Spiegel Stuff: The Hill’s Campaign Report: Democrats zero in on health care as Obamacare lawsuit nears key deadline

Thursday, June 25, 2020

The Hill’s Campaign Report: Democrats zero in on health care as Obamacare lawsuit nears key deadline

Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, your daily rundown on all the latest news in the 2020 presidential, Senate and House races. Did someone forward this to you? Click here to subscribe.

We’re Julia Manchester, Max Greenwood and Jonathan Easley. Here’s what we’re watching today on the campaign trail.

LEADING THE DAY: Trump, Biden battle over Pennsylvania

President Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Thursday turned their attention to voters in Pennsylvania, a critical battleground state that will play a major role in determining who wins the White House in 2020.

Biden traveled to Lancaster, Penn., to hammer Trump on health care. The Trump campaign swung back, accusing Biden of supporting energy policies that would devastate the state’s economy.

In his speech from the Pennsylvania city, Biden hammered the Trump administration, which faces a deadline today to file a legal brief in a case that aims to dismantle ObamaCare.

The former vice president focused heavily on the coronavirus, as Texas, Arizona and Florida struggle to contain new and serious outbreaks.

“If Donald Trump prevails in court, insurers would be allowed to strip away coverage or jack up premiums — simply because of their battle with the coronavirus," Biden said. "Those survivors, having struggled and won the fight of their lives, would have their peace of mind stolen away at the moment they need it most. They would live their lives caught in a vise between Donald Trump’s twin legacies: his failure to protect the American people from the coronavirus, and his heartless crusade to take health care protections away from American families," he continued.

Meanwhile, Priorities USA, the largest Democratic super PAC, released an ad on Thursday attacking Trump over his efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

The Trump campaign sought to turn the focus on a local issue in Pennsylvania, blasting Biden for a “war on fracking” it said would cost Pennsylvanians more than a half-million jobs.

“There’s a reason why Biden oversaw the worst economic 'recovery' since the Great Depression – he just doesn’t get it," the campaign said. "

"Biden cannot both embrace the radical left’s crusade to ban fossil fuels while simultaneously promising Pennsylvania’s fracking workers that their jobs are safe. That contradiction explains in part why Joe Biden hasn’t held a press conference in 84 days: he has no good answer.”

In 2016, Trump famously became the first Republican presidential nominee to turn the state red since 1988. Biden has opened up a 6 point lead in the Keystone State, according to the RealClearPolitics average.

— Jonathan Easley

READ MORE:

Biden hits Trump over 'heartless' assault on ObamaCare during pandemic, by The Hill's Peter Sullivan

Democratic super PAC launches new ad blasting Trump for 'trying to end' ObamaCare, by The Hill's J. Edward Moreno

Few people have voted by mail nationwide but popularity is rising: study, by J. Edward Moreno

Lincoln Project releases new pro-Biden ad in swing states, by The Hill's Rebecca Klar

GOP candidate says his NC win not a referendum on Trump, by The Hill's Justine Coleman

FROM THE TRAIL:

Republicans say President Trump should make a course correction and shift his strategy after a series of dismal polls showed him badly trailing presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports.

Biden is expanding his campaign team in North Carolina, Wisconsin and Nevada. Democrats are eager to flip North Carolina and Wisconsin back to blue after Trump won both states in 2016. They’re also fighting to maintain their edge in Nevada, after Hillary Clinton won the state by only 2 points in 2016. The Hill’s Tal Axelrod reports.

Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and a 2016 candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, said that she plans to vote for Biden in November, insisting that she cannot support Trump but would not vote for a third-party candidate. “I’ve been very clear that I can’t support Donald Trump,” Fiorina said in an interview on The Atlantic’s “The Ticket” podcast. “And elections are binary choices.” Tal Reports.

Biden is poised to accept the Democratic party’s nomination in Milwaukee at a scaled-back convention amid the coronavirus pandemic. Rebecca reports.

CONGRESS AND THE STATES:

Charles Booker has taken the statewide lead in Kentucky’s contested Democratic Senate primary, pulling ahead of longtime frontrunner Amy McGrath after the latest update to the vote count (per The New York Times). The state lawmaker and progressive-backed Senate hopeful now leads McGrath 43.5 percent to 40 percent.

The conservative Club for Growth is flexing its financial muscle this year, doling out millions of dollars to conservative congressional candidates and outspending most other outside groups as it looks to help the GOP keep control of the Senate and improve Republican chances in the House. Tal reports.

PERSPECTIVES:

Steve Israel: “New York primary elections signify next generation of political leaders”

Mark Rozell and Paul Goldman: “Why Joe Biden should pledge to serve just one term”

MONEY WATCH:

The progressive group Acronym is rolling out its first wave of digital ads in a planned $11 million voter registration and turnout effort in eight key battleground states. The initial ad buy is worth $250,000 and covers several dozen digital ads on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. The Hill’s Max Greenwood reports.

POLL WATCH:

CNBC/ALL AMERICA ECONOMIC SURVEY – PRESIDENTIAL

Biden: 47% (+3)

Trump: 38% (-1)

NEW YORK TIMES/SIENA COLLEGE:

ARIZONA PRESIDENTIAL

Biden: 48%

Trump: 41%

FLORIDA PRESIDENTIAL

Biden: 47%

Trump: 41%

MICHIGAN PRESIDENTIAL