News Not Noise Letter: Beyoncé vs Joe Rogan
Can celebrities help seal the deal with voters? Plus: what’s happening at the nation’s newspapers and breaking news on Iran.
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As we were about to hit send on this newsletter, word broke that Israel has launched retaliatory strikes on Iran. Find more of what we know below.
Also today, we make sense of one of the last pre-election polls. We bring you the latest from the campaign trail. And, at the bottom of the newsletter, I share my perspective on the campaign tactics and strategy in the final days.
Here are your headlines:
Iran in the crosshairs: Israel’s long-anticipated counter-strike against Iran began early Saturday morning, local time. Iranian news agencies reported several explosions were heard in the Iranian capital of Tehran, as well as west of the city. In a statement the Israeli military described the attack as "precise strikes on military targets in Iran." Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1, and Israel's defense minister, Yoav Gallant, was recently quoted as saying the Israeli response would be "deadly, precise and above all, surprising." More to come.
Election Angst: With days to go before the election, the presidential race is essentially frozen and still too close to call. The last pre-election New York Times and Siena College poll shows voters divided with 48% supporting Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump, each. The most interesting part of the poll: 27% of voters say the economy is their top concern. But after that 15% consider immigration a priority, and 15% say it’s abortion. Those are the issues that are likely to define the race in these final days. (Though developments in the Middle East could shift the focus.)
Harris hones in on abortion: Today both campaigns descended on Texas. Harris will be joined by Beyoncé and country icon Willie Nelson at a Friday evening rally in Houston. In her remarks Harris will deliver a stark message on abortion. She’ll say: “In just four years as President, Donald Trump was able to erase half a century of hard-fought progress for women. And now, he wants to go even further,” and “ban abortion nationwide.” Though Harris does not expect to win Texas, the campaign views it as ground zero in the fight over reproductive rights. With Beyoncé there, they can be sure to get national media coverage. Harris plans to tell voters in other states: “If you think you are protected from Trump abortion bans because you live in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New York, California….please know: No one is protected. Because a Donald Trump national ban will outlaw abortion in every single state.”
Can he beat Cruz? Democratic Senate Candidate Colin Alred will join Harris and Beyoncé at the rally. He is in a neck-and-neck race to unseat Republican incumbent Ted Cruz; a victory there could keep the Senate in Democratic control.
Trump’s Immigration Language: While in Texas Trump played to his strong suit: fear about immigration and crime. At a rally in Austin he said the U.S. has become “a garbage can for the rest of the world to dump the people that they don’t want,” and referenced a false claim that the Biden administration lost hundreds of thousands of migrant children. Trump called November 5 “liberation day in America.” He also dismissed his former White House chief of staff, John Kelly, as “a total whack job.” This week, Kelly told the NY Times that he believes Trump meets the definition of a fascist. Trump also denied a published report that he insulted Vanessa Guillen, a murdered U.S. Army soldier, and went back on his promise to pay for her funeral. Trump has another rally in the swing state of Michigan, then heads to Pennsylvania and is scheduled to hold a Sunday rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
(Non) Endorsement Drama: Today the Washington Post announced that the paper will no longer endorse presidential candidates, starting now. The publisher explained, this is “a statement in support of our readers’ ability to make up their own minds….” However the news side of the paper quickly reported that the decision was made by Post owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Martin Baron, the Post’s prior executive editor and a renowned journalist (played in the movie Spotlight by Liev Schreiber), denounced the move as, “cowardice, a moment of darkness that will leave democracy as a casualty.” A similar drama unfolded earlier this week at the LA Times. The newspaper’s editorial page editor Mariel Garza and two members of the editorial board quit in protest, after word that Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong blocked the board’s plan to endorse Kamala Harris.
Why papers endorse: Typically, the editorial section of the newspaper publishes endorsements; that’s separate from the news or “reporting” part of the paper. American newspapers have a long tradition of endorsing political candidates in both local and national elections. In a study published last year, Yale political science professor Kevin DeLuca wrote that newspapers, “cover elections extensively, know much more than a typical voter about the issues and the candidates running, and have experience assessing candidate performance.”
South Korea/North Korea/Russia/Ukraine South Korea is considering supplying Ukraine with weapons. This, after reports that 3,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia and Ukrainian intelligence believes up to 10,000 North Korean troops are preparing to fight in Ukraine alongside Russian forces. South Korean President Yoon Suk called this a “provocation that threatens global security beyond just the Korean Peninsula and Europe.” NATO’s Secretary General said such actions would mark a “significant escalation” in the conflict.
The Fall Classic The New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers meet for Game 1 of Major League Baseball’s World Series tonight in Los Angeles. It’s a rivalry that goes back to 1941, when the Dodgers played in Brooklyn. It’s also the first time since 1981 that the two teams have met in the championship series. Scalpers are reportedly getting $1,703 per seat on average. Play ball!
Race to the Finish:
As we approach the end of the campaign, lots of you tell me you don’t like the candidates’ final messages and think they should be closing in a different way. I hope the following will help you understand why they’re doing what they’re doing.
There aren’t many undecideds:
82% of voters say they’ve made their voting decision.
5% are voting third party.
The remainder – 13% – are (in theory) the gettable voters that both campaigns are targeting.
Harris is winning:
