UnHerd’s Post

"The Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dynamic in the 2024 election is shifting. Multiple recent high-quality national polls have shown the independent candidate suddenly pulling support about evenly from President Biden and former president Donald Trump — and even taking more from Trump’s side of the ledger — despite long-standing Democratic concerns about Kennedy playing spoiler for Biden. Cut through the 2024 election noise. Get The Campaign Moment newsletter. A new poll gets at why the Kennedy effect might shift in Biden’s favor. I’ve been arguing in this space for a while that Kennedy is more of a wild card than people might realize, by virtue of his much-better image with Republican-leaning voters and voters’ lack of familiarity with him (beyond his golden name). What happens with his double-digit support when increasingly anti-vaccine Republicans — and even more anti-vaccine MAGA Republicans — learn that Kennedy is perhaps the nation’s leading vaccine skeptic, I asked? Running against Trump, the guy who presided over Operation Warp Speed and has repeatedly praised the coronavirus vaccines?"

With the Starmer election petition nearing 3m signatures, what is the value of Parliamentary petitions? Worth re-reading this article for a few ways in which such petitions can be useful, regardless of whether they achieve their 'goal': https://lnkd.in/epgZvcuD

As it relates to #healthcare, "elections do matter for your health." "Doctors are worried about how partisanship plays in the exam room and what it means for their profession as another aspect of American life succumbs to polarization. They see conservative patients losing faith in doctors — and a threat to public health, exemplified in everything from missed vaccinations to forgone cancer screenings. Some doctors think the stakes of the election are too high to worry about their push for science-based policies and the freedom to practice medicine." An example of the challenges facing doctors is reproductive health. Once federal protections for abortion ended, limiting what reproductive health professionals are allowed to do for patients, some doctors have moved states. Some believe they have a responsibility to publicly oppose restrictions on their ability to practice as well as policies they think harm patients. Of course there's risk to making comments, which can hurt the doctor-patient relationship. It could have implications for trust in the health system broadly. https://lnkd.in/eKF6PQAw

Lessons from Election 2024 that will make you money in your business. @DanielPriestley gave me this idea. Follow him. 1. Don't insult the group that you're trying to sway / persuade.  One campaign was extremely insulting to the voters of the other. It not only doesn't help bring people over, it fires people up to vote against you. Of course, candidates insult each other. They always have. But when you insult the prospective voters of the other side, you have a problem. 2. Few believe institutions anymore.  Since COVID there has been a resistance to believe much coming out of the institutions. When doctors say “you need your vaccine”, is it really for our safety and protection? Or is it because they get a kickback on vaccines? There are many examples of this. The problem is, your prospect is suspicious of everything that appears self-promotional. 3. The mainstream media doesn't deliver your message well - b/c few believe them.  The trust in legacy media is less than 20%. So when you advertise to your market, are you using a vehicle that actually diminishes your believability? Or, can you use alternative media like podcasting or YouTube videos where you get into detail about the essence of your offer. The lesson here is don't rely on big media to deliver your message to your prospect. You are the media. 4. Platitudes and generalities don't work.  We don't believe them or understand them. If there's no meat on the bones, we don't want the bones. So when you make an offer to your audience recognize that they need a little detail. Not just "you're going to love it." Both parties were actually bad at this, one was worse this cycle. The fact is, if you take a stand, you will alienate people. That's OK. Not everybody's a prospect for you anyway. And those that are will be much more attracted to you if you take a deliberate stance. An example: “Democracy” was a big topic in this year’s election promoted by one side saying the other is a “threat” to it. But the numbers said that 50% of people who said it was an issue voted for one candidate - and 50% for the other. So it was never explained well. 5. Cast a vision.  Tell us what you believe in and what you don't believe in. Stand for something. Be willing to offend some people because even those people who are offended will say, "Well, at least I know where they stand." Don't be a wimp.

#TBT to our Vote & Vaccinate campaigns. Did you know that physicians are less likely to vote than the general public? Help us change that! Use our voter's guide https://lnkd.in/e-k8c393 to learn more! #vote #ThrowbackThursday

Swamp the Vote? First, he wanted to drain the swamp, but ended up swamping the fiscal ship and giving everyone on earth a form of financial malaria, dengue fever, and Ebola (with his special form of disinformation function gain). Part of “draining the swamp” was oppressing voting rights, especially mail in voting. Now, he wants to Swamp the Vote with more mail in voting? Ok. Perhaps the Felonius Mad King and his supporting network of bad business interests have figured out how to defraud the vote? They did, after all, get access to the voting machine hardware and software in several states. Let’s see what happens. https://lnkd.in/e3yp5PNa

We’re at the midway point through early voting and only more than 14,000 Indy voters have cast their ballots. That’s nearly 7,000 fewer ballots cast by this time for the 2020 presidential election and around the same number that were cast in 2016, according to Marion County Election Board data. The same goes for mail-in ballots. Just more than 15,000 people have voted by mail in Marion County so far this year, a fraction of the nearly 60,000 ballots that had been returned at this point in 2020. At the time, COVID-19 vaccines were not yet available, so some people took advantage of early voting days to avoid crowds. Early voting statistics can gauge how motivated voters are to get to the polls, according to Laura Merrifield Wilson, associate professor of political science at the University of Indianapolis. “It’s quite possible many people early voted in 2020 that will still vote but aren’t going to utilize early voting options this cycle,” Merrifield Wilson said. https://lnkd.in/d-PWncRK

Before you head into the weekend, go check out my top stories for today at The Washington Update! I have stories on Harris' policy position rollout, Medicare drug price negotiations, the latest from Venezuela, and the abortion ballot initiatives as the wildcard in the 2024 election voter turnout. Take a look and leave your thougths in the comments!

Entravision, along with AltaMed Health Services and BSP Research LLC, has released the latest results from the only weekly national poll focused on Latino voters. Here are the key takeaways from Week 2: Presidential Race Stable: Kamala Harris leads Donald Trump among Latino voters 56% to 33%, with 9% still undecided. Parties Need to Do More: Less than half (47%) of Latino voters believe the Democratic Party is doing a good job engaging them. Only 32% feel the GOP is effectively reaching out. Younger Latino Voters Unengaged: Only 55% of younger Latinos (ages 18-29) are "almost certain" to vote, and 46% feel they lack enough information to make a decision. Mail-in Voting Confusion: 21% of Latino voters who plan to vote by mail are unfamiliar with the process, a rise from 11% in Week 1. Support for Lower Drug Prices: A resounding 87% of Latino voters support allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, including 83% of GOP voters. Stay tuned for more updates as we track Latino voter priorities leading up to November! Visit https://lnkd.in/g-8qbSfH for full insights. #LatinoVote #Election2024 #PoliticalPulse #Entravision

This year, it's more important than ever to help those you serve participate in the upcoming election. As we navigate the latest medley of winter viruses, preparation can happen early so #OlderAdults can take care of their health—especially while out in public. Learn how everyone can have a safe and well-informed voting experience during the upcoming election in this article by NCOA's Claire Thomas. ✅👇 https://lnkd.in/erRvvbQD