Young Men's Research Initiative seeks to connect Dems to young male voters
Also, a meme that worth a thousand words, and some media updates
Young men continue to be a demographic of focus this election! This highly contested voting bloc needs better messaging from Democrats, and a new group is working on that. While my book How Democrats Can Win Back Men focuses on all men—all ages, races, ability levels, etc.—it’s great to see attention paid to young men who are currently dealing with a lot of adversity.
Republicans Outspending Dems 10:1 on Young Men in Pennsylvania
I am honored to have been invited to join the Young Men Research Initiative (YMRI) which conducts research on young male voters and how the Democratic Party can better appeal to them. One study showed the discrepancy of spending on ads to young male voters in Pennsylvania with Republicans outspending Dems 10:1— this in a potential tipping point state among a vital demographic.
Below is an appearance of YMRI co-founder Aaron Smith on MSNBC in a segment titled “How Democrats can win over young men.” Aaron provides some key insights, backing it up with data, and a shares compelling perspective not often seen on politically left outlets like MSNBC on the importance of the young male vote. I agree with Aaron when he identifies a major part of the problem as messaging—many young men support many Democratic principles but don’t identify with the party. In my opinion, this is one of the best segments of the year — great work Aaron!
Messaging to Young Men on Male Reproductive Rights
In my book How Democrats Can Win Back Men and in this blog which I launched exactly one year before election day, I have urged Democrats to focus on the legitimate needs of men and boys in their platform and messaging. Several obvious and non-controversial topics that should have been front and center include:
Men’s Health: men are now dying 5.9 years earlier than women yet there is no Office of Men’s Health despite multiple offices for women’s health
Male Educational Outcomes: men make up only 40% of college students
Male Homelessness: the fact that men are the majority of homeless.
A more controversial topic is abortion which falls under the larger heading of reproductive rights. We knew that abortion is a major issue in this year’s campaign, with Democrats supporting women’s reproductive choice on this issue that so directly affects their bodily autonomy — it is indeed one of the major driving forces in female voter turnout. But Democratic campaigns should share with men why it’s important for them, too, while acknowledging that there is such a thing as male reproductive rights.
From page 117 of my book How Democrats Can Win Back Men in a section titled “Pro-choice Arguments for Men,” one of the reasons I provided is:
21 years of child-support obligations. If there is an unplanned pregnancy, and abortion is not an option, a man may be responsible for 21 years of child support obligations. Although a woman would have the option to give the child up for adoption, a man has no such option. While there has been discussion of what is known as legal paternal surrender or a paper abortion for men, this is not likely to be a reality in the US in the near future.
While the consequences of an abortion ban for women have been widely discussed, I haven’t heard this argument toward men made by Harris or Walz (if you know of them saying something along these lines, please send me the link!)
Author Emma Johnson penned a compelling article for Newsweek titled “Give Men Reproductive Rights, Too.” Johnson wrote, “One problem is that we have refused to embrace our biggest ally group: men, who hold similar views on abortion rights as women, and also benefit when they have agency over their parenthood.” And recently, a meme posted across social media platforms took a lighter approach to the issue:
People largely vote in their self-interest. Focusing on the negative consequences for young men of a national abortion ban is a very strong argument because it focuses on their future and their potential obligations. I don’t know if this meme was generated by someone within the Democratic establishment or some random person on the internet (the photo is a common one), but I believe it’s an effective message for young men. Incidentally, the concept of male choice in the case of an unplanned pregnancy—legal paternal surrender, aka a “paper abortion”—is largely absent from the major media radar, Johnson’s excellent article being one exception.
Abortion is a sensitive topic and should be addressed with the seriousness it deserves. Adding humor can be tricky. But sometimes a meme is worth a thousand words.
Upcoming Interviews and My Free Speech TV Network ID Spot
I am thrilled that my book and ideas are gaining traction, and I will be conducting a number of interviews in the coming weeks, both before and after the election. International interviews range from India to the UK, and I will be sharing all of them in future posts and on my Media Page which is a repository for my media appearances.
And just for fun, here is a recent very short video of Network ID Spot I was invited to record for Free Speech TV, an independent national network that includes original programming such as The Thom Hartmann Show and The Stephanie Miller Show.
Books Still Available
There is still time to order my book How Democrats Can Win Back Men from Amazon ahead of the election, and it’s available in either Kindle E-book or paperback format. Get yours today!