29 Comments
author

Nope

Expand full comment

Do you think it could help Harris if she started going on podcasts like Joe Rogan and trying to introduce herself to new voters that way? If there are any usually non-political podcasts with a following that are listened to primarily by latinos, would it help her to sit with those podcasters for interviews? I am thinking if she hits the podcast/local interview markets hard, she could start pushing numbers and reaching people who may not be hearing her message.

Expand full comment
author

Yes! She should start with The Latino Vote podcast with me and Chuck Rocha!

Expand full comment

Agreed.

Expand full comment

I agree with this - she needs to do things that at least slow down the bleed with male independent voters.

Expand full comment

That is where my head is at. I just think that if people actually get to know her and what she’s about even a little bit. She’ll give them the motivation they need to vote for her. She needs to just get herself out there through every avenue to break through the echo chambers everybody is insulated in during the social media age. I think her messaging is spot on and I also think it’s failing to reach millions of people.

Expand full comment

The good news is that we can see that it *is* working - when people get to know her they get off the fence.

Expand full comment

I just don’t know what else she could do to reach people. There’s gotta be a way to get people to see her messaging that are not seeing it. Again, I don’t think it’s discussed enough just how thick people’s echo chambers have become. It’s hard to reach people if the algorithms of social media are controlling what they’re seeing.

Expand full comment

On a separate note, Mike, how significant do you see the shinanigans in Georgia (hand-count ballots) impacting the electoral count process and the ensuing chaos of uncertainty? I know it's a "battleground state," but I don't believe Harris has that in her “must-win" states to get to 270. Is it possible that Georgia is not relevant in determining the next president or do we have another possible "hanging-chad" situation?

Expand full comment

There’s an excellent piece on exactly this question in Lawfare. Though legally pretty nerdish, it’s clearly written. https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/will-georgia's-new-election-rules-allow-trump-to-steal-the-presidency

Expand full comment

I'm a new follower, so this may be answered elsewhere - but do you think her targeted messaging on economy, crime, and border is reaching the intended audiences? i.e., what do you see being her contact strategy for getting this message where it needs to go?

Expand full comment
author

Yes it’s just going to take time to break through

Expand full comment

If you split hispanic voters across all the other non-racial categories (gender, education, etc.) do you find that they split pretty much the same way white voters do? Are they just converging to the American generic "white people"? Maybe there's no special message for them apart from what a campaign might use to target the generic white person. If this comes off as sounding racist toward hispanics, I apologize, do not mean it that way. I just wonder if this is a sign that hispanics are assimilating.

Expand full comment
author

No this is a great question. In some ways it’s a very similar assimilative pattern in others there are stark differences.

Hate to keep hounding it but this is a lot of what my book is about

Expand full comment

I give up.

We're told, repeatedly, that Harris needs to focus on 3 areas to gain Latino support: economic relief, tough on crime, strong borders.

Harris has constantly spoken about these 3 issues, and Latinos aren't interested.

Clearly, these 3 issues are not the motivating factor.

I understand your explanation of low-propensity young males dazzled by the faux machismo of Trump, but I give up.

This country seems determined to gallop into autocracy.

Expand full comment
author

She’s been doing it for what? Six weeks? She’s trying to cut through ten years of bad branding. Giver her a break

Expand full comment

I'm not blaming Harris...I blame the voters who support Trump and Trumpism.

They don't care about messaging, policies, character, national security... they want to burn it all down.

Expand full comment

Hw - messaging not reaching the low-propensity males unless we figure out what sources they follow. Not major TV network news or NYTimes! Another commenter suggests going on Rogan. Maybe Howard Stern? Probably shows my age 😊

Speaking via non-traditional media maybe worthwhile for Harris & surrogates. Would love Walz on sports talk shows. Try to reach people where they are.

Expand full comment

I have a question that’s off-topic but you’re the best person to ask. Does Dan Osborn stand a chance in NE?

Expand full comment

Do you still foresee the same trajectory you’ve mentioned for this race?

Expand full comment

Hey Mike. Curious about (a) how Hispanic Trump/Harris support breaks out for men and women; (b) what issues are important for each group.

Expand full comment
author

Great question! Check out white-non college educated voters. I’m guessing they’re very similar

Expand full comment

Makes sense. Follow up questions: (a) Would it be fair to say that for male non-college educated voters the biggest issue is the economy? (b) Given that most economic metrics (GDP, employment, stock market, wage growth) historically favor D administrations, how to combat the perception among these voters that Rs are better on the economy?

Expand full comment
author

No it’s more personal. It’s not GDP or stock market indexes. It’s which party is protecting my job from foreign competition. Which party is trying to take away my job with environmental regulations. That sorta thing

Expand full comment

Right. So, as ever, the Ds' problem is the story they have to tell about the economy is either more complicated ('Here's how these taxes/regulations impact your life for the better.') or more negative ('Here's how we're going to stop the very wealthy/big corporations from impacting your life for the worse.')

Expand full comment

Senate and House races -- any that you would recommend sending a few dollars to at this point?

Expand full comment
author

Will Rollins, CA House race.

Expand full comment

hopefully it's a bad poll sample i've heard negative stuff about the Times Sienna methodology

Expand full comment
author

its not just this poll guys.

Expand full comment