The Note: Democrats' unity complicates GOP efforts to define Joe Biden

The TAKE with Rick Klein

Democrats appear uncommonly united at the moment, together in what they view as the urgent task of defeating President Donald Trump and even armed with a policy document that has the blessing of both former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Republicans are actually hoping that party unity is a good thing for them as they try to link Biden to more liberal elements in his party. But at the moment, at least, all the togetherness is complicating the Trump campaign's efforts to define Biden. The new policy document -- the product of months of virtual task-force sessions -- came with glowing quotes from both Biden and Sanders. What it did not come with, though, is much in the way of polarizing, hashtag-era buzzwords.

"Medicare for All" and the Green New Deal aren't mentioned. Also missing are goals associated with "defund the police" and "abolish ICE," or other progressive priorities, such as banning stock buybacks, marijuana legalization or student-debt forgiveness.

That won't necessarily stop Trump from trying to tie Biden to such policies or the prominent Democrats associated with them. The Trump campaign is jumping on almost anything Reps. Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez say these days, no matter what Biden has said on a particular subject.

It leaves Republicans making a rather convoluted argument. Trump isn't labeling Biden as an extremist so much as he is suggesting that he's a vessel for far-left lawmakers and agitators.

"We are in a culture war," the president told RealClearPolitics Wednesday, in an interview where he also decried what he called "a new far-left fascism" and a "left-wing cultural revolution" that he said a Biden presidency would facilitate.

The cascading crises of recent months have made long-expected tussles over the direction of the Democratic Party a dog-that-didn't-bite story. Biden's challenge now will be to maintain his party's unity -- and also turn some progressive disappointments into continued motivation.

The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks

The Supreme Court plans to deliver all of its remaining opinions of this term on Thursday -- meaning the court will finally settle two similar cases dealing with the disclosure of the president's tax returns and financial records and, in doing so, will rule on fundamental questions about oversight and checks over the executive branch.

Over and over, this president has argued he cannot be investigated while in office. If the court disagrees here, it could send a powerful message about congressional authority -- albeit a message delivered only a few months before the end of his first term in office. But even if the White House should lose, it remains unclear exactly which financial documents might be made public before November's election.

In another opinion slated for Thursday, justices will decide whether a large swath of Oklahoma should still be considered tribal land. This is a unique court and many eyes will be on Justice Neil Gorsuch, who has sided with tribes in the past.

Back-to-back opinions on Wednesday reinforced religious freedoms and pleased conservatives. This court has delivered surprises this term and Thursday could bring more.

The TIP with Alisa Wiersema

As both Biden and Vice President Mike Pence head to Pennsylvania Thursday, the split screen fight over one of this year's key battleground states is visibly looming closer on the horizon. The dueling visits partially represent each party's demographic priorities in the Keystone State ahead of November, as Democrats hope to make inroads in rural areas lost by Clinton in 2016, while Republicans aim to defend their claims to suburban counties away from major urban areas.

While Pence's bus tour begins in Lancaster County, where Trump beat Clinton by nearly 20 points four years ago, he will wade into solidly Democratic territory later in the day during a "Back the Blue Rally" in Philadelphia where he will also speak with law enforcement officers. Trump has already established his focus on winning Pennsylvania a second time, and is similarly wading into blue territory to do it. In May, the president told workers at the Owens & Minor plant in Allentown, Pennsylvania, -- an area he lost by about 5 points -- that they were "part of the greatest mobilization of American society since World War II."

Recent polling has Biden leading Trump handily in his home state, but the former vice president is warning supporters from reading too deeply into polls with nearly four months to go until November. Biden also appears to be doing the legwork to back up his own words of caution, and has preceded Pence's Lancaster visit with one of his own last month. During that visit, Biden lambasted Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and said "[Trump's] like a child who can't believe this has happened to him -- all his whining and self-pity."

Until now, Biden's coronavirus-era visits were scattered around the southeastern part of the state, and Thursday's trip will mark his first visit to his hometown of Scranton since October. During last year's visit, Biden delivered remarks aimed at "rebuilding the middle class," which he's expected to echo today as he unveils the first pillar of a broad economic agenda that aims to spur American manufacturing and increase funding for technological innovations.

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" podcast. Thursday morning's episode features ABC News Chief Justice correspondent Pierre Thomas, who breaks down his exclusive interview with Attorney General William Barr. Then, NYU Law professor Melissa Murray explains the Supreme Court ruling on contraceptive mandates. And, Boston Children's Hospital epidemiologist and ABC News contributor Dr. John Brownstein tells us why the COVID-19 mortality rate in the United States does not tell the whole story of how the country is faring against the virus. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

ABC News' "Powerhouse Politics" podcast. The mayor of Chicago said there's "no question" that the coronavirus pandemic, and the way it has impacted policing and jailing, is a factor in the recent violence her city has experienced."We had to rethink what policing meant in the middle of this horrific pandemic for which there was no -- there still is no cure. So that absolutely affected it," Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a Democrat, told ABC News' "Powerhouse Politics" podcast.https://bit.ly/2w091jE

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