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Former Vice President Joe Bidens remark during the final presidential debate that he would transition away from the fossil fuel industry was met with heavy pushback not only from Republicans who instantly identified the remark as Bidens weak point of the night but vulnerable Democrats as well.

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 22: Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden ... [+] answers a question during the second and final presidential debate at Belmont University on October 22, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee. This is the last debate between the two candidates before the election on November 3. (Photo by Morry Gash-Pool/Getty Images)

Asked by President Donald Trump during the debate if he would close down the oil industry, Biden replied: I would transition from the oil industry, yes which Trump called a big statement.

Biden said his rationale was that the oil industry pollutes significantly and has to be replaced by renewable energy over time, adding that he would stop giving them federal subsidies.

Trump expressed glee about the comment which seemingly confirmed his common claim that Biden is against oil asking: Will you remember that Texas? Will you remember that Pennsylvania? Oklahoma?"

Rep. Kendra Horn (D-Okla.), one of the most endangered House Democrats, affirmed Trumps reaction, calling Bidens stated position one of the places Biden and I disagree, and declaring: We must stand up for our oil and gas industry.

Another vulnerable freshman Democrat, Rep. Xochitl Torres Small (D-M.N.) warned against demonizing the industry and stated she would continue to stand up to my party when theyre out of touch with the reality on the ground.

Biden attempted to walk back the comment later in the night, telling reporters he meant a transition from government subsidies for the industry, stating: Were not getting rid of fossil fuels for a long time probably 2050, and claiming nobody in oil would lose their jobs because a lot more jobs are going to be created in other alternatives.

Democrats, Republicans and Independents know that the U.S. natural gas and oil industry delivers affordable and reliable energy to American families and businesses and all over the world, the American Petroleum Institute said in a statement following the debate. We are proud of the grit, innovation and progress we've made so that Americans no longer have to choose between environmental progress and access to affordable, reliable and cleaner energy. And we arent going anywhere.

Biden's comment about transitioning from oil isn't the game-changer some of you believe it is, argued Politico chief political correspondent Tim Alberta. We've been transitioning from oil for 50 years. Voters see that in their everyday lives w/ industries utilizing new green tech. Biden didn't say anything tonight he hasn't said before.

5 points. Thats the size of Bidens lead in Pennsylvania, a pivotal battleground state, in the RealClearPolitics average. He trails by 4 points in Texas, a state Democrats hope to net but is unnecessary for an electoral college win for them. A Morning Consult poll of 799 Pennsylvania voters, conducted in June and July on behalf of API, found that 80% of Pennsylvania voters say gas and oil provide some value or a great deal of value to them personally. 67% said oil and gas would be a part of Americas energy needs 20 years from now.

The Biggest Falsehoods Of The Final Trump-Biden Presidential Debate (Forbes)

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Vulnerable Democrats Break With Biden Over Transition From Oil Industry - Forbes

[Read our full guide to the final presidential debate between Trump and Biden.]

For many Democrats, election night in 2016 unfolded with the sickening trajectory of a horror movie in which the teenage protagonists break out the beer and party on, unaware that the serial killer they thought they had vanquished is looming outside the window.

The watch parties, the pantsuits, the balloons, the blue-tinted cocktails, the giddiness, the sense of history, the electoral projections showing that Hillary Clinton would surely defeat Donald J. Trump to Democrats, these now look like quaint snapshots from some credulous prelapsarian world. And now, with the next presidential election approaching and Joseph R. Biden Jr. well ahead of President Trump in the polls, the traumatized, anxious Democratic voters of 2020 are not making the same mistake again.

Im assuming in my mind that Trump wins, because I cant deal with being let down like that again, said Helen Rosenthal, a Democrat who represents the Upper West Side on the New York City Council. Secretly, in a little corner in the back of my mind, Im wishing and hoping that Biden wins. But most of my brain is saying, OK, Trump wins and New York is not getting a fiscal bailout and were going to lose more ground on the environment, were going to lose on Roe v. Wade, were going to lose on health care.

Im already depressed about it, if that helps, she added.

Its hard to overstate the degree of anxiety in America right now, as the country confronts a Hydra of troubles: the pandemic, the economy, the fires, the protests, the violent plots against public officials, the assault on voting rights, the state-sponsored disinformation, the sense that democracy itself is on the ballot.

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The Election Is Almost Over. That Doesn't Mean Democrats Are Relaxed. - The New York Times

Over the last 100 years, Americans have engaged in a long debate about the role of markets and the welfare state. Republicans favored a limited government, fearing that a large nanny state would sap American dynamism and erode personal freedom. Democrats favored a larger state, arguing that giving people basic economic security would enable them to take more risks and lead dignified lives.

That debate ebbed and flowed over the years, but 2020 has turned out to be a pivotal year in the struggle, and it looks now as if we can declare a winner. The Democrats won the big argument of the 20th century. Its not that everybody has become a Democrat, but even many Republicans are now embracing basic Democratic assumptions. Americans across the board fear economic and physical insecurity more than an overweening state. The era of big government is here.

In this weeks New York Times/Siena poll, two-thirds of Americans support allowing people to buy health insurance through the federal government, the public option. Two-thirds support Joe Bidens $2 trillion plan to increase the use of renewable energy and build energy-efficient infrastructure. Seventy-two percent of likely voters, including 56 percent of Republicans, support another $2 trillion in Covid-19 relief to individuals as well as state and local governments.

Covid-19 has pushed voters to the left. Its made Americans feel vulnerable and more likely to support government efforts to reduce that vulnerability. A study led by the economists Alex Rees-Jones, John DAttoma, Amedeo Piolatto, and Luca Salvadori, found that people in counties with high numbers of Covid-19 infections and deaths were significantly more likely to support expanding government-provided unemployment insurance and expanding government-provided health care. This greater support for social safety net programs transcends political ideology.

The 2020 shift to the left follows years of steady leftward drift. In 2015, a majority of Americans believed that government is doing too many things better left to business and individuals. Now only 39 percent of Americans believe that, while 59 percent think, Government should do more to solve problems, according to Pew Research Center.

Two-thirds of Americans think government should do more to fight the effects of climate change. At least 60 percent of Americans support raising the minimum wage and providing tax credits to low-income workers. Eighty-two percent of voters and 70 percent of Republicans would like to consider legislation to expand paid family and medical leave.

Its commonly said that in the age of polarization the Democrats are moving left and the Republicans are moving right, but thats not true. As Charles Blahous and Robert Graboyes of the Mercatus Center show, both parties are moving left, its just that Democrats are moving left at 350 miles an hour while Republicans are moving left at 50 miles an hour.

To show how the whole frame of debate has shifted, Blahous and Graboyes list the policies that are commonly discussed among Democrats now but that would have been too far left to get a hearing at the Democratic National Convention of 1996. Theyve come up with many examples, including canceling college debt, more than doubling the minimum wage, shutting down coal-fired plants and guaranteeing every American a job. Then they look for current Republican policies that would have been considered too conservative for the 1996 Republican National Convention. They couldnt find any.

We can see the familiar historic pattern. A crisis hits, like Covid-19, the financial crisis, World War II or the Great Depression. Government expands to meet the crisis. Republicans eventually come around and ratify the expansion.

It should be said there are limits to how far left the country is drifting. This is still a nation where 72 percent of people call themselves moderates or conservatives and only 24 percent call themselves liberal. Americans still have a strong basic faith in democratic capitalism and dislike socialism, by a two-to-one margin.

In the background of this debate is the fact that the last 30 years of neoliberal economics have seen the greatest reduction in global poverty in all human history. Many have a vestigial memory of the 1970s stagflation and the 1980s Eurosclerosis, when bloated government regulations clogged economies and slowed prosperity.

Even while support for government programs rises, trust in government is near record lows. Americans like it when government sends out checks to pay for things like child care, college and Covid-19 relief. They do not like proposals that concentrate power in Washington.

Still, you can see why Donald Trump was careful, both in 2016 and 2020, to focus his campaign on cultural and American identity issues and studiously avoid having a debate on role-of- government issues. Even by 2016, Republicans could no longer win that debate.

If you want to get a sense of where the center of gravity might be on these issues, Id point you to a report by Brink Lindsey and Samuel Hammond of the Niskanen Center. They call for a much stronger social safety net to protect people from the hazards of life poverty, sickness, joblessness but they also call for reform in three sectors where government has been captured by insider manipulation: housing, finance and health care.

It was a vigorous debate that lasted many decades, but the liberal welfare state won a robust capitalist economy combined with generous social support.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com.

