BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Every Tuesday, Chris Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, sits down with LehighValleyNews.com politics reporter Tom Shortell for Lehigh Valley Political Pulse on WLVR.
They discuss the latest trends emerging from science-based polls to break down local, state and national campaigns and issues.
This week, Shortell and Borick discuss the course of the upcoming election — from President Joe Biden dropping out to divisive ads and highly contested local races.
"The number of historic events that we've seen over this year has been incredible," Borick said.
The two talked about how Vice President Kamala Harris secured the Democratic nomination shortly after before shifting perspective to former President Donald Trump's supportive voters, despite being impeached twice.
"Donald Trump defies all the classic rules and gravity of politics, right?" Borick said. "He's been able to turn things on their head in ways... I can't count how many times I said, 'Well, that would have killed another candidacy,' and it didn't kill Donald Trump's candidacy. In fact, he's been able to navigate things that, again, are deadly historically for candidates."
And, another Republican challenger seems to be having an equally competitive race; Dave McCormick is locked in a tight battle against incumbent Democrat Bob Casey for senate.
Still, "incumbents are able to usually raise a lot more money, significantly amounts," Borick said, noting U.S. Rep. Susan Wild's political spending over Republican candidate Ryan Mackenzie. The two have a spending gap of several million dollars LehighValleyNews.com reported.
Political Pulse airs throughout the day Tuesdays on 91.3 WLVR. You can listen to an extended version of the conversation by clicking the listen button above.
