This is WESA Politics, a weekly newsletter by Chris Potter that provides analysis on Pittsburgh and state politics. If you’d like it sooner, sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox on Thursday afternoon.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Western Pennsylvania is now the center of the political world. But as a political reporter, I was recently reminded that, as the Big Bang Theory teaches us, the center of the universe is where everyone and everything is fleeing as quickly as possible. And on weeks like this, when each candidate announces plans for a visit almost at the same time the other candidate takes the stage, I think I’m jealous of a galaxy far, far away.
Still, thanks to Democratic Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump’s local visits this week, our position in the space-time continuum has given us a unique opportunity to observe both presidential candidates. Here are some points.
Same region, different world
Trump’s trips here typically involve visiting more rural or industrialized areas outside of Pittsburgh, as was the case with Monday’s trip to Indiana, Pennsylvania. By contrast, Democrats have made inroads in these areas in the past month or two, but when it came time for policy speeches this week, Ms. Harris returned to friendlier territory on Carnegie Mellon University’s campus. The different settings reflect the different stories told by the candidates. While Mr. Trump’s pitch is based on the appeal of returning the country to its storied past, Ms. Harris emphasizes the need to prepare the country for an admittedly uncertain future.
Both visions aim to revitalize U.S. manufacturing, but President Trump’s approach relies heavily on tax cuts, a “drill baby drill” energy policy, and high tariffs across the board on imports. Harris argues that the tariff costs are equivalent to a sales tax because they are added to the price. She instead seeks to incentivize certain types of production by using tax incentives to encourage green energy and other industries.
So during her visit, Harris touted federal support for Eos, a Turtle Creek battery maker that fits squarely into the green energy model. Meanwhile, President Trump visited Smithton in Westmoreland County and heard concerns about solar panel farms displacing conventional agriculture.
Good politicians borrow, great politicians steal.
After Harris’ speech, Trump accused her of “stealing” one of his policies, which was to remove college degree requirements from federal jobs as a way to expand opportunities for working-class Americans. did. This follows earlier criticism of Harris for “copying” her idea of not taxing tips.
That’s natural. As president, Trump tried to reduce the number of jobs that require a college degree four years ago. And this year, he is the first to propose not taxing tips.
Whether anyone cares is another matter. And it’s a bit of a mixed message to say, “My enemy is a Marxist who is destroying America, and she’s stealing my ideas!” Especially if Marxists can say, “Fight back.”
While in Indiana, President Trump briefly reiterated his proposal to cap credit card interest rates at 10%. As Western Pennsylvania native Mark Cuban pointed out, this is a stricter restriction than Bernie Sanders proposed. President Trump has said his cap will be temporary, but it is part of his broader restructuring of the Republican Party.
While the party once emphasized a laissez-faire approach to trade and business practices, Mr. Trump and his allies have pursued “woke politics” and cheap labor overseas, from Disney to John Deere. They are happy to talk about punishing those who did it.
But ideological flexibility, or what Harris calls “pragmatism,” is part of politics. In 2022, when President Trump endorsed Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz’s candidacy for the Senate, he criticized his rival, Dave McCormick, as a “special interest candidate and globalist.” In Indiana this week, President Trump praised McCormick’s efforts to defeat Bob Casey this fall.
“I love this man,” Trump told the audience, who stood to give McCormick a standing ovation. “He’s a military hero and a business hero.”
Too much or not enough?
Harris’ reputation was that her campaign was light on policy. And until this week, that was the case with her visit to Pittsburgh, which focused on camera-friendly appearances at Primanti’s and the Strip District. Her campaign says the fact that voters haven’t had a chance to get to know her is part of the challenge she faces, given that she has become the front-runner to replace Joe Biden. It’s telling a story.
His speech this week provided some policy details, which are detailed here, but some reporters criticized him for offering few new proposals. Many of the proposals Harris discussed, such as expanding child care credits for newborns, had already been announced. Many of her economic approaches expand on ideas proposed by Biden, but she did not mention them by name. Nor did he mention hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, which he opposed several years ago.
Mr. Harris has since relinquished his position, and the industry has actually performed well over the past few years. She could make the case again, but sometimes it’s better to just stop talking.
This is a lesson that President Trump is struggling with, especially when it comes to overturning abortion rights orchestrated in part by his Supreme Court appointees. Last week, observers eagerly watched an all-caps social media post that claimed that if Trump were re-elected, “women will be happy, healthy, confident, and free!” You will no longer think about abortion. But he echoed the same message in Indiana, adding that if he wins in November, women voters “will no longer feel anxious about all the problems that our country has today.” “You will be protected and I will be your guardian.”
The audience applauded these sentiments, but it’s hard to imagine they’ll help voters outside the auditorium. A recent Monmouth University poll found that 57% of Pennsylvania voters had more confidence in Harris on this issue, compared to 39% who said they had more confidence in Trump. This is a much larger trust gap than the one that supports Trump on issues like the economy and immigration.
In any case, that doesn’t mean Harris and Trump won’t have another chance to address such issues. There’s still a month and a half left, but Trump is already scheduled to return to the region on October 5th.
