- THE FLAG
- Posts
- Election Day 2024
Election Day 2024
Plus, a movie moment.
Good morning and Happy Wednesday! Here are the Flag’s Top Five stories that should be on your radar to start the day:
US: Florida’s abortion amendment fails, leaving 6-week ban in place (The Hill)
World: Netanyahu aide charged for leaking secret documents, accused of sabotaging hostage deal (USA Today)
Business: South Korea fines Meta $15 million for illegally collecting information on Facebook users (AP)
Technology: Amazon acknowledges screen issues on a ‘small number’ of Kindle Colorsoft units (TechCrunch)
Sports: Lions land Za'Darius Smith before NFL trade deadline (ESPN)
And of course, some good news: Man with terminal cancer diagnosis completes Ironman World Championship.
BECOME A FLAG BEARER
📏 The year was 1793, and America was this close to ditching inches and pounds... until pirates showed up. Uncover this metric mystery—click through to become a premium subscriber!
POWERED BY WEBSTREET
Not long ago, investors were chasing rocketship startups in hopes of a huge payday.
Boy, how times have changed.
Those overvalued, buzzy startups just aren't as attractive anymore. You know what's cool? Undervalued companies that earn real profit.
WebStreet finds these companies, acquires them, improves them, and sells them. (And lets you invest)
They buy overlooked businesses already earning money
They improve operations, so they make even more money
They bundle everything into a single, powerful fund that you can invest in. It's like micro private equity on autopilot.
Unlike a lot of startups, WebStreet is doing great.
TRENDING
Right: How the Biden-Harris Administration Used the Media to Convince Voters It Fixed the Border Crisis, Ryan Mills, National Review
Right: For constitutional protection, voters should elect a Republican Senate, Quin Hillyer, Washington Examiner
Right: Leftists: Gorsuch Cares Too Much About Normal People, Mollie Hemingway, The Federalist
Left: The End of the Whole-of-Government Approach? David Dayen, American Prospect
Left: Trump's Chances of Winning Remain Baffling, Hayes Brown, MSNBC
Left: Bracing for MAGA's backlash: The strategy behind secret Kamala Harris voters is safety, Amanda Marcotte, Salon
2024
Election Day 2024
Today’s Top Story: Yesterday was election day, and millions of Americans made their way to the polls to cast their votes for president and other elected leaders in their states and local communities. Here’s what both sides were saying before votes were counted.
Reporting from the Right: America to decide the next president of the United States today (Fox News)
Reporting from the Left: Polls in swing states begin to close as sharply divided America chooses between Harris and Trump (AP)
RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT
What Trump Voters Are Saying
The Top Argument From The Right: If Donald Trump Wins the Election, William McGunn, Wall Street Journal: “…in a democracy, the first question to ask about an election is this: What are the American people telling us? In our system ‘we the peopl’ are the ultimate arbiter of a candidate’s fitness for office. But while polite society deems Mr. Trump beyond the pale, he retains an inconvenient popularity with racial and ethnic minorities…that Democrats regard as rightfully theirs and most Republicans never really appealed to. When Democrats have to bring out Barack Obama to lecture African-American men about their insufficient enthusiasm for Ms. Harris, it means Mr. Trump has upset the traditional alignments. … The unpopular record of the Biden-Harris administration certainly has made Mr. Trump a more plausible candidate. But his campaign has also benefited from a constant stream of snide and disdainful anti-Trump news articles, television panels and declarations by so-called political experts. … Whatever Mr. Trump’s offenses, his voters have concluded that Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris are worse, if only because they can count on the media and many of the nation’s most important institutions to back them up.”
Honorable Mention #1: The Best Thing For America Would Be A Donald Trump Blowout, Kylee Griswold, The Federalist.
Honorable Mention #2: Here We Are on Election Day, at the End of All Things, Jeffrey Blehar, National Review.
LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT
Anxiety Is High
The Top Argument From The Left: US Voting Day Is Here at Last After a Bruising 2024 Campaign, Iain Marlow, Bloomberg: “Anxiety about the outcome of the race — and when the winner will be known — hangs over Election Day for 244 million Americans eligible to vote. … With the Republican ticket still refusing to concede Biden won last time, anxiety is running high over the potential for a drawn-out battle and when the next president will be known. … Trump alleged even before ballot-counting began that Democrats were cheating. Both sides are primed for lawsuits over claims of voter irregularities, and it’s possible the ultimate victor might not be declared until the Electoral College meets on Dec. 17. … The stakes couldn’t be higher globally. The election winner will inherit wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and must face down an increasingly assertive China. The night before Election Day, US intelligence agencies issued an unprecedented statement saying adversaries — with Russia as the “most active threat” — were stepping up a push to undermine confidence in the elections. … It was a campaign of unprecedented vitriol. The candidates — and their vice presidential picks, Walz and Republican JD Vance — spurred supporters on with dark warnings about their rivals winning control of the White House.”
Honorable Mention #1: What Democratic Operatives Think Could Decide the Election, David Freedlander, New York Magazine.
Honorable Mention #2: The bogeyman haunting Harris (and Biden) that Trump is cashing in on, Matt Egan, CNN.
FLAG THIS
Voter Turnout
The U.S. elections of 2018, 2020, and 2022 saw historically high voter turnout rates, marking some of the most engaged elections in decades. In 2020, 66% of the voting-eligible population participated in the presidential election, the highest national turnout since 1900. The 2018 midterm saw 49% turnout, the highest for a midterm since 1914, while the 2022 midterm achieved a still-strong 46% turnout, surpassing all midterms since 1970. Together, these figures reflect a notable trend of increased voter engagement in recent U.S. elections (Pew Research Center).
How do you think voter turnout will "turn out" for the 2024 election compared to 2020? |
WATERCOOLER
Apartheid Opposed, Smart Pupil, Space Vote
On This Day in 1962, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning South Africa’s racist apartheid policies and calling on all its members to end economic and military relations with the country.
Scientific American: Pupil Size Is a Marker of Intelligence
Today I learned astronauts can vote absentee from space.
POWERED BY WEBSTREET
Not long ago, investors were chasing rocketship startups in hopes of a huge payday.
Boy how times have changed.
Those overvalued, buzzy startups just aren't as attractive anymore. You know what's cool? Undervalued companies that earn real profit.
WebStreet finds these companies, acquires them, improves them, and sells them. (And lets you invest)
They buy overlooked businesses already earning money
They improve operations, so they make even more money
They bundle everything into a single, powerful fund that you can invest in. It's like micro private equity on autopilot.
Unlike a lot of startups, WebStreet is doing great.
Reply