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How Democrats Won the War of Ideas - The New York Times

Leaning against a light blue convertible and waiting to take his place in the annual homecoming parade in Marshall, Minn., Collin Peterson recounted a recent 3 a.m. phone call from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

I told her, This whole campaign is about you. Theyre saying Ive become a liberal and Im doing whatever you tell me, which is ridiculous, he vented through his face mask. On the call, he proposed to Pelosi a solution: What we need to do is have you come up here and tell them Im a completely soulless S.O.B.

Minnesotas Seventh District congressman for three decades, Peterson has developed close working relationships with Pelosi and other House leaders over his long tenure, forming allies in both parties that helped him rise to chair the powerful House Agriculture Committee. But at 76, his increasingly tenuous ties to urban Democrats in his party have been a weight around his neck in his rural, conservative Minnesota district. Its a weight that gets heavier each election cycle.

Four years ago, Donald Trump won Petersons Seventh District by more than 30 percentage points over Hillary Clinton. Peterson, meanwhile, beat a little-known Republican challenger by 5% of the vote. This year, Republicans see an opening with Trump back on the ballot. Theyve recruited former lieutenant governor and state senator Michelle Fischbach and are investing millions in what they see as one of their best chances to flip a blue district red this fall.

Its a new twist on an old problem for Peterson, who has held on to his seat through multiple Republican waves while other conservative Democratic allies were defeated or left an increasingly polarized Congress. This cycle, hes more isolated than ever.

He was among 45 Democrats who voted against the 2010 version of the Affordable Care Act that became law. Now, hes one of three left. He was one of two Democrats who voted against impeaching Trump late last year. The other member, Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, is now a Republican. He opposes abortion and is the lone Democrat in Congress with an A-rating from the NRA. If I hear the words common sense gun legislation one more time, he said last year, Ill throw up. Many of those left in the Blue Dog caucus might have been considered insufficiently conservative when he originally co-founded the group.

The Blue Dogs were for conservative Democrats, said Peterson. Im the only conservative Democrat left, basically.

His conservative positions have, at times, earned him the ire and befuddlement of more progressive Minnesota Democrats in the metro area, who couldnt understand why a member of their party voted against impeaching Trump. Hes tried to distance himself from members of Minnesotas delegation such as Fifth District Rep. Ilhan Omar, a darling of the progressive left. In a recent video filmed on Capitol Hill, a Republican campaign operative followed Peterson and asked why he defends Omar. Peterson replied that he doesnt defend her, with a blunt follow-up: She doesnt belong in our party.

But Petersons conservative instincts have been a key part of his political survival all these years in a rural district that most Democrats concede would have been lost long ago without him. His campaign ads easily could be mistaken for a Republicans this cycle, touting his vote against impeachment, support from law enforcement and opposition to environmentalists trying to block the Line 3 pipeline replacement project in northern Minnesota. A supporter recently called one of his staffers in a panic because they saw Petersons signs next to Trump signs along Hwy. 212. How do you think he gets elected? his staffer replied.

He calibrates his relationships with the Democratic Party very carefully, said David Sturrock, a political-science professor at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall and Republican who ran against Peterson in 2004. He doesnt allow himself to get dragged into things that are not part of his portfolio.

Petersons portfolio is farming, where he has made his biggest mark in Congress. At home, his politics and his campaign style defy modern day conventions. He doesnt announce whether he plans to run again until the last possible moment, and he often raises less money than his opponents. An accountant by profession, he learned how to fly a single-engine airplane to get around his district, which stretches roughly 35,000 square miles across almost the entire western border of the state.

When Peterson announced his first run for a seat in the state Senate in 1976, he marched into a newspaper office without knowing who his opponent would be. Still, Peterson won that year after spending the summer going from farm to farm to make his case. Roger Moe, the former Senate DFL leader who recruited him to run, said Peterson has probably never written a speech in his life. He just talks to people.

It took four tries for him to get to Congress in 1990, and still today, Peterson relies on support from agriculture to stay there. He backed Trumps trade deal and was a key player in shepherding multiple farm bills through Congress. Hes earned the nickname the godfather of sugar for his work with the sugar beet industry. The district is the largest sugar producer in the nation, competing with sugar cane operators in the South. In a sure sign of his importance, the sugar industry has created a super PAC with the sole purpose of re-electing Peterson, raising more than $1 million to spend in a race thats seen more than $9 million in outside spending so far.

He understands ag better than anyone in Congress today, and I consider him a friend. He calls me up and asks about my horse sometimes, said Curtis Knutson, a fifth-generation farmer in Fisher, Minn., who served more than a decade on the board of American Crystal Sugar. Knutson votes red in most races but blue in the Seventh District race, and he sees Petersons relationship with Pelosi as an asset in a year where he expects the U.S. House to remain in Democratic control.

