Hey Dems! Swing Voters Want You To Tax The Rich And Get Them Medicare For All! Isn't That Nice?
They'd also like you to stop AI from screwing with prices and salaries, please and thank you.
Come November, Americans will have a choice: Do we do something to end this nightmare, or do we keep it going for the next several decades? Because not only do this year’s midterms offer a chance to throw a wrench into the havoc that Trump has been causing now … but they could also keep him from adding one or two new Supreme Court justices to the bench. It is entirely possible that Alito (79) and/or Thomas (78) may make a calculated decision to retire while Trump is in office so as to ensure that a Democratic president doesn’t get to pick the next nominees. If we win the midterms and the next election, we have a chance to right the ship.
On the bright side, the latest polls are showing Democrats with an advantage in gaining control of Congress. On the not-so-bright side, thanks in large part to Republican gerrymandering, things could still go either way. But back to the bright side — recent polling from Data for Progress provides some insight on what Dems can do to win over swing voters, and they’re all really good things! Nice!
So, what do we know about this year’s swing voters? Well, for one, they consume far less political news than likely voters. That’s not too surprising — in this environment, that’s just about the only way to not feel strongly one way or another.
They also are not quite as jazzed about voting in the midterms as likely voters are, which is not exactly shocking either.
Much of the time, the “wisdom” on swing voters is that they are easily frightened moderates who like things as middle-of-the-road as possible and don’t like candidates who stand out too much — ideally a tall, thin, white, middle-class-looking man of medium good looks (but not too pretty!), a full head of hair (but not like John Edwards!) and extremely vague, focus-grouped policies. The kind of guy who could be the President on their favorite non-CW network show. A guy they couldn’t necessarily pick out out of a lineup, but aren’t opposed to checking a box for? That seems about right.
But that really does not feel like the vibe right now — and the polling seems to bear that out. According to Data for Progress’s report, the top three things that swing voters say Democrats could do to win their vote are actually pretty bold and exciting: Raising taxes on the wealthy, establishing a Medicare for All health care system, and banning AI from setting prices or wages based on personal data.
This is good information to have, and I’d like to think it means we can probably focus more on policy than on aesthetics in these races. In fact, I don’t think we even need to know which of the female candidates’ voices might be annoying to male voters. As long as she wants to tax the shit out of Elon Musk so we can all have healthcare, they can probably look past it.
Now, I recognize that some may hear “tax the rich” and immediately feel that pit in their stomach that says “Oh no, if we say we want to tax the rich, Republicans will fire back with ‘Why do you want to punish people for being successful?’ and everyone will hate us and vote for them instead!” I will grant you that this is a line that seems to work on a lot of people, or at least has in the past, but we are experiencing unusual times right now. It’s not just that we’re in a bad economy, that the cost of everything but our wages is going up, it’s that we’re also headed towards a very uncertain economic future, thanks to advancements in technology. Meanwhile, we have to hear all of these billionaire (and trillionaire) tech bros gush about the exciting future when AI takes all of our jobs.
We’ve also got Elon Musk throwing his entire body on the scale to help Trump and then getting the “opportunity” to purge the entire government of things he didn’t realize were necessary, the Ellisons buying CBS just to turn it into a Trump propaganda outlet, Michael Dell seeing his company’s stock go up after Trump tells people to buy Dell computers, billionaire donors like Linda McMahon, Scott Bessent, and Howard Lutnick getting positions in Trump’s Cabinet, and it turns out that people really don’t seem to like that kind of shit.
And hell, if these fuckers are determined to use their money and power to affect our government, our social lives, and our futures, we may as well make them use it to benefit us instead of Donald Trump.
The second-most popular thing swing voters say could do to swing their votes our way is supporting Medicare For All, which does a lot to explain why candidates who have embraced the single payer system have been killing it in the primaries. I know it’s not what everyone wants to hear, but people are frustrated with our healthcare system, they’re uncertain about the economy, and something that takes as much off their plate as Medicare-for-All is extremely appealing right now.
If it seems unbelievable that swing voters really want these things, one need only consider the nation’s reaction to Luigi Mangione’s (alleged!) assassination of the CEO of UnitedHealth. I’m not saying everyone thought it was great, but no one was exactly struggling with the question of “Why would anyone do such a thing?” either.
That being said, it should alleviate some of the anxiety I know some folks have over whether or not these candidates can beat Republicans in the general elections. They don’t have to worry about the Medicare-for-All-of-it-all scaring people off now, because of how it’s something people really seem to want. In fact, polling shows that 49 percent of Republicans want it. Isn’t that nice!
Now, maybe you are thinking “OK, well that’s great news for progressives, but what about the Dems who aren’t quite there yet?” Well, the third most popular initiative is something I would have to assume everyone can get behind, not to mention something that would not be that complicated to accomplish. After all, we’ve gone for all of human existence without AI setting prices or wages based on our personal data, we can certainly put a stop it to it now.
If you’re wondering what that’s about, precisely, it’s what’s called “surveillance pricing,” when companies charge you more for things you search for based on how much the algorithm thinks you can afford. For instance, when my dad and I were looking for rental cars last year, I was shown far cheaper cars and prices than he was. I also mysteriously always have lower Uber prices than the people I am with, even when we’re trying to go to the same place. It’s started to become prevalent in a variety of industries — rideshares, airlines, e-commerce stores and even groceries — and it’s pretty safe to say that it’s creeping everyone the hell out. No one’s trying to live in an economic Minority Report.
Companies have also started using surveillance data on potential and current employees, including whether they’ve taken out a payday loan, their personal credit, their social media activity, how quickly they’ve taken other job offers, to determine the lowest salary they might accept or whether they’ll stay without getting a raise — rather than basing the salary on experience or the current market.
States have already started cracking down on surveillance pricing, but taking a strong stand on these issues is a really easy way to grab the attention of voters who, as noted, are not paying a ton of attention to political news — and there’s no real downside.
It’s not all good news. I am admittedly more than a little nauseated to see that increasing oil and gas drilling and banning trans women from playing sports both ranked higher than protecting abortion rights, but I guess if they really cared about those, they wouldn’t be swing voters to begin with.
Data For Progress also polled the swing voters on the issues most important to them, in general. Their top priority, by a mile, is the “economy, jobs and the cost of living,” which suggests that both moderate and progressive candidates really need to be pushing the economic reform angle.
What is also interesting, and a very good sign, I think, is how low immigration ranks on the list. Because as much as we may hate it, a whole lot of people in this country were with Trump on immigration. Perhaps seeing with their own eyes what “cracking down on immigration” actually looks like, and also realizing how much our economy relies on the work these immigrants do, has made that less of a priority.
Whom do they trust on these issues, though? That’s a little murkier, but they do trust Dems more on “inflation or the cost of living,” “programs like Social Security and Medicare,” and health care (the latter by a lot), and that’s great. They trust Republicans a teensy bit more on “jobs and the economy,” which, frankly, is ridiculous of them. Given the state of things, that ought to be something Dem candidates can turn around with quality messaging.
I’d also like to point out that, while it’s clear that these things are not priorities for these voters, they do trust Democrats more on race relations and racism, 40-18 percent, on abortion, 46-19 percent, and on LGBTQ+ issues, 42-17 percent. I don’t know if this helps much, but it doesn’t hurt. And it makes me feel a little better about things, to be honest.
The issues that swing voters say they have with the Democratic Party specifically aren’t too terribly surprising. They say the leadership is “too old and out of touch” and that “they are not doing enough to lower costs.” “Too old” is something we realistically can’t do too much about right now, as we’re a little far along for that. However, as of right now, all of the octogenarian candidates are incumbents in safe seats, so perhaps it won’t be a huge deal in actual elections. But people of any age can be in or out of touch, so hopefully we can work to ensure that’s not a problem (not with TikTok dances, please not with TikTok dances).
The second is something I believe Dems can flip into a winning issue for them, so long as they present serious policy ideas that address it directly. Job creation is a great thing to talk about, but job security is one where they can really shine — and it’s just a more concrete thing to promise. For instance, strengthening layoff protections and protecting the right to unionize. Also, I know I keep saying this, and it may not be right for every candidate, but the smartest damn thing Democrats could run on is getting rid of at-will employment and requiring companies to have a good reason if they’re going to fire someone.
Oh, and I’m not totally crazy, either. A 2021 poll found that “71 percent of voters in battleground congressional districts—including 67 percent of Republican voters—supported the adoption of just-cause laws.” Those are some sexy numbers right there, I tell you what. Weirdly enough, I think most people don’t want to be fired from their job because their boss was having a bad day and did not like their socks.
People also want to know that if they are laid off or fired, they’re not going to be completely screwed. This could look like supporting laws mandating severance pay, expanding unemployment benefits to cover part-time workers and gig workers, supporting public employment initiatives in areas with especially high unemployment rates, barring forced arbitration contracts, regulating non-compete clauses in contracts — all sorts of things. Also, candidates on Team Medicare for All should press the fact that it would mean that losing your job (or quitting to take a new job where benefits might not kick in for 90 days or to start your own business) wouldn’t mean that you or your family lose access to health care.
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Again, these midterms are extremely important and have the potential to affect life in this country for the next several decades. This isn’t the time to play around, and it’s clearly not the time to shy away from bold ideas to improve the economy and people’s lives. Things are bad, and when things are bad, that’s when people are willing to try things they might not have considered before.
Also, TAX THE RICH. It is what most Democrats want, it is what will make swing voters vote for Democrats, and it will make all of our lives better. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
PREVIOUSLY ON WONKETTE!
<It is entirely possible that Alito (79) and/or Thomas (78) may make a calculated decision to retire while Trump is in office so as to ensure that a Democratic president doesn’t get to pick the next nominees. If we win the midterms and the next election, we have a chance to right the ship.>
Will the Senate leader have the courage to invoke the McConnell rule and not bring prospective jurists confirmation votes to the floor? Even if it's two years away from the 2028 election, you damn well better do it. Howling from the GOP that it's wrong and unprecedented? Too goddamned bad. It was when McConnell did it for one year then rammed Barrett through with less than a month before the 2020 election. There is no written rule or law about how long, so fuck you guys. You started it, we will end it.
When you have the hammer, use it.
We need a new FDR.