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By Frank Donatelli Leslie C. Francis September 10, 2024 Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will soon meet in a high stakes nationally televised debate, perhaps the only one of this campaign. In previous elections – 1960, 1976, 1980, 2000, and 2020 come immediately to mind – the election contests were heavily influenced by such encounters. This year, for sure, it is “high risk, high reward.” With an election so close, we believe this debate will be important – maybe even decisive – in determining the winner. Having been involved in debate strategies in previous cycles, we have some idea of what the campaigns are thinking about just days before Tuesday’s showdown. And there are a few things viewers might keep in mind, as well. Good debate preparation should emphasize three things more than anything else. First, focus on two or three issues, themes, or personal qualities that the campaign hopes will resonate with the electorate. Second, that focus should underscore or strengthen the main message of the campaign. This is not a time to freelance. Third, memorable phrases or “zingers” are welcome, but not if they are canned, forced, or nasty. For Trump, this means: He needs to control himself. The former president simply talks too much for his own good. He likes to talk over his opponent. (Note: The microphones can be controlled by the moderators this year.) He also frequently goes off message and launches personal attacks, as he will want to do against Harris. The result is a candidate who seems undisciplined and turns off persuadable voters. He should focus on the question asked and avoid tangents or personal attacks. This is a low bar, but he needs to clear it to have any chance of winning. Next, he has to settle on a coherent critique of his opponent. Traditional Republicans such as Lindsey Graham and Nikki Haley have urged Trump to focus more on policy. Although Trump has always scored points with his base when attacking his opponent, the criticisms must be credible to work on undecided voters. His attacks on Hillary Clinton as one too tied to the establishment and questions surrounding her private email server (remember that?) helped him win the 2016 election. Maybe he can try labeling Harris as a “San Francisco liberal” or an “issue flip-flopper,” but his attacks on the vice president have been scattershot and way too personal. He has boasted about being restrained in his fateful June 27 debate with Joe Biden. Can he do it again? Finally, the former president must talk beyond his base. His reluctance to do so is why his polling seems to have a ceiling in the mid-to-high 40s. There are only so many disenchanted white males out there. Trump had his best opportunity to grow his support after the attempt on his life and a rather good Republican convention, but his acceptance speech was a squandered opportunity. Is there anything he has to say that might appeal to undecideds or non-MAGA voters? And can he dial down the sarcasm and insults? If so, the debate is the time to do so. For Kamala Harris: The vice president should not attempt to “untoss” Trump’s word salads. He throws a lot of stuff into each of his answers, and any effort to pick them apart is wasted effort. Harris should spend the bulk of her time on offense. She should also answer the questions asked by the moderators – something neither Biden nor Trump did on June 27, which only added to the perception that they are both too old. Harris is the candidate the public needs to hear more about. No press conferences and one interview doesn’t send a message that this is a confident candidate. Harris can lay that to rest Tuesday night. She should spend her time filling in the blanks on the resume and issue positions to the broader electorate. Her main goal is to pass the “chief executive” test. As the non-incumbent, the public must feel comfortable with her as president. Kamala Harris is 59. Donald Trump is 78. Her tagline, “We’re not going back,” is an artful phrase that can mean different things to different people. But one thing it’s meant to convey: the future belongs to the 59-year-old Democratic Party nominee, not the 78-year-old Republican. She should double down on that. It also separates her from the Biden administration while giving her room to define herself. Can she persuasively and credibly explain where her positions differ from Biden’s and why? The future is normally a winning message for Americans. The Veep must stay there as much as possible. Finally, Harris is more than a candidate. In her narrative, she represents an ideal, a new generation of leaders, a new hope for people and groups that have not previously been represented. To her, inclusion will be a crucial part of moving the country forward. She has been elected in the nation’s largest and most diverse state, and she seeks to lead an increasingly diverse America. This makes her uniquely qualified to lead the nation forward into the next chapter of the American Experience – with a large dose of hope and expanded opportunity. A cautionary note here: Harris must avoid going too far on “identity” matters lest she lose support from moderate and independent voters who resist such classifications. Debates are not a perfect way for voters to learn about candidates, but they are far preferable to thirty- or sixty-second ads on TV or on social media. Televised presidential debates represent the best chance for the voters to see the candidates up close, answering questions about the future of the country and how they will handle the many challenges we face. Having the public make informed choices should be the goal of this great democracy we call America. This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.

Toxic dust hung in the air around ground zero for more than three months following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Anthony Correia/Getty Images by Roberto Lucchini, Florida International University The 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York resulted in the loss of 2,753 people in the Twin Towers and surrounding area. After the attack, more than 100,000 responders and recovery workers from every U.S. state – along with some 400,000 residents and other workers around ground zero – were exposed to a toxic cloud of dust that fell as a ghostly, thick layer of ash and then hung in the air for more than three months. The World Trade Center dust plume, or WTC dust, consisted of a dangerous mixture of cement dust and particles, asbestos and a class of chemicals called persistent organic pollutants. These include cancer-causing dioxins and polyaromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, which are byproducts of fuel combustion. The dust also contained heavy metals that are known to be poisonous to the human body and brain, such as lead – used in the manufacturing of flexible electrical cables – and mercury, which is found in float valves, switches and fluorescent lamps. The dust also contained cadmium, a carcinogen toxic to the kidneys that is used in the manufacturing of electric batteries and pigments for paints. One of the haunting images from 9/11: Smoke pours from the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York after they were hit by two hijacked airliners. Robert Giroux via Getty Images Polychlorinated biphenyls, human-made chemicals used in electrical transformers, were also part of the toxic stew. PCBs are known to be carcinogenic, toxic to the nervous system and disruptive to the reproductive system. But they became even more harmful when incinerated at high heat from the jets’ fuel combustion and then carried by very fine particles. WTC dust was made up of both “large” particulate matter and very small, fine and ultrafine ones. These particularly small particles are known to be highly toxic, especially to the nervous system since they can travel directly through the nasal cavity to the brain. Many first responders and others who were directly exposed to the dust developed a severe and persistent cough that lasted for a month, on average. They were treated at Mount Sinai Hospital and received care at the Clinic of Occupational Medicine, a well-known center for work-related diseases. I am a physician specializing in occupational medicine who began working directly with 9/11 survivors in my role as director of the WTC Health Program Data Center at Mount Sinai beginning in 2012. That program collects data, as well as monitors and oversees the public health of WTC rescue and recovery workers. After eight years in that role, I moved to Florida International University in Miami, where I am planning to continue working with 9/11 responders who are moving to Florida as they reach retirement age. Remembering 9/11: As the north tower of the World Trade Center collapses, a cloud of toxic gas chases terrified residents and tourists. Jose Jimenez/Primera Hora via Getty Images From acute to chronic conditions After the initial “acute” health problems that 9/11 responders faced, they soon began experiencing a wave of chronic diseases that continue to affect them 20 years later. The persistent cough gave way to respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and upper airway diseases such as chronic rhinosinusitis, laryngitis and nasopharyngitis. The litany of respiratory diseases also put many of them at risk for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which occurs at a higher rate in WTC survivors than in the general population. This condition occurs when stomach acids reenter the esophagus, or food pipe, that connects the stomach to the throat. As a consequence of either the airway or the digestive disorders, many of these survivors also struggle with sleep apnea, which requires additional treatments. Further compounding the tragedy, about eight years after the attacks, cancers began to turn up in 9/11 survivors. These include tumors of the blood and lymphoid tissues such as lymphoma, myeloma and leukemia, which are well known to affect workers exposed to carcinogens in the workplace. But survivors also suffer from other cancers, including breast, head and neck, prostate, lung and thyroid cancers. Some have also developed mesothelioma, an aggressive form of cancer related to exposure to asbestos. Asbestos was used in the early construction of the north tower until public advocacy and broader awareness of its health dangers brought its use to a halt. And the psychological trauma that 9/11 survivors experienced has left many suffering from persistent mental health challenges. One study published in 2020 found that of more than 16,000 WTC responders for whom data was collected, nearly half reported a need for mental health care, and 20% of those who were directly affected developed post-traumatic stress disorder. Many have told me that the contact they had with parts of human bodies or with the deadly scene and the tragic days afterward left a permanent mark on their lives. They are unable to forget the images, and many of them suffer from mood disorders as well as cognitive impairments and other behavioral issues, including substance use disorder. Remembering 9/11: A distraught survivor sits outside the World Trade Center after the terrorist attack. Jose Jimenez/Primera