Its agriculture thats kept Peterson from retiring from Congress, despite his growing frustrations with his party and polarization in Washington. Hed like to work on another farm bill, and he said hes worried about the clout his district particularly the farmers will lose in Congress when hes gone.

Whatever happens, Peterson doesnt plan to change parties after a long career in state and federal politics that hes built on a go-your-own way approach. Im going to survive on my own, and if I dont survive, well, Im not going to change, he said. I havent changed all this time.

Twitter: @bbierschbach

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'Only conservative Democrat left': Minnesota's Collin Peterson bets on record in re-election fight - Minneapolis Star Tribune

For Christine Morse and a handful of other Democrats vying for a seat in the state House this cycle, running in a competitive district carries even more weight than usual.

Democrats across the state and country are banking on Morse a Kalamazoo County commissioner whos running against small business owner Bronwyn Haltom in the open 61st House District to be one of four candidates to flip a seat currently held by Republicans and deliver a Democratic majority in the House for the first time since 2010.

National progressive groups have pinpointed Michigan as a target state for flipping legislative control, investing money and time into districts with the most potential. Meanwhile, Republicans are hoping Trumps presence at the top of the ticket and a strong ground game will help them hold onto their majority.

If they can pull it off, Democrats would get the advantage in controlling Michigans divided government, giving Gov. Gretchen Whitmer an ally in the legislature and putting the party in the drivers seat when setting the House agenda and policy priorities.

No pressure.

In her district, Morse said shes feeling cautiously optimistic, noting that shes feeling more energy on the campaign trail than when she campaigned for commissioner in 2018 and an appetite for change among prospective voters. But shes not letting up.

You can never get comfortable when youre fighting for a race like this, she said. Its critical this year to bring change to the state House so that we can move forward on issues that really impact peoples lives.

Related: As Dems hope to win state House, Gov. Whitmer endorses Kalamazoo-area candidates

Republicans feel the math points to them maintaining their legislative majority past 2020. Unlike in 2018, the presence of President Donald Trump on the ballot presents an opportunity for the base to vote down-ticket in a way that could increase turnout, said Robbie Rankey, director of caucus services for the Michigan House Republicans.

This could yield results in the I-75 corridor, he said, which includes optimism for incumbent Rep. Laurie Pohutskys seat, as well as Rep. Brian Elders seat in Bay City. Even seats such as Rep. Sheryl Kennedys and Rep. Darrin Camilleri in the Downriver and Macomb County regions could be in play, he said.

I think that protecting Ryan Berman in the 39th, Annette Glenn in the 98th and then our best flip opportunity is in the 19th district with Pohutsky out of Livonia, he said. We do those three things with our three-seat majority currently I just dont see how (Democrats') math grows to get to a majority.

But Democrats say the momentum has been building for years, pointing to the 2018 election when Democratic candidates made inroads on the House Republican majority. Theyre hoping a combination of strong candidates, voter enthusiasm and help from national groups can put them over the edge.

Four seats to go, and weve got a lot more than that in play, said House Democratic Leader Christine Greig, D-Farmington Hills. Were really positive and excited and the level of support were getting... everyones really keeping their eye on Michigan for the state legislature, too."

For both parties, much of the focus has been on open seats where demographics have shifted over time.

The COVID-19 pandemic has somewhat stymied traditional campaign strategies like in-person fundraisers and large rallies. Small, socially distanced campaign events and door-knocking have become the go-to, and in the most competitive districts, mailers and television ads are flooding voters' mailboxes and airwaves.

In addition to the 61st, open Oakland County seats such as the 38th District, a race between Republican Chase Turner and Democrat Kelly Breen, and the 45th District, where Republican Mark Tisdel and Democrat Barb Anness are facing off, are getting a lot of attention from political observers.

The 104th District in Grand Traverse County, where Republican John Roth and Democrat Dan ONeil are running to replace embattled, term-limited Republican Rep. Larry Inman, is also viewed as in play.

A few seats held by incumbents running for reelection are also likely to factor into the majority math after polls close on Nov. 3. Democrats are eyeing Republican Rep. Ryan Bermans seat in the 39th District as a potential pickup, and Republicans are bullish on their chances in the 19th District, where Pohutsky eked out a win in 2018, and in the 96th, where Elder is seeking to win reelection in a district where many voters historically aligned with Democrats supported President Donald Trump in 2016.

Related: National group supporting Democratic women candidates drops $604K into Michigan House races

Michigan Democrats' efforts are being noticed and financially supported this cycle by a number of national groups keen on flipping state legislative chambers blue.

EMILYs List, a national group that backs Democratic women candidates who support abortion rights, announced Wednesday morning it had spent $420,000 on Michigan state House races this month, bringing the groups total investment in Michigan races to $604,000.

In a recent press call, EMILYs List President Stephanie Schriock said state legislative races have become more critical as the U.S. Supreme Court trends more conservative and as handling of the COVID-19 response continues to vary state by state. She noted that nearly all the Democratic candidates in Michigans most competitive races are women, predicting candidates like Morse, Breen, Anness and Julia Pulver in the 39th are going to make the difference in delivering a Democratic House majority.

Now more than ever, we need to elect strong, smart and compassionate leaders at the state legislative level so we can whip these chambers, pass good laws that protect health care and reproductive freedom, she said.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is predicting suburban voters will make the difference, citing a September survey in Michigans 38th and 61st districts from Public Policy Polling that showed 48% of voters would support a state legislative Democratic candidate over a Republican in both districts, compared to 45% in the 38th and 43% in the 61st who would support a Republican candidate over a Democrat.

Republicans think they can run on saving the suburbs, but suburban voters have responded loud and clear: no thanks, Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Jessica Post said in a statement.

But suburban Republicans are confident their candidates are hard to smear in the eyes of voters. Meshawn Maddock, 11th District Chair for the Michigan GOP, highlighted the resume of former schoolteacher Martha Ptashnik, Pohutskys Republican challenger. In 2018, Pohutsky won the district by 224 votes.

Shes someone who the typical left-wing playbook wont work, Maddock said. The tactics they use wont work. Shes a former teacher. She knows many of the parents and teachers all over Livonia, many of whom are not comfortable with a radical left-wing agenda, which is what they have right now.

She also praised Turner, who is making his second bid for the 38th District against Breen, as a fit and tan hard worker whos been pounding the pavement in his district in his bid to win over voters.

If you have a candidate that pounds on doors and theyre chunky and pasty, the chances are they havent been doing what theyre saying, she said. Chase is a very hard worker, and hes poured himself into that district for the last four years.

Vic Fitz, 6th District chair for the Michigan Republican Party, said Haltoms bid for the 61st is strong because her experience running a small business speaks to pocketbook issues that Republicans and Independents care about most.

She fits the district, he said. Shes a Portage native, came from the middle class, has fought for jobs and education and we think shes going to win.

Gaby Goldstein is the national political director for the group Sister District, a group dedicated to electing Democrats to state legislatures. In Michigan, the group is focused specifically on flipping the 61st for Morse and holding the seats currently held by Pohutsky and Rep. Padma Kuppa, who represents the 41st District.

Goldstein said voters around the country are becoming more aware of how critical state legislatures are, especially now that lawmakers are playing a key role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. She said Democratic candidates' messaging on a science-based approach to dealing with the pandemic and rebuilding the economy is resonating with voters.

The level of recalcitrance among the Republicans in the Michigan legislature has... created a situation where its really difficult for the governor to govern effectively and for the legislature to get anything done, she said. Every single day of this pandemic has been an object lesson in the importance of state policy."

Rankey said that generally, the hope is that voters will see that Republican legislators advocated for them during the COVID-19 pandemic. He pointed to representatives such as COVID-19 Oversight Chair Rep. Matt Hall, R-Marshall, taking the Unemployment Insurance Agency to task for their backlog of claims during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown this summer.

Weve talked to candidates about emphasizing pocketbook issues, Rankey said. How are our representatives helping these people day to day? Theres a lot of great things to highlight and weve done well to do that."

Whitmer has taken a direct role in campaigning for state House candidates in recent weeks, formally endorsing candidates and attending socially distanced campaign events in competitive districts.

At an Oct. 7 outdoor campaign event for Morse in Texas Township, Whitmer said shes hopeful her administration will have more allies in both the legislature and the White House come November. But she urged the small crowd to keep their feet on the gas heading into November.

We can do this. All of the ingredients are here, but we can make no assumption that its a forgone conclusion," she said.

Related: Incumbents prevail, women win big and more takeaways from Michigans state House primaries

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Michigan Democrats want to flip the state House. Can they? - MLive.com