asked in This week’s candidate debate Democratic Rep. Marie Grusenkamp Perez didn’t hold back when it came to President Biden’s border policies.

“The Biden administration’s commitment to failing border security policies is key to Congressional action on this issue,” she said. “Wanting to secure the southern border is not racist.”

The day before, Democratic House candidate Janelle Stelson made similar direct remarks. her argument Asked if Biden’s border efforts have failed, he said:

“Yes. I think they didn’t act quickly enough,” she said.

“We have to secure our borders,” Stelson added. “We need to bring back the people who crossed illegally.”

And here, Democratic candidate Kirsten Engel answers a similar question. her argument:

“President Biden? Let’s be real, he was slow to realize how much of a crisis it was,” she said. “We need to secure our borders.”

Issues of greatest concern to voters nationally

Mr. Perez represents a district in southwest Washington. Mr. Stelson is seeking to unseat a six-term Republican incumbent in central Pennsylvania. Mr. Engel wants to unseat a freshman Republican lawmaker in southern Arizona. All three races are among the closest in the country.

The districts are thousands of miles apart and have vastly different politics and demographics. But listeners tuning in to this week’s candidate debates may easily lose track of who’s who.

As the late House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill Jr. famously said, “All politics is local.” Forty years later, almost the opposite is true.

Local questions still come up from time to time. Mr. Perez and his opponent, Joe Kent, disagree about plans to rebuild the Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River. Engel and his opponent, Republican Rep. Juan Siscomani, briefly discussed water policy.

But a combination of the decline of local news, the nationalization of grassroots fundraising, the growing power of party leaders in Congress, and the intense polarization of politics has marginalized regional differences.

Democrats shift across borders

Instead, the campaign is now focusing on smaller national issues, this year primarily on the cost of living, abortion and border issues. Candidates are guided by party strategists, using party-funded polls to test messages about electoral effectiveness, and end up addressing issues using much the same language.

That’s why Democratic candidates in battleground states are embracing tough border security measures and efforts to limit asylum applications.

Their position borrows strategies used by Democratic Congressman Tom Suozzi to win elections. Hotly contested special election in suburban Long Island, New York They are a sharp departure from the elections the party’s candidates took earlier this year through 2020.

This has caused frustration among immigration advocates, who say Democrats mistakenly accepted the Republican framework on border issues and adopted policies that create more hardship for immigrants. But the shifts match movements of public opinionthere has been far less sympathy for immigrants during Biden’s term.

Nationalizing parliamentary elections and changing border policy are two of the lessons learned from six parliamentary debates broadcast over the past week. Provided by C-SPANmostly rebroadcast.

Extreme candidates could undermine the Republican Party

Another is that Republican primary voters are choosing to field extremist candidates in some battleground districts, continuing to hamper the party’s chances of maintaining a House majority. .

Mr. Perez’s Vancouver area in southwest Washington has been one of the clearest examples this year.

This district leans Republican. Trump led the district by 8 points in 2016 and 4 points in 2020, but Perez did well in 2022, defeating Kent 50% to 49%.

Kent, a former Army Special Forces officer, was a polarizing candidate, defeating a moderate Republican incumbent in the primary that year. He participated in demonstrations on behalf of people who were convicted or accused. Storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021supported many of his followers in calling for Anthony Fauci to be charged with murder. President Vladimir Putin’s claims For the invasion of Ukraine.

National Republican leaders had hoped that another Republican would replace Kent as the party’s nominee this time around, but Kent easily made it through the state’s top two primaries, vying with Perez. A rematch was set.

During the debate, she highlighted his inflammatory statements.

On immigration, for example, Mr. Perez used what is now the standard Democratic line, whereas the Republican This year, we killed a bipartisan border security bill in honor of President Trump.. Democrats say the former president wants to keep the border in crisis and would prefer to make it a campaign issue.

“Joe [Kent] And his allies supported killing the most conservative, bipartisan immigration bill in a generation,” she said.

But she went a step further, noting that at a town hall two years ago, Kent appeared to agree with a right-wing questioner who had called for a second question. Total entry ban for 20 years This is to prevent the “population turnover” that is occurring.

Kent “wants a white majority. I want a secure border,” Perez said.

