Largely lost amid all of the focus on the presidential election is that control of the U.S. Senate is up for grabs, and a Democrat-held seat in Pennsylvania is one that is in danger of possibly being flipped by Republicans.

The seat is held by incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), who just released a new ad that appears to distance himself from fellow Democrats President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on a couple of key issues, according to the New York Post.

That is bad news for Democratic nominee Harris, who is desperately trying to surpass her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, who currently holds a slim lead in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania.

Democrat Casey styles himself an "independent" senator

The new campaign ad for Sen. Casey features a politically split married couple from the Democratic stronghold county of Lackawanna -- she is a Republican while he is a Democrat -- who disagree on many issues but both support the "independent" incumbent senator.

"Casey’s leading the effort to stop corporate greed, inflation, and price gouging," the wife explained. "Casey bucked Biden to protect fracking, and he sided with Trump to end NAFTA and put tariffs on China to stop them from cheating."

"So, in this house, we agree: It’s Bob Casey who’s doing right by Pennsylvania," she added to conclude the spot, which was followed by Casey stating, "I’m Bob Casey and I definitely approve this message."

Fracking, tariffs, and trade deals

The Post noted that VP Harris has "flip-flopped" on the issue of fracking, the shorthand term for the method of oil and natural gas retrieval known as hydraulic fracturing, as she spoke adamantly about banning the profitable practice during her failed 2020 presidential run but has since claimed that she now supports it.

Sen. Casey, on the other hand, has always been supportive of fracking as he realizes that it plays an important role in Pennsylvania's economy and the broader goal of national energy independence, as he explained in February in a joint statement with fellow Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) that opposed a Biden-Harris move to pause liquified natural gas export permits.

"Pennsylvania is an energy state," the two Democratic senators said. "As the second largest natural gas-producing state, this industry has created good-paying energy jobs in towns and communities across the Commonwealth and has played a critical role in promoting U.S. energy independence."

"While the immediate impacts on Pennsylvania remain to be seen, we have concerns about the long-term impacts that this pause will have on the thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry," they added. "If this decision puts Pennsylvania energy jobs at risk, we will push the Biden Administration to reverse this decision."

As for former President Trump's efforts to end and replace NAFTA and his tariffs on imported goods from China and other foreign competitors, the Post noted that Sen. Casey was one of the very few Democratic senators who openly supported those moves by the Republican president.

Interestingly enough, even though President Biden and most other Democrats harshly criticized Trump over the tariffs and trade deals at the time they were made, they have largely been quietly kept in place by the current administration.

Pennsylvania's polling for the Senate and presidential races

In the Pennsylvania Senate race, according to RealClearPolling's average of polls, the incumbent Casey holds a 3.8-point lead over his Republican challenger, Dave McCormick, though that lead is substantially smaller than it was earlier in the year.

Meanwhile, the RCP average for the presidential race shows that the Keystone State is leaning just slightly toward former President Trump over VP Harris by just half a point. For comparison, President Biden, who won the state in 2020, held a 3.8-point lead over Trump at this same point in that election cycle.