Photo of the Week
This week the strongest earthquake in 25 years devastated Taiwan. The photos are surreal. Read more here.
All Eyes on Swing States
The 2024 presidential election is almost certain to be a rematch between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, with Trump currently leading in polls according to a recent Fox News poll. Red State points out, “The Biden campaign is wasting no time blaming the media for their abysmal performance in the polls.”
Swing state polls favor Trump, with RealClearPolitics showing him ahead in crucial states like Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina. Trump’s path to victory relies on winning key swing states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, while Biden's campaign faces challenges.
More from Red State:
It's early in the game. It's far from certain that Joe Biden will be the Democrat nominee; his mental and physical deterioration just becomes more and more obvious by the day. Team Trump has the easier task: Hit Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and build on what they already have.
It's a long way to the election. But this kind of informal prognosticating can be fun.
The latest Wall Street Journal (subscription required) poll reveals Donald Trump leading President Biden in six of seven crucial swing states for the 2024 election, primarily due to widespread dissatisfaction with the economy and doubts regarding Biden’s capabilities. Trump holds leads ranging from 2 to 8 percentage points in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina. Biden maintains a narrow lead in Wisconsin.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Biden is struggling to maintain his 2020 coalition, facing declining support among key demographics. The poll also found that both candidates face challenges, with voters emphasizing economic concerns and mixed sentiments about their respective performances. Trump is favored on economic issues but lags behind Biden on handling of abortion.
Truckers Say Put the Brakes on Biden's EV Policy
Fox News reported that American truck drivers are criticizing the Biden administration’s new environmental regulations mandating the transition to all-electric heavy-duty vehicles. They argue that electric truck technology isn't advanced enough to replace diesel-powered trucks due to battery limitations, shorter ranges, and longer charging times.
More from Fox News:
"I'm an owner-operator. I've been in the business for 30 years," Mike Nichols, a Wisconsin-based trucker, told Fox News Digital in an interview. "Even if they subsidized the cost of the electric vehicle 100%, I still would refuse because I still would go broke. That's how useless they are. If they gave me one of these things, I still wouldn't take it.
"EV trucks don't do as much work. They're heavier, so they can't haul as much. They don't go as far. They take longer to charge," Nichols added, saying he wouldn't be able to run his business if he were forced into using an electric vehicle.
"So, you're going to need more trucks on the road, which is completely the opposite of what we would want if we were actually concerned about bettering our society."
Concerns also arise about the lack of charging infrastructure and power grid upgrades. The EPA regulations aim for 50% of vocational trucks, 35% of short-haul tractor-trailers, and 25% of long-haul tractor-trailers to be electric by 2032. However, the industry experts highlight challenges such as the inability of electric trucks to handle tasks like power takeoff and the insufficient capacity of the power grid.
Lewie Pugh of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association told Fox News, “Truckers want clean air, clean water but there are certain ways to go about it. We're passing mandatory laws on technology that's not even invented, and nobody knows what the cost is going to be.”
Welcome to Biden-Mart!
A clever pro-Trump PAC website, Biden-Mart.com, invites users to compare their grocery total under Biden and under Trump. The website estimates costs by comparing January 2021 prices with January 2024 prices.
The Daily Mail reported:
'Every time you go grocery shopping you are reminded of the failure of Bidenomics,' Alex Pfeiffer, spokesman for Make America Great Again Inc. told DailyMail.com. 'Joe Biden's inflation is robbing hard-working Americans of their money.'
The Super PAC effort highlights one of the top issues of the presidential election in the United States in 2024.
Grocery prices have jumped by 25 percent over the past four years as Americans are routinely shocked by the cost of a typical visit to the store.
The issue of inflation and the economy consistently remains one of the top issues for voters ahead of the 2024 election.
Trump consistently talks about inflation during his presidential campaign.
'People are going through hell,' he said in an interview on CNBC earlier in March.
'The middle class in our country has been routed and the middle class largely built our country and they have been treated very, very badly with policy,' he continued.
My results based on items we might typically buy are above. I can’t help but say that I wouldn’t buy chicken thighs or skirt steak because those are both things I hate. I chose to put those in place of chicken breasts and flank steak to get a more accurate total 🤣
Similar to the viral “I did that!” Biden stickers that appeared on gas pumps, this is a good approach for capturing voters who don’t pay attention to politics and the 24/7 news cycle. Whether the silliness of the Biden Administration celebrating a non-holiday on Easter or a stumble on Air Force One, many American voters don’t pay attention to the stories that capture the social media and legacy media news cycle. Reinforcing the aspects of the Biden Administration that hit Americans every day could be a powerful approach.
The Life-Changing Magic of ‘Giving Up’
The Guardian reported that tidying up guru Marie Kondo has embraced a new attitude now that she is a mother.
Three children later, the 39-year-old’s mindset has shifted radically. “As long as the living room floor is clean, then that is what the new tidying threshold becomes,” she says. Word of her embracing a “messy” home emerged last year when she explained in a webinar that she had “kind of given up” on tidying the house after the birth of her third child, a son, now two. (She also has daughters, seven and eight.)
“There were as many reactions as there were followers and fans that I have around the world,” Kondo says of the response to her revelation that kids’ toys were now strewn across her formerly immaculate home. “But the overwhelming reaction was relatability rather than shock, surprise or betrayal. More than messages saying: ‘What happened?’ were ‘Oh, I completely understand what you’re going through,’ and, ‘I thought so, too.’”
Her followers’ attitudes have evolved alongside her own. “As my life stage has shifted, perhaps the same thing has been happening with my followers,” she says. “It may not necessarily be with growing families; people may be really busy with work or they just aren’t physically able to always be tidy.”
Dinner and a Movie 🦄
While researching this week’s movie, Legend, this interview with its director, Ridley Scott caught my attention:
As a director, do you ever feel jealous of a novelist, who is able to work with no interference?
No, because most novelists are desperate to do what I do.
It’s true. I know what it’s like to have an idea (followed by a lot of typing) make it into a tangible book, but it’s still the same — words. I can’t imagine what it would be like to see an idea realized onto the big screen.
For dinner, I’m looking forward to this Creamy Chipotle Chicken with Cilantro Rice and Cotija Cheese.