In response, Kent denied supporting a white majority, but supported mass deportations of immigrants within the country without legal authorization.

He also reiterated his call for an end to aid to Ukraine, saying U.S. funding is only prolonging the war and bringing humanity “closer than ever to World War III.” .

Newscaster confronts former Freedom Caucus leader

On the other side of the country, in south-central Pennsylvania, Republicans face a similar dynamic with incumbent U.S. Rep. Scott Perry.

Perry, a former leader of the House Freedom Caucus, is one of the few members of the far-right group to represent a closely divided district rather than one that is solidly Republican.

Perry has been elected five times since first being elected in 2012, but his district has become more Democratic in recent years. Republicans are losing ground on the outskirts of Harrisburg, the state capital, and across the Susquehanna River to the west, while Cumberland County’s population is growing and Democratic voters are increasing.

As the neighborhood changed, Perry felt increasingly out of place.

According to the House committee that investigated the January 6 riot, he played a key role in: Meeting with President Trump’s advisors on efforts to overthrow 2020 election results. In 2022, FBI agents seized his cell phone. as part of an investigation into election conspiracy. In 2023, he became one of 20 far-right members after Republicans took control of the House majority. Repeatedly postponed Congressman Kevin McCarthy’s election as a speaker.

His opponent, Stelson, worked as a television reporter and anchor for area television stations for 38 years. This made her widely known and well-liked.

“Viewers have come to see me as a trusted bipartisan voice,” she said in the debate, with Mr. Perry, whom she characterized as the “main obstructionist” in a Congress that has achieved little. contrasted with his own realism.

dobbs long shadow

Stelson, a former registered Republican, said he decided to run after the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organizationoverturning Roe v. Wade; ended the national guarantee of the right to abortion;.

Stelson repeatedly berated Perry for supporting him in the past. Nationwide ban on abortion without exception.

The decision to terminate a pregnancy should be left to the woman and her doctor, she said.

“There’s no reason Scott Pelley knows more than they do about what to do with his body in his most intimate decisions.”

Perry said he supported exceptions in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the life of a pregnant person, but “keep in mind that there are two lives at risk here.” “There is a need,” he added.

“I am a staunch defender of the sanctity of life,” he said.

This week’s debates featured similar exchanges surrounding abortion, highlighting how it is practiced. Changes in public opinion since the Dobbs decision Both sides’ approaches to the issue have changed.

Democrats move left on abortion

Dobbs faces backlash in 2022 midterm elections supported the Democratic Party’s victory In battleground states.

At the time, many Republican candidates were unhappy about this issue. This time, they mainly Trump supporter positionupheld the high court’s decision and said decisions surrounding abortion should be made at the state level, not nationally.

Democrats have tried to convince voters that such statements cannot be trusted and that if Democrats win a majority, Republicans will seek to restrict abortion nationwide.

Republicans counter that Democrats do not agree with any restrictions on when abortions should be allowed, and that opponents are the true extremists.

Democrats have previously avoided discussing so-called late-term abortions, or abortions performed after 24 weeks of pregnancy, typically due to fatal fetal abnormalities or risks to the woman’s life. They account for less than 1% of all abortions in the United States.

Democrats are now more comfortable resisting Republican efforts to impose restrictions.

“There is no timetable. A pregnancy can go bad at any time,” Engel said during the debate, clarifying a view that is becoming increasingly widespread within the party.

“Women are dying” because of state laws restricting abortion, she said. And even if those laws have exceptions that allow abortion under certain circumstances, “those exceptions do not work.”

“This is not something that should be left to politicians.”

Abortion, immigration, inflation: If polls are accurate, the two countries fought to a near tie on these issues. On average, Democratic Party maintains almost 1 point advantage When a poll asked voters which party they wanted to control Congress after this election.

There are still enough races left to decide which party will win a majority in the House. However, as the country moves toward an increasingly parliamentary system that prioritizes local issues, here is a prediction. Whichever party wins the White House will likely control the House of Representatives as well.

What else should I read?

This week’s poll: Nearly 7 in 10 Medicare beneficiaries did not compare plans during Medicare’s open enrollment period.

saturday reading: Viral graphs about the gender gap don’t tell the whole story

LA Times Feature: Harris leads Trump in California, but support among Latinos is softening, poll shows

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