Saturday's politics & policy stories

Harris campaign attracts Lizzo and Usher
Vice President Kamala Harris is capturing superstar support on Saturday with a Michigan rally featuring Detroit-born rapper/ singer Lizzo and a Georgia one spotlighting Usher.
Why it matters: Georgia and Michigan, which started early voting in Detroit on Saturday, are important swing states in a presidential race expected to come down to voters in six states.

Why Election Day has irreversibly changed
Although Election Day is weeks away, thousands of Americans nationwide have already cast their votes. Vote counting delays due to mail-in or absentee voting are also expected to drag out the declaration of winners in key swing states.
Why it matters: The popularity and prevalence of early voting has rendered Election Day an outdated concept — for much of the country, the 2024 race countdown would be better described as election month.

Boeing reaches tentative deal to end strike
Boeing and its union of 33,000 members reached a tentative deal on Saturday that could win workers a 35% wage increase and end a strike hampering the company's production, per the proposal.
Why it matters: Boeing, already dealt the blow of repeated safety issues, has been trying to increase production and salvage its reputation.
Trail snaps

Former President Trump stands in front of a "technical difficulties" sign after his microphone stopped working during a rally in Detroit last night.
- Trump paced the rally stage in silence during the 20-min. outage.

Former President Obama takes the stage at a rally for Vice President Harris in Tucson, Ariz., last night.
Where immigrants are moving


Coastal states, border states and states with some of America's biggest cities saw the biggest influxes of new residents from foreign countries in 2023, Axios' Erica Pandey writes from new Census migration data.
- Why it matters: Immigration is a pressing political issue across the U.S., but there are massive gaps between the states in terms of how many new arrivals are actually settling there.
📈 By the numbers: The data tracks all the people who moved from one state to another plus those who moved to the U.S. from abroad. Of all those movers — close to 32.5 million — nearly a quarter were immigrants or Americans who had been living in a foreign country a year ago.
Gen Z's climate fear
Human-caused climate change is having widespread and significant negative effects on young people's mental health, Axios' Andrew Freedman writes from a new study in The Lancet Planetary Health.
- Zoom in: The researchers analyzed the results of an online survey of about 16,000 young people between the ages of 16 to 25 across America.
😟 They found that 85% of respondents are at least moderately worried, with about 58% "very or extremely worried," about climate change and its effects.
- 38% said their feelings about climate change were interfering with their daily lives.
Between the lines: Respondents identifying as Democrats or Independents tended to be more worried than Republicans. But "this is a kind of less partisan issue in this younger generation," says the study's lead author, Eric Lewandowski of NYU's Grossman School of Medicine.
Hot baby registry item: cash
Skip the fancy stroller — new parents want cash for down payments and day care, Axios' Brianna Crane writes.
- The big picture: Cash funds for child care and new homes are now the hottest items on baby shower registries.
Zoom in: Baby's First Home Cash Fund, launched by Opendoor and Babylist this year, saw 1,060 total registry adds in the first half of 2024.
- Physical items are on the decline. For example, requests for Dyson vacuums decreased by 30% from the first half of 2023 to the same period in 2024, per Babylist.
The trend goes beyond registries: GoFundMe says it has seen more than 6,000 child care-related pages and more than 5,000 home-buying fundraisers in 2024.
1 fun thing: Spooky swag

Spooky election swag has infiltrated Halloween decor around Washington, Axios' Mimi Montgomery found.


Inside Kamala Harris' inner circle of trusted allies
President Biden is known — and sometimes criticized — for his small, tight inner circle of longtime aides. If Vice President Harris is elected president, she'd rely on a larger, younger and more diverse group of trusted allies for advice.
Why it matters: Harris, a generation younger than Biden, would bring what insiders describe as a more collaborative decision-making process involving more than a dozen confidants.

America's gullibility crisis
In the heat of this historic election, educated elites who should know better — billionaires, elected officials, journalists — keep falling for fakes, conspiracy theories and outright lies.
Why it matters: Human gullibility is not a new phenomenon. But social media and polarized politics are exposing it at industrial scale, fueled by a poisonous cocktail of bad actors, media illiteracy and plummeting trust in traditional news.

By the numbers: The U.S. states where immigrants are moving

Coastal states, border states and states with some of America’s biggest cities saw the biggest influxes of new residents from foreign countries in 2023, according to new Census migration data.
Why it matters: Immigration is a pressing political issue across the U.S., but there are massive gaps between the states in terms of how many new arrivals are actually settling there.




