It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy.

[link removed]

[link removed]

Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy. We think of it as a mini-magazine in your inbox.

WHERE UNDECIDED VOTERS STAND NOW
By Joshua Barajas, @Josh_Barrage ([link removed])
Senior Editor, Digital

Erica R. Hendry, @ericarhendry ([link removed])
Managing Editor, Digital

There are fewer than 50 days until Election Day.

Many voters are already confident they’ll support one of the two major party candidates, according to our latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll. Only one percent of respondents to the poll, taken just before the ABC News Presidential Debate, said they would support a third party's candidate. Another 1 percent said they were undecided.

Where do undecided voters stand now?

Throughout the election, Lisa Desjardins and our politics team have been talking to voters who are undecided ([link removed]) or discontented with their choices for president.

We checked in with them on how they were feeling about the debate and their choice in November.
[link removed]
Watch the segment in the player above.
Debate takeaways

For Steven Beck of Madison, Alabama, neither candidate lived up to his expectations. This election year is probably the first time he’s been truly undecided, he told us.

“One of the things that I had difficulty with throughout the entire debate was the lack of specifics,” he said.

He’s not alone.

Anna Flores, a voter who lives in a Phoenix suburb, said she would have appreciated more specifics in what was most likely the only Harris-Trump debate we’ll get before November’s election. Before the debate, Flores said she was against Trump.

“I don't trust either of them as commander-in-chief or even as necessarily head of government,” she said, though she plans to do more research before casting her official vote.

Zach Horn of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, said Harris did a “fantastic job” in the debate.

“I thought there was some policy depth that was offered,” he said, though he thought moderators questioned Trump more than his opponent on some issues.

Robert Lilly of Wickenburg, Arizona, said he’s “not 100 percent until election time.”

He thought Harris told “too many lies” during the debate, “and I expect that to go on.” He currently plans to vote for Trump.

Jessica Dalton of Salt Lake City said she looks forward to Harris and her running mate speaking more on their economic stances ([link removed]) , specifically their small business initiatives. Child care and women’s health care are also important to her.

For Stephen Stone of Brooklyn, New York, the debate felt “like a race to the bottom, more than anything.”

“It's not about anybody having any sort of real ideology and the concerns of the majority of American people at heart,” he said, “It's all very much about just being better than your competitor.”

On voting and the outlook

“Not voting is never an option,” Dalton said. “That is my privilege as an American citizen. People have laid down their lives for that, and I will vote in every election that I'm asked to vote in.”

Horn said he’s a voter who waits until the last second.

“As divisive as it is,” he said, “I still think that I still have, like this belief that we're going to be OK and that we're going to do the right thing and that things are going to be all right.”

Stone said voting in elections “are not easy decisions to make.”

“They touch on so many aspects of our lives, and they don't just affect us individually. They affect us globally,” he added.
More on politics from our coverage:
* Watch: Another apparent assassination attempt on Trump casts a shadow ([link removed]) on the 2024 campaign.
* One Big Question: Why hasn’t there been a pause on politics after this second attempt? NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter discuss. ([link removed])
* A Closer Look: Do celebrity endorsements matter? A look at the role of pop stars in modern politics. ([link removed])
* Perspectives: Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart and National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru on Harris’ debate success and Trump’s embrace of conspiracy theories. ([link removed])

A YOUNG PERSON’S PERSPECTIVE ON WHY VOTING MATTERS

[link removed]
Photo by Alejandro Granadillo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

By Rawan Elbaba, @rawanelbaba ([link removed])
Digital Producer

Christine Zirneklis, @cazzirneklis ([link removed])
Director, Communications and Partnerships for Student Reporting Labs

Like in other U.S. territories, the 3.2 million people of Puerto Rico can’t cast ballots in November’s election. Voters there can hold primaries, but that’s as far into the election season they can weigh in on who gets to be president.

In the latest episode of “On Our Minds: Election 2024,” ([link removed]) Adelaida Siaca-Ortiz and Miranda Jatib, high school students from San Juan, talk about navigating a complex political reality ([link removed]) as young people in Puerto Rico.

“Identity is one of the most conflicting topics in the island of Puerto Rico,” Siaca-Ortiz said.

Imagine you’re at a Model United Nations conference, she said, and the Puerto Rican anthem is playing. As one would for an anthem, some put their right hands on their chests. But after that anthem ends, the United States anthem is played. Again, some people put their hands on their chests, while others don’t.

“This is something Puerto Rican students like me experience in their daily life,” she added, nodding to how Puerto Rican cultural identity intersects with American influence.

This reality, too, translates to voting rights for the island.

New episodes of the “On Our Minds” election-year podcast, produced by PBS News Student Reporting Labs ([link removed]) , will be released every other week until November’s election.

Listen to the full episode ([link removed])
#POLITICSTRIVIA
By Joshua Barajas, @Josh_Barrage ([link removed])
Senior Editor, Digital

Scientific American announced it was endorsing a candidate for president, only the second time in the magazine’s 179-year history.

Editors for the publication wrote an op-ed ([link removed]) backing Vice President Kamala Harris, citing her plans for climate change, reproductive health and gun safety, while saying former President Donald Trump had a “disastrous” record when he occupied the Oval Office.

“One of two futures will materialize according to our choices in this election. Only one is a vote for reality and integrity,” editors wrote, before urging readers to vote for Harris.

Our question: Who got the magazine’s first-ever endorsement?

Send your answers to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.

Last week, we asked: Which state appears with two different spellings in the Constitution?

The answer: Pennsylvania. ([link removed]) Or that’s “Pensylvania,” as it appears alongside the 1787 signatures in the Constitution. (And the Liberty Bell too. ([link removed]) ) That said, it’s not an error. Both versions were acceptable before the state spelling was standardized.

Congratulations to our winners: Dean M. Gottehrer and Nicholas Mertes!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.
Want more news and analysis in your inbox?
Explore all of the PBS News' e ([link removed]) mails. ([link removed])
[link removed]
[link removed]

============================================================
Copyright © 2024 WETA, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
3939 Campbell Ave.
Arlington, VA 22206

** Update my email preferences ([link removed])

** Unsubscribe from all PBS News emails ([link removed])