Hora via Getty Images An aging generation of survivors Now, 20 years on, these survivors face a new challenge as they age and move toward retirement – a difficult life transition that can sometimes lead to mental health decline. Prior to retirement, the daily drumbeat of work activity and a steady schedule often helps keep the mind busy. But retirement can sometimes leave a void – one that for 9/11 survivors is too often filled with unwanted memories of the noises, smells, fear and despair of that terrible day and the days that followed. Many survivors have told me they do not want to return to Manhattan and certainly not to the WTC. Aging can also bring with it forgetfulness and other cognitive challenges. But studies show that these natural processes are accelerated and more severe in 9/11 survivors, similar to the experience of veterans from war zones. This is a concerning trend, but all the more so because a growing body of research, including our own preliminary study, is finding links between cognitive impairment in 9/11 responders and dementia. A recent Washington Post piece detailed how 9/11 survivors are experiencing these dementia-like conditions in their 50s – far earlier than is typical. The COVID-19 pandemic, too, has taken a toll on those who have already suffered from 9/11. People with preexisting conditions have been at far higher risk during the pandemic. Not surprisingly, a recent study found a higher incidence of COVID-19 in WTC responders from January through August 2020. Honoring the 9/11 survivors The health risks posed by direct exposure to the acrid dust was underestimated at the time, and poorly understood. Appropriate personal protective equipment, such as P100 half-face respirators, was not available at that time. But now, over 20 years on, we know much more about the risks – and we have much greater access to protective equipment that can keep responders and recovery workers safe following disasters. Yet, too often, I see that we have not learned and applied these lessons. For instance, in the immediate aftermath of the condominium collapse near Miami Beach last June, it took days before P100 half-face respirators were fully available and made mandatory for the responders. Other examples around the world are even worse: One year after the Beirut explosion in August 2020, very little action had been taken to investigate and manage the physical and mental health consequences among responders and the impacted community. Applying the lessons learned from 9/11 is a critically important way to honor the victims and the brave men and women who took part in the desperate rescue and recovery efforts back on those terrible days. Roberto Lucchini is Professor of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences at Florida International University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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by Carol Houssock, photos by Clayton Vargeson (Chemung, NY) Hollywood couldn’t have scripted it better on Flynn Energy Championship Night at Chemung Speedrome, presented by Jim Bronson and Ferrario Auto Team of Sayre, PA. While the Speedrome family mourned the unexpected loss of Robin Potrzebowski 10 days prior, in some sense she was still there. Her husband, TJ, won everything thrown at him – the Buckley’s Automotive Modified heat, feature, and ’24 championship. Earlier in the evening her son, Mike Nichols, won the Blauvelt Funeral Home Super Stock heat and feature. Two other family members won track championships in the Super Stock (Tim Gullo) and Marion Decker Agency Hobby Stock (Anthony Gullo) divisions. Other race winners included Kalysta DeMark (Hobby Stocks), Gene Purvis (Gene’s Automotive 4 Cylinders), and Easton Houghtaling (JRC Cleaning Bandoleros). Other division champions include Greg Moldt (4 Cylinders) and Leevi Sharpsteen (Bandoleros). Fans in attendance saw the heart of a champion play out in the Buckley’s Automotive Modified division. Just 10 days after his wife’s untimely death, TJ Potrzebowski had a 48-point advantage over Lee Sharpsteen for title. “I knew she’d want me to be here, so I came,” he said. Sharpsteen’s car broke after qualifying so he borrowed a ride for the scheduled 35-lap feature to gain as many points as he could. Nick Morich took the early lead and held it through the rocky start that had the field slowed for four cautions. With 13 laps in, the front row was Morich and Jesse Kent, the most recent feature winner. Morich prevailed, but Potrzebowski was on the move and took the lead on lap 16. The caution-plagued race, already past curfew, forced a five-lap distance reduction to 30 laps. Morich fell to fourth after drifting high in turn two and opening up the inside lane for Keith Youngs and Teddy Bowen. Potrzebowski got the win, followed by Bowen, Youngs, Morich and Sharpsteen. When it was over, and TJ Potrzebowski pulled into victory lane, the crowd reaction was tremendous. He had won the battle and the war. Surrounded by family and friends, he climbed from the car smiling and then had to speak. “I knew I had to be here, for Robin. I know she was with me tonight,” he stated. Joined in victory lane by his sons, TJ, Jr. and Mike Nichols, their emotional hug said way more than he could have verbalized. TJ Potrzebowki about to be drenched by Mike Nichols after his huge win The Blauvelt Funeral Home Super Stock title boiled down to a two-man battle between point leader Tim Gullo and defending champion Nick Robinson. Separated by just 17 