May 1: What the polling tells us

It’s Wednesday. And the start of a new month. Four down.

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Happy Birthday. Cake and candles for Rep. Matt Cartwright.

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Between flesh and what’s fantasy and the poets down here
Don’t write nothing at all, they just stand back and let it all be.” – Jungleland

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Top Story

1. What Polling Can Tell You

“On Nov. 5, election officials across America will count more than 150 million ballots to answer a burning political question: Who will be president of the United States? Until then, the best signals we can get will mostly come from public opinion polls, which will be the fuel of endless debate on who has the lead, Democrat Joe Biden or Republican Donald Trump.

But what do polls really tell us? Like a picture from a weather satellite, a poll can be pretty good at telling you what people think right now. It’s much harder to tell what people will be doing weeks or months from now.” (Reuters)

• Voices of Reason, S1E3. The Science of Polling. (PoliticsPA)
• NPR Poll: Democrats Fear Fascism, And Republicans Worry About A Lack Of Values. (WQLN)

Related

Biden Administration to Greatly Ease Marijuana Regulations. “The Biden administration plans to remove marijuana from a list of the most dangerous and highly regulated drugs, the Department of Justice said Tuesday night. The Drug Enforcement Administration will propose moving the drug from a Schedule I substance, which also includes heroin and methamphetamine, to Schedule III, which is the category for regulated-but-legal drugs including testosterone and Tylenol with codeine.” (Penn Capital-Star)

U.S. House Passes Summer Lee Bill To Address Abandoned Oil And Gas Wells. “Legislation requiring the U.S. Energy Department to develop a program to identify, plug and clean up abandoned oil and gas wells passed the U.S. House overwhelmingly Tuesday.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Campus Protests Foment Fault Lines Between Democratic Lawmakers in PA. “Protests have taken place at institutions throughout the state, from the University of Pennsylvania and University of Pittsburgh, to smaller colleges such as Swarthmore and Dickinson. Two national figures – U.S. Sen. John Fetterman and U.S. Rep. Summer Lee – have found themselves on opposite sides of the issue that’s increasingly becoming both part of the nation’s political discourse and a source of party division.” (City & State)

Republicans Need To Stop Trying To Make ‘Independent Legislature Theory’ Happen. “The good people at the Democracy Docket call our attention to the work the Republicans in the Pennsylvania legislature are doing to revive yet another dead doctrine, this one so dead that even the carefully manufactured conservative majority on the Supreme Court declined to revive it.” (Esquire)

State

2. PA Moves to Join States That Punish Stalkers Who Use Bluetooth Devices

“Pennsylvania took a step Tuesday toward becoming the latest state to punish someone for using a Bluetooth-connected device to track someone without their permission.

The state House of Representatives voted 199-1 to approve legislation that would make using a tracking device to secretly track another person part of Pennsylvania’s laws against stalking. The crime would be punishable as a third-degree misdemeanor, or up to 90 days in jail.” (AP)

Related

3rd Circuit Rejects Request By Voting Rights Groups to Reargue Undated Ballots Case. “The federal appeals court that upheld Pennsylvania’s requirement for voters to write the date on mail-in ballots has declined a request by voting rights groups to reconsider the decision.” (Penn Capital-Star)

Shapiro Pushes Aside Politics to Help Martin’s Bring More ‘Darn Good Rolls’ to PA and Beyond. “Politics might make strange bedfellows, but after Gov. Josh Shapiro’s visit to Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe Inc. in Chambersburg on Tuesday you could add potato rolls and economic development to that adage.” (PennLive)

Cameras Are Banned From PA Courtrooms. How a Lawmaker is Trying to Change That. “State Rep. Jamie Flick is seeking cosponsors for a bill that could amend Rule 1910 of the Pennsylvania Code. State law now maintains that “judges shall prohibit broadcasting, televising, recording or taking photographs in the courtroom and areas immediately adjacent thereto during sessions of court or recesses between sessions.”” (Erie Times-News)

Advocates Call For Constitutional Amendment to Take ‘Dark Money’ Out of Politics. “Concerns about outsized influence of sometimes untraceable political donations drew a small group of people to the state Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday to call on Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to allow state and federal lawmakers to enact campaign finance regulations.” (PennLive)

Gun Rights Advocates Meet on PA Capitol Steps For Lawmakers’ Annual Second Amendment Rally. “Pete Kingsley, vice president of the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania, said his goal was the same as when he began attending the annual Second Amendment rally more than a decade ago — to urge state lawmakers to protect the right to bear arms.” (LNP)

Around The Commonwealth

3. Perry’s Democratic Opponent Stelson Thinks She Can Get Support From Republicans. She Used to Be One Herself

“Former news anchor Janelle Stelson, the Democratic nominee for Central Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District, said the primary did exactly what it was supposed to do.

“What it did, first of all, shows the desire to unseat Scott Perry, that so many people are willing to do such a hard thing,” she said of the crowded primary field.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Related

Walsh’s Lead Shrinks to Four Votes In State 117th House District Race. “As of Tuesday evening, Walsh’s lead stands at 4,728 to 4,724 in his bid to upset Cabell in their 117th House District Republican primary contest.” (WVIA)

After Stint as York County DA, Dave Sunday Sets His Sights on the Attorney General’s Office. “In contrast to the overall tenor of his party, Attorney General nominee Dave Sunday is trying to strike a friendlier tone of accountability and redemption.” (York Dispatch)

Lawmaker Urges PIAA to Separate ‘Boundary, Non-Boundary’ Schools For State Playoffs. “Ultimately, under the bill proposal, the PIAA board would vote on whether to establish separate postseasons for traditional public schools with established geographic boundaries and for private schools, including Catholic and public charter schools, with no geographic bounds.” (CNHI News)

PA House Advances Measure to Give Counties More Time to Prep Mail Ballots Before Elections. “The latest push to give counties extra time to “pre-canvass” mail ballots before an election advanced in the state House on Tuesday as election directors anticipate a presidential election with huge numbers of those ballots.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Editorial

4. What’s On Your Mind

• I Am An Organizer In Pennsylvania. Instagram’s New Policy Threatens Young People In An Age Of Low Youth Participation In Politics. (Jacob Fuller)
• Pennsylvania’s Permitting System Is Broken, and Gov. Shapiro Needs To Fix It. (Erik Telford)
• The $67 Court Fee We Refuse To Pay. (Broad + Liberty)
• In Pittsburgh, A Small Race Offers A Big Lesson. (Joseph Sabino Mistick)

1 Thing

5. A New Day For An Old Game – Bingo

“Bingo is taking the urban nightlife scene by storm, vaulting from a stodgy Rotary Club favorite to the centerpiece of alcohol-and-nacho fueled dance parties.

Why it matters: “Eatertainment” has become the hottest new restaurant trend since the pandemic.

Driving the news: Bingo-themed nightclubs, raves and pop-up parties are showing up in cities nationwide, strewing confetti on partygoers as they giddily dot their bingo boards (“B15!”).” (Axios)

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