Candidates Seeking an Audience
A problem for political candidates is getting their messages through to where the voters they are trying to reach are. Years ago, newspapers filled this function, eventually supplemented by radio. Candidates made speeches and they were reported and that was it. Sometimes, newspapers endorsed candidates. Now, with television and the internet supplanting these earlier media choices, candidates are not as certain as they once were as to where to direct their remarks. 
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris (and their VP running mates) usually speak before audiences of their supporters, primed to wave signs and applaud and cheer. But Trump does this to firm up the loyalty of those already for him while Harris seeks a wider audience and utilizes a greater source of speaking opportunities.
Both strategies carry risks with them. Trump uses his resources only to strengthen those already solidly for him and those sufficiently feeble-minded or bigoted to swallow his lies but does not stress expanding that base.
Harris perhaps risks antagonizing some who would normally support her in the hope of gaining other supporters. It’s a balancing act to get their messages out to where the people they want to reach are. Age, gender, economic level, race, and educational level must all be considered, and as the King in ‘the King and I’ said, ‘is a puzzlement.’
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Newspapers’ One Big Advantage:
And speaking of newspapers, they still have the wonderful advantage of enabling their readers to totally ignore the advertisements they carry. Those who follow the candidates on TV or online do not offer that opportunity. The viewer is stuck with their ads. I occasionally flip back and forth between several news channels (MSNBC or CNN or even the NBC, CBS, or ABC local outlets) to avoid four or five minutes of annoying commercials. But this alone will not enable the printed newspaper to survive very much longer. But I still get one delivered to my doorstep daily, as long as it is being printed.
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The Dripping Pita:
And speaking of TV commercials, I get a laugh from one I frequently see from Taco Bell. A couple seated on a sofa are eating one of their meaty, cheesy, creations (a ‘Chalupa’ maybe) and the viewer can see the filling drip down toward the guy’s clothing and probably the sofa as well. I’ve seen it often enough to know that they must be aware of this, but they don’t fix it. Could it be intentional? Warning, if you try one: Put a large dinner napkin on your lap!
JL
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Two Valuable Resources
If you were enrolled at Boston College, you probably would be on a wait list to enroll in one of Professor Heather Cox Richardson’s classes. If you were enrolled at Yale University, the same would be the case with Professor Timothy Snyder’s classes. But you are fortunate to have access to their wisdom each date on their websites, without even paying tuition (unless you want an upgraded version allowing you to make comments and read the comments of others).
Make it a point to check out their websites daily. Snyder’s can be reached at https://snyder.substack.com/about or by CLICKING HERE. Richardson’s can be reached at https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/ or by CLICKING HERE. Make them a daily habit.
Richardson’s posting dated October 15 well documents Donald Trump’s deteriorating mental state. Check it out.
JL
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Attention: Mail-in Voters
If you are voting by mail, don’t sit on your ballot, probably received by now. If you haven’t gotten it yet, or lost it, contact the County Supervisor of Elections, in Palm Beach County at (561) 656-6208. Once you send it in, you can track its progress through their ‘system’ online. Mail-in ballots must be received by them by November 4. If you have one sitting there, complete it and send it back by mail today! Not tomorrow, TODAY! (no postage stamp is required!)
You can call that number for all election information or visit the website at VotePalmBeach.gov or by CLICKING HERE. (That's where you can track your mail in ballot.)
JL
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Bumper Stickers
I believe that bumper stickers on cars are valuable campaigning tools. They enable you to proudly state your election preference and encourage others to vote for your choices. But I seem to see them less frequently than in prior years.
I have a ‘Harris/Walz’ sticker (the easily removable kind) on my rear bumper and a homemade one in my rear window reading ‘Flip Florida’ (in blue of course). ‘Yes’ votes for Amendments 3 (legal marijuana) and 4 (abortion rights) may be the locomotives that pull the entire Democratic ticket to victories in Florida.
Search for stickers by visiting https://officialharriswalzcampaign.com/collections/sticker or by CLICKING HERE. Some are available from private vendors and some from the candidates’ campaigns.
Since we are getting close to Election Day, be certain whatever you might order assures a prompt delivery.