points when the 25-lap feature started, fans of both were concentrating on the pair. They were also watching Mike Nichols, who had won his heat earlier, get around pole-sitter Charlie Sharpsteen and lead the opening lap. That was all she wrote for the others, as Nichols built up a sizeable lead in the caution-free race. Heat winner Robinson ran second, with Gullo right behind him in third. As the race neared its final lap, Nichols had a full straightaway lead, hoping the race stayed green. It did, and he picked up his third win but first since late May. Robinson was second, with Gullo, Geary Rinehimer, Jr. and Sharpsteen completing the top five. An emotional Mike Nichols looked upward and said “she was riding with me the whole night.” Tim Gullo also celebrated in picking up the track championship. “It feels good but I’m glad it’s over even though we had a good time with the fans. But I’m mostly proud of my boy (Devin) winning last week.” Tim Gullo picked up the Super Stock championship Kalysta DeMark had won elsewhere, but not at her home track. She put it all together in the Marion Decker Agency Hobby Stock division and earned a sweep after she, Anthony Gullo, and Mark Taylor won the heats. While she started from the pole for the 20-lap race, she had to work for her career-first victory. The first of five cautions came almost instantly when Gullo, who had wrapped up the 2024 championship pulled into the pits and was finished for the night. DeMark held off Taylor on the restart, but Gil Sharpsteen and Dave Yehl were on the move, and up to second and third by lap six. While DeMark boosted her lead Yehl, Mike Nickels and Ajay Potrzebowski, Sr. got around Sharpsteen. Kalysta DeMark earns a career-first in the Hobby Stock division On the last two restarts Yehl was right there but she kept the top spot. DeMark had come close before, but this one didn’t get away. “I want to thank everyone here, I couldn’t have done it without you, and I couldn’t do life without my Dad,” she said. A division-leading five feature wins vaulted Anthony Gullo to the track title. “I came up short last year. I’m elated, and happy to get my first championship,” he told the crowd. Greg Moldt put together a season with 4 feature wins and 5 runner-up finishes in the Gene’s Automotive 4 Cylinders. Mathematically, no one could catch him in points, but the 20-lap race was for bragging rights. He and the 2023 champ, Joey Bevacqua, won the heats while Jason Peck and Ryan Purvis made up row one for the feature. Purvis led the first two laps before watching his brother, Gene, make what turned out to be his race-winning pass in the caution-free feature. Moldt was third initially but got around Mike Nichols for second and he stayed there. Gene ran just three races in the division this year and in all three he parked in victory lane. “It’s fun to jump in one every once in a while, and have some fun,” he said. Moldt thanked his daughter and crew for supporting his championship run. Two young drivers in the JRC Cleaning Bandolero division, Easton and Levi Houghtaling, proved to be quick studies and won their respective heat races the first time at the track. The battle for the track championship, however, involved two track regulars. Kamden Wheeler and Leevi Sharpsteen were tied going into the final points race. Easton and Leevi took off at the drop of the green in the 8-lap race that was also run caution-free. Easton went on and got the overall win as an Outlaw, while Leevi was the best of the Bandits. Young Sharpsteen, at age 7, is now a track champion whose celebration with spray string was a perfect touch in victory lane. Leevi Sharpsteen, age 7, earns the Bandolero championship Mark Tychoniewicz swept the night in the visiting Classic Modified Asphalt Series. He easily won the heat race but winning the 15-lap feature boiled down to a late-race nail-biter between him and early leader Dave Shay. “This Ford Pinto was originally run in New Jersey, and Ray Evernham ran it some,” he explained. “I kept overdriving it in turn three and held on.” It all came down to a front stretch drag race. During the nightly drivers’ meeting, track Promoter Ray Hodge said “...effective October 31st I will no longer be involved with the Chemung Speedrome.” He offered no reason and wished everyone a good night of racing. While points racing has concluded, the Speedrome has one remaining event. This Saturday, September 14th , the track presents the ROC Sportsman, ROC Super Stock, and ROC Four Cylinder divisions, plus the Hobby Stocks. The annual ‘Night Before the Glen’ will start at 6:30 PM. For detailed information, including times and pricing, watch the track’s official Facebook page: Chemung Speedrome – Racing at the Drome or website: Chemung-Speedrome.com.

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Voting signs are seen in Jackson, Miss., during the 2023 governor’s race. Brandon Bell/Getty Images by Jeff Bloodworth, Gannon University Rickey Cole, 58, is a farmer and the former two-term chair of Mississippi’s Democratic Party. If anyone understands rural Mississippi voters – and their shift from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party – it’s Cole. “You learn from losing,” the lifelong Democrat said. He should hope so. In 2001, when Cole first served as party chair, Democrats controlled 7 of 8 statewide offices, including governor and attorney general, and both state legislative chambers. Twenty years later, Republicans hold all eight statewide offices and a massive 79-41 majