The Mythical 2024 Undecided Voter

-by Ben Braver

Florida state Senate candidate

You’ve probably heard, like I have, that this presidential election is so close that it will ultimately come down to the small sliver of undecided voters. Most people made up their minds about Trump eight years ago, and he has done little in the meantime to change their impression of him. Whether swaying to music in front of a group of fans for 39 minutes strikes you as a brilliant political strategy or a symptom of onset dementia seems to settle the issue pretty decisively.

So I’ve been wondering, probably like you have, just who are these undecided voters? Who could possibly not have made up their minds about which of these candidates they would trust with the nuclear codes?

Well, I finally found one! I met an actual Undecided Voter yesterday, in a Verizon store where I was shopping for a new phone. David, there with his wife and daughter, heard my area code and shared that he had moved to Florida from my area of Ohio a couple of years ago. 

He saw a sticker for my campaign and struck up a conversation about politics–carefully— and I quickly learned that he had not made up his mind about who to vote for. He didn’t like Trump, but he couldn’t see that Kamala stood for anything… I wanted to give him a hug after he said that. It confirmed everything I thought about the undecided voters in this country.

I’ve always felt that Republicans know how to campaign, but they can’t govern worth a damn, whereas Democrats are the opposite. We just aren’t good at getting our message out there. That’s why it’s been so easy to convince Americans that Biden— who has objectively accomplished more than any modern President (short list)— has done nothing but wander around fields for four years.

It’s also why people don’t know just what Kamala is promising to do— other than not be Trump for four years. Now, that is an absolutely outstanding quality that’s more than enough for a lot of people, and one her opponent is sorely lacking, but David was right to want details about what she would actually do for him, for his family, for the country. I majored in economics specifically to correct the Democrats messaging on Economics.

I told him that this is what she should say:

The first thing I want to tell you is that no child will go hungry under my watch. Governor Walz expanded free school meals (breakfast and lunch) to all children in Minnesota and I will do that for every child in the country. The $6,000 childhood tax credit I’ve proposed will cut childhood poverty in half.

No child will wonder where they will sleep at night. I will fight the real estate monopolies on behalf of young families so they can afford to buy a starter home— what used to be the standard first step for a family but which has become unreachable for many. The Harris administration will help out families with a $25,000 loan for their down payment so they can get over that first hurdle. Families will be able to provide homes for their children and start building better futures for them.

I will stop these huge corporations from ripping off the American people. In my administration, the FTC will break up big tech, big retail, and big pharma. And, by giving you a $50,000 small business loan, we’ll finally have a free market that average people can participate in, not be controlled by. With my Price Gouging ban that has already been effective in many states, we will keep bad actors from grifting you in your time of need. I will stop scrupulous hucksters from selling crappy watches, or fraudulent education, or NFT’s— which I’ll bet money, he has no idea what it is.

I will not allow profit-driven companies to take advantage of you for wanting to be healthy. My Democratic Presidential predecessors have created a strong legacy of passing healthcare laws that help you that I intend to live up to; Under my presidency no person in America will pay more than $2,000 out of pocket for their healthcare. 

The richest country on earth shouldn’t have children going hungry, or scared about where to sleep. We shouldn’t allow enormous companies to steal from American citizens to line the pockets of billionaire CEO’s. And no one should worry about whether they can afford to live a healthy, full life. We can be better, with my policies. That is why you should elect me to be your President, David.

Kamala Harris has been wrapping her policy in messaging designed to appeal to the mythical undecided voter who is sick of Trump, vaguely progressive, but traditionally Republican. But because that messaging is inherently weak, that voter is turned off by it. Even if they may disagree with what she stands for, they want her to stand for something.

So far she’s followed the beaten path, promising to stay the course, which in a country that believes we are going the wrong direction is a bad idea. That’s why she needs to be braver and toss away Biden’s advisors who are driving her straight to his fate. This rhetoric will uplift her policy from undefined moderacy to clear leadership, and she’ll blaze her own trail into the future.

Personally, I’ve been gaining ground in my undeniably red district by using this kind of proudly progressive language. The truth is, many Americans respect a strong stance they may not agree with over no stance at all. So even if they disagree with my policy at first, if they know that I believe in it, they’re willing to listen. And because policy like mine and Harris’ invests in the people, makes sense, and has been proven to work, it’s far from impossible to convince others to see what's good about it.

That voter— the exact voter Harris needs— was flipped not by trying to fit what I think he wants to see in a politician, but by showing him what he wants from a politician. There are countless voters in my district who start a conversation by yelling Trump in my face and end by proposing more progressive policy than even I’ve promoted. Trump voters have ridden Trump’s faux populism all the way around the political horseshoe ending up right where progressives need them— if they talk with them. There are some who are ready to switch over as long as we communicate policy that promises enough change and a leader brave enough to use it.