One week before Election Day, Donald Trump is campaigning furiously around the country, heedless of the coronavirus as he bids desperately to cling to power.
On the attack against Joe Biden in a host of states he won in 2016 where the Democratic nominee now leads narrowly or is tied -- Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas and Arizona -- Trump is focused most of all on Pennsylvania.
With Biden showing strength in Wisconsin, which earlier had been viewed as the tipping point state of the 2020 election, Pennsylvania has emerged as the single most important battleground.
Since Biden's clumsy comments about his energy policy in last week's debate, Trump has been pounding away at him in the western part of the state, in an effort to erase his 3.8 percent lead in the polls, by telling blue collar oil and gas workers a Democratic win will mean the end of their jobs.
Political analyst Phil Trounstine rejoins Newsmakers for another fast-moving conversation about the state of the play in the campaign, pointing to this week's confirmation of new Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and the court's big ruling in a crucial voting rights case in Wisconsin, as potential perils for those who fear a second Trump term.
Phil and Jerry also dissect the latest polls from UC Berkeley, which find two Nov, 3 ballot initiatives central to the progressive agenda in California -- Propositions 15 and 16 -- in difficulty seven days before the votes begin to be counted.
Watch our conversation with Phil Trounstine via YouTube below, or by clicking through this link and....the podcast version is here.