JL
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Time to Ignore Polling … and the Electoral College Problem
At this point in time, it’s best to ignore whatever polls suggest is happening. I guarantee you that there will be States than polls predict will be in one candidate’s camp which will end up in the other candidate's pocket. It will be a very close election.
All you can do at this point is to seriously work hard to see that your candidate wins, in your State, and in other States than might count more than yours does because of the crazy Electoral College with which we are stuck.
Someday we may get rid of the Electoral College (maybe in twenty or thirty years) by Constitutional amendment or by a sufficient number of State legislative actions to enable all of that State’s electoral vote to go to a candidate who won the election’s nationwide popular vote. Two hundred and seventy electoral votes, secured in that manner, would result in what amounts to the popular election of our president!
But the composition of State legislatures can change and be fickle so a Constitutional amendment would be preferable.
JL
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Hurricane Milton and Tornadoes
It has been a few days since Hurricane Milton. It’s time to get one thing straight. Hurricane Milton itself didn’t directly cause the deaths nor do the damage Palm Beach and neighboring counties on Florida’s southeast coast experienced. Milton’s damage occurred on the Gulf Coast and along the I-4 corridor. Tornadoes, spawned by Milton on its peripheral fringes, were the cause of deaths and damage elsewhere in Florida. But that was apart from the damage Milton directly did.
These tornadoes were of the severity usually associated with those that plague the plains States, and not like the much milder incidental ones that occasionally strike elsewhere, including Palm Beach County. (One such tornado struck the Kings Point community a few years ago, damaging roofs but not causing deaths) there. Preparing for a hurricane is not the same as preparing for a tornado, a near-impossible task.
Once a tornado warning is issued, there is no real way to prepare for such events in homes without basements in which to shelter, which few residences in our area include. We’re told to stay in rooms without windows. There are few such rooms in Florida homes. None of the damage done by these hurricanes could have been prevented, and specific warnings, if any, came only minutes before they struck. (The Weather Channel, on TV, broadcast general tornado warnings every two minutes for many hours on the day they struck, but there’s a limit as to how long residents can huddle in an interior windowless bathroom, one of the recommended actions.)
Of prime concern is determining what caused tornadoes of great severity to accompany Milton on its fringes, something not usually present in Florida’s long hurricane history. Mild, brief tornadoes … yes, but severe ones as struck on October 9, … never, at least in my recollection.
I think the answer to that question lies in recognizing the human causes of climate change, something which has elevated water temperatures and relocated the spawning ground of North Atlantic storm centers and hurricanes. The shifting of Saharan sands, possibly connected with agriculture or deforestation there, or even elsewhere on the planet, might be involved. All that is what real scientists are studying.
But dealing with climate change is difficult in a State where it is illegal to use the words ‘climate change’ in any legislation or regulations. Florida’s governor’s positive reaction to the damage done by Helene and Milton is to be commended, but he still ignores what might be their cause: climate change. He is a fool for doing so.
JL
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Housekeeping on Jackspotpourri
Forwarding Postings: Please forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it (Friends, relatives, enemies, etc.) If you want to send someone the blog, you can just tell them to check it out by visiting https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com or you can provide a link to that address in your email to them.
There’s another, perhaps easier, method of forwarding it though!
Google Blogspot, the platform on which Jackspotpourri is prepared, makes that possible. If you click on the tiny envelope with the arrow at the bottom of every posting, you will have the opportunity to list up to ten email addresses to which that blog posting will be forwarded, along with a brief comment from you. Each will receive a link to click on that will directly connect them to the blog.
Either way will work, sending them the link to https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com, or clicking on the envelope at the bottom of this posting.
Email Alerts: If you are NOT receiving emails from me alerting you each time there is a new posting on Jackspotpourri, just send me your email address and we’ll see that you do. And if you are forwarding a posting to someone, you might suggest that they do the same, so they will be similarly alerted. You can pass those email addresses to me by email at jacklippman18@gmail.com.
Again, I urge you to forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it, particularly if they are a registered voter. There’s less than three weeks remaining until Election Day. Spread the word.
JL
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