As Harris and Walz continue to gain momentum, Democrats prepare for their big week in Chicago at the DNC. My big question, of course, is how will the Democrats message to various groups, and will that include any specific outreach to men? Will they discuss any male issues or address men directly in order to garner more male votes?
So far, messaging from the less than one-month old (wow!) Harris-Walz campaign has focused on populist items, like inflation, housing and grocery prices, and the fact the Trump is both weird and a convicted criminal. In general, I believe these are good messages and are popular among the mainstream.
The polls are indeed looking better for Democrats, but by no means does Harris have a large lead; things are still very close. As I discuss in my book How Democrats Can Win Back Men, Democrats need to do better than they have been with male voters. One way to do that is to appeal to men on substantive issues. I was happy to see that Gov. Tim Walz openly discussed how one of his children was conceived via IVF. In an article titled “More People Should Be Talking About IVF the Way Tim Walz Is” by Faith Hill in The Atlantic, the author wrote something that I argue in my book: “Reproductive rights are almost always framed as a women’s issue. Walz reminds us that they affect men too.” It’s great to see these ideas going mainstream this year!
Balz to the Walz
I feel quite connected to this election as Harris has represented me for the last 15 years as DA of San Francisco, California Attorney General, US Senator from California, and finally VP of the US. Walz also respresents a place I’m close to. I grew up in Minnesota and am still quite connected there, so the Minnesota Governor makes me proud of my roots!
I love this t-shirt from Replace Everything, a creator in Minnesota. They support a number of good causes, and 50% of the profit for this item will benefit PFund Foundation.
More Mainstream Coverage of Men and Voting
I was happy to see several mainstream discussions of men’s and boys’ issues and voting in relation to this year’s election. I’m hoping that this will become part of ongoing discourse and not just a short-term trend.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy from Connecticut says that Democrats need to talk more about men and masculinity.
CNN featured a segment on how women are fueling Harris’s surge in the polls and how we may see a largest gender gap ever. Using CNN’s numbers, Harris is +11% among women, and -9% among men, which is way better than Biden was doing regarding women (he was only +4%), but the same with men. Harris and Democrats need to do better with men. Remember, in order to win the electoral vote, Democrats need to win by about 4%, meaning they need to win among women by 8% more than they lose men by. So if Dems stay at -9% among men, they would likely need at least +17% among women, which would be an all-time high and six point HIGHER than they are currently. Why not get a few more percentage of men and make life easier?
I had the pleasure of meeting author Richard Reeves at a conference last year, and Richard just had a very good week. Thanks to a reader from NY letting me know his book Of Boys and Men just landed on Obama’s 2024 summer reading list. Reeves also penned and excellent op-ed for the Wall Street Journal (paywall) “On the Ballot: American Manhood” that is very much in line with my point of view. Congrats Richard! (And thanks to a reader from Virigina for sending!) Richard is also on Substack.
What are your thoughts on the upcoming DNC or the election in general? Thanks for reading Men and the 2024 Election and I would love to hear from you!
Let's hope Harris won't leave addressing men to Walz for fear of appearing unsisterly.