, with 50.2% identifying it as the top issue facing their state.”

“Since Kamala Harris took office, prices have soared by 21.8%, costing families in North Carolina an extra $1,000 per month. The average Tar Heel family has already lost nearly $28,000 just to keep up with the soaring cost of living under Harris,” it said.

There’s more.

“North Carolinians are being squeezed at every turn, paying more for everything in their daily lives. North Carolina families are paying over $100 more on food every single month, and since January 2021, they’ve spent over $3,200 more just to put food on the table. Housing is becoming increasingly out of reach, with home prices jumping a staggering 40 percent since Harris took office — climbing from an average of $240,374 to $335,760,” the statement declared.

THE PODCAST FACTOR

Do you listen to political podcasts? Their appeal is growing — and their popularity closely monitored.

Triton Digital — a New York-based technology and services provider to the digital audio, podcast and broadcast radio industries — has released its latest “U.S. Podcast Ranker,” which is based on podcast downloads and audience trends across the nation.

“In addition to regular monthly reporting, Triton Digital collaborated with Signal Hill Insights to take a closer look at political podcast downloads and audience trends as the U.S. presidential election approaches,” the company said in a written report.

“The data shows that political podcasts have seen a 28% increase in year-over-year downloads,” it said.

There are trends that the Republican Party might want to monitor.

“Twice as many downloads come from Democrat-leaning podcasts as Republican-leaning ones. Although Democrat-leaning podcasts still make up the majority of the political podcast market, they saw their listenership decline from 58% to 56% year-over-year while Republican podcasts rose from 23% to 28% of total political podcast downloads,” the report said.

“The demographic profile of political podcast listeners reveals an older, highly educated, and affluent audience compared to the US general 18+ population: 59.7% are college graduates, 31.9% report a household income exceeding $100,000, and nearly half (47.2%) are 55 years or older,” the report said.

More on this soon.

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POLL DU JOUR

• 42% of U.S. adults think the U.S. economy will “get better” if Donald Trump is elected president.

• 84% of Republicans, 36% of independents and 9% of Democrats agree; 45% of men and 39% of women also agree.

• 11% overall think the economy will “stay the same” if he is elected.

• 6% of Republicans, 11% of independents and 16% of Democrats agree; 13% of men and 9% of women also agree.

• 36% overall say the economy will “get worse” if he is elected.

• 7% of Republicans, 33% of independents and 68% of Democrats agree; 34% of men and 38% of women also agree.

• 11% overall are not sure about the matter.

• 3% of Republicans, 20% of independents and 8% of Democrats agree; 7% of men and 14% of women also agree.

SOURCE: An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,624 U.S. adults conducted online Oct. 12-15.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin, on Facebook @HarperUniverse. Thanks for reading and have a good weekend.