PBS NewsHour explains 'How Pennsylvania’s midterm races impact the future of politics'

I'm taking a break from Emmy Awards winners to cover this year's elections, beginning with PBS NewsHour explaining How Pennsylvania’s midterm races impact the future of politics.

With just over five weeks left until the midterm elections, we look at Pennsylvania and two high-profile races expected to have a significant impact on both the state and country's political futures. Jonathan Tamari, national political reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Candy Woodall, Congress and campaigns reporter for USA Today, join Geoff Bennett to dig into the dynamics of both races.

In addition to portraying the Keystone State's contests for Governor and U.S. Senate as mirror images of each other in terms of primary vs. general election dynamics within the Democratic and Republican parties, resulting in a widening margin for Josh Shapiro over Doug Mastriano but a tightening margin between John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz, this segment pointed out the effect of outside spending. Another segment on last night's PBS NewsHour brought up outside spending as well and placed the Pennsylvania Senate contest in a national context. Watch Tamara Keith and Amy Walter on candidates and their midterm messages ahead of election.

NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter join Laura Barrón-López to discuss the latest political news, including the politics of hurricane relief aid and lawmakers launching their final midterm messages ahead of election.

I am not the least bit surprised that the Democrats are running on protecting reproductive rights while Republicans are running on crime and immigration. Those are all classic issues for their respective parties and ones the parties consider winners. I am a bit surprised that the Republicans are running on education, which I consider to be a Democratic issue, although the GOP appears to be using it as a way to reinforce morality and social order, not improving students' academic achievement. That doesn't surprise me at all.

BTW, PBS NewsHour ignored a scandal involving animals in research that Jezebel covered when it reported Dr. Oz’s Scientific Experiments Killed Over 300 Dogs, Entire Litter of Puppies: "Columbia's internal investigation found that Oz's research team inflicted extensive suffering on canine test subjects in violation of the Animal Welfare Act." I wish I could say I was surprised, but I am merely appalled. Let's see if Pennsylvania voters are, too. Stay tuned.