Targeting men on abortion rights, Biden's new rule on worker classification
and a wild impeachment effort in Pennsylvania for Philly's twice-elected DA
Hi! Greetings from mid-October, and we’re less than a month out from the midterms. I recently passed my six-month anniversary at Vox! It’s gone fast, and I feel really good about joining the organization. I’ve been proud of the stories I’ve been able to do there so far, and it’s been a much more stable and supportive work environment than I previously was used to.
This week I joined some of my Vox colleagues on the podcast Today Explained to talk about what to expect if Republicans win in November, based off an article I shared here earlier. You can listen here if interested, and I’d recommend the show more generally; the audio team is really top-notch.
Three new stories to share:
1. The first is a look at how campaigns have been targeting men on abortion rights this election cycle — something leaders + political strategists didn’t really have to think much about when Roe was law of the land. I spoke with a variety of people including the head of research at NARAL, someone designing TV ads for progressive groups, progressive pollsters, pro-choice activists and a leader of the winning coalition to defeat Kansas’s anti-abortion amendment this past summer. I learned what researchers are finding to be the most effective messages and messengers targeting men, and explored some of the tensions of those findings 🙃 You can read it here.
2. The second story is a look at the newly proposed Labor Department rule that sets to redefine who is an employee vs. an independent contractor. I’ve been covering this gig economy debate for over five years now and so was able to provide a bit of fast context when the news broke yesterday. My personal takeaway is that it’s definitely true that the Biden administration is trying to leverage all of his executive agencies to show solidarity with unions and workers, but like most of his administration’s other efforts in this area — there’s just very little that can meaningfully be done without Congressional action. But I explain the significance of the rule proposal, some of the legal and political background, and what happens next. You can read that here.
3. The third story is a look at the wild impeachment effort escalating in Pennsylvania weeks before the midterms against Philadelphia’s twice-elected district attorney, Larry Krasner. I explain what’s going on in the city and state with crime, look at general GOP-led attacks on progressive prosecutors, and why this campaign holds significance for people outside of PA. You can read that here.
Thanks all for reading and sharing with me your smart ideas.