In 2016, just after Trump was elected, researchers released a study showing only 30% of Millennials believed it's essential to live in a democracy. I wonder what it is today?

Jeff Bezos defended his decision to pull WaPo's endorsement with Gallup data showing trust in news media has hit a low. The problem is the data skews heavily Republican. I wonder why?

This election does not come down to a choice between two candidates, blah, blah, blah... That's how I originally began this post. I came up with this one instead.

"I love the poorly educated," Trump famously said after polls showed they contributed to his Nevada caucus win in 2016. Turns out he had - and has - good reason. Voters who are poorly educated about the facts of key campaign issues - including inflation, immigration and violent crime - are much more likely to vote for Trump than Democratic rival Kamala Harris, according to new research released Thursday by Ipsos' political tracking team in what was their last monthly campaign briefing before the 2024 presidential election.

"Freedom, love for our country, hard work, and tolerance," finds Heartland-based agency Bailey Lauerman, offering a beautiful opportunity for brands that want to execute on them.

In the battle of the everyman campaign soundbites, watching Tim Walz working under the hood on his 1979 Harvester comes across as a lot more authentic than seeing Donald Trump serve fries at McDonald's.

This post begins with a MediaPost writer killing his own column about Donald Trump's McDonald's fry cook campaign event this week. Specifically, it was a review of a 30-minute video on CSPAN of Trump making fries and serving McDonald patrons from the drive-thru window, which all-in-all, was a pretty cliche and harmless campaign stunt, especially compared with so much else Trump has been saying and doing on the campaign trail.

Elevator pitch: The richest man in the world begins offering cash payments, as well as a daily sweepstakes for a chance to win $1 million, to voters who help the campaign of a former president who incited an insurrection, pledged to be fascist dictator if elected again, and even more violence if not.

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

Since I last updated it, the percentage of the world's population living in a democracy has fallen to 29% in 2022 from 33% in 2020. I suspect it's a bit lower now. When I look at the chart depicted above, I imagine Vladimir Putin rubbing his hands and muttering to himself, "Eto rabotayet, eto rabotayet." Or, in English, "It's working, it's working." The chart is a mashup I created of two produced by Our World In Data. The main colorful one shows the percentage of the world's population living in a democracy. The inset overlay shows the percentage of the …