Politics and views in the United States.

JD Vance claims VP Harris has secretly been the acting president. Polls show Harris rising in battleground states, and one survey says seniors find issues more important than partisanship deciding their votes.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2024 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

Kamala Harris has been the vice president for three and a half years.

And I think, ladies and gentlemen, she's in effect been the acting president because we all know Joe Biden isn't home.

Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance is claiming Kamala Harris has been secretly leading the country due to Joe Biden's advancing age.

His conspiratorial tone echoes that of former President Donald Trump, who accuses Harris of faking the size of her crowds and photos.

Several Trump allies are criticizing his campaign for petty and ineffective attacks centered in one case on Harris's race rather than her political record.

At a North Carolina campaign rally, Trump did return to an issue that has worked for him before, using two different sized boxes of Tic Tacs to demonstrate the effect of inflation on consumer products.

The consumer price index peaked at 9 percent in June 2022, but the most recent number came in under 3 percent.

And a new Cook Political Report poll shows Harris has tied or overtaken Trump in six of seven key states.

While the former president has a narrow lead in Nevada, Harris is narrowly winning in the other battlegrounds.

Tempe, Arizona, Mayor Cory Wood says Biden administration investments, like a local transportation plan, are having popular real-world impacts.

That $16 million investment to really make what is currently our existing Tempe-based streetcar into a regional system connecting us to the city of Mesa is a really critical transportation infrastructure investment that's going to pay dividends for decades.

One policy backed by both Harris and Trump, ending taxes on tips, is being panned by some economists.

Most tipped workers don't make enough to pay income taxes, they say, and ending the tax could open a loophole that would be hard to control.

Meanwhile, a new survey shows most New Hampshire voters want to focus on children and hunger.

Four out of five say they're more favorable to a candidate who supports investments in child care and food security.

Megan Brabeck with the Save the Children Action Network says even though kids can't vote, voters should make sure children's needs are met.

It's very easy to find candidate events in your community and talk to those people, raise your hand, ask a question, what are you going to do to increase access to child care in New Hampshire?

Hunger activists hope Congress will prioritize expanding SNAP benefits and the renewal of the farm bill currently being debated.

That legislation has stalled, forcing Congress to extend the current farm bill for a year.

A new AARP survey shows some voters are increasingly issue-oriented in spite of hyper-partisan politics.

It says regardless of a candidate's party, they could win over seniors with legislation to lower prescription drug prices, help older adults live independently at home, and support family caregivers.

And Jeff List with Impact Research says protecting Social Security is a critical issue for senior voters on fixed incomes. 61 percent said that it is or will be a major source of income for them.

Another 29 percent said that it will be at least a minor source of income.

So you've got 90 percent of voters over 50 who are going to depend on or are depending on Social Security.

I'm Edwin J. Vieira for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.