The Battle Over Young Men

Plus my library talk and a new video

Harris did exceptionally well at the debate, and I was particularly glad she called out the former president’s push for the death penalty for the Central Park 5. Having just spoken on a program for International Falsely Accused Day, a day to bring attention to those who have been falsely accused and incarcerated, this message was particularly poignant. It turns out those five boys of color, aged just 14-16 at the time, were later exonerated from the crimes for which they had been convicted. Initially, the Harris-Walz ticket seems to be enjoying a post-debate bump in the polls. Here’s the clip from the debate where Harris criticizes the former President for taking out a full-page ad in the New York Times calling for their execution.

I’m surprised and honestly excited that male voters, especially young men, are getting more attention this year than in any election I can recall. It’s an opportunity (I use that word a lot) for the Democrats to broaden their base if they choose to focus on it. The shift of young male voters to the political right, which I discuss in my book How Democrats Can Win Back Men, is something the Democrats need to work on in order to increase their chances in presidential and swing state/district voting over the next couple of decades.

Imagine two future scenarios — one in which Democrats better appeal to men, and therefore increased odds dramatically of winning not only this year but over the next two decades. Now imagine the opposite — the continued ignoring of men in Democratic messaging, increased support among men for Republicans, and a challenging couple of decades mired by losses at worst or slight/minor victories at best. Which would be a better future for the Democratic Party? Let’s look at these two types of messaging and consider which one pushes Democrats in a better direction.

A Good Take - Men in Red States Have Worse Outcomes

I came across a couple of interesting takes this week. First, the good. From California-based journalist Max Taves, an article on DCReport.org titled, “Why Men Need To Rethink Their Budding Bromance With the GOP,” in which the author advocates for men to ditch the Republican Party and Trump, not because they owe to someone else or out of some duty to others, but it will be better for them. Taves writes:

The problems men face aren’t spread evenly across American political geography. Men who live in states where Republicans reign suffer more. And the dismal differences between red and blue states are measurable, significant and not coincidental.

Bingo! And Taves backs up his thesis with a number of important facts about male social outcomes, such as longevity, cancer deaths, etc., and how they are worse in red states due to Republican policies. This is exactly the type of information the Democrats should highlight among the many important messages going out, which also include of course support for abortion rights, better economic policies, and warnings about Project 2025. This type of inclusive messaging toward men, and getting male influencers involved, is vital to the future of the Democratic Party. The DNC should hire him immediately in my opinion.

Missing the Mark - Young Men Are “Stupid”

I also saw an article that struck me as the wrong type of messaging. A piece in Slate.com was titled “The Downside of Trump’s Popularity With Young Men Is That Young Men, Who Are Stupid, Might Forget to Vote.” I understand that in our clickbait media ecosystem, sometimes you need to write a headline that grabs attention, so I guess they got me. But when you want to piss people off, calling them “stupid” is a great way to do it. This reminds me of the “deplorables” comment from Hillary Clinton in 2016 which to this day is used against her. Calling young men “stupid” is just plain offensive, and it is exactly the type of thing the right uses to tell young men that the left hates them. If you’re a young man, why would you vote for people who call you stupid?

And what’s worse, the message of the article seems be that it’s no big deal: don’t worry about the young men because maybe they won’t vote anyway — the opposite of what I suggest. The Democrats need to be worried about their standing in all demographics, what I call the All-Demographic Strategy.

My Talk at the Tiburon Belvedere Library

For those in the San Francisco Bay Area, please come to the Belvedere Tiburon Library Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 6pm. I was excited to be invited by the Program Director Milos Petrovic to discuss my book and topics related to the upcoming election. The talk is free, registration is appreciated but not required: https://www.beltiblibrary.org/event?id=11792496

A New Video - Book Overview

Thanks to Jack Kammer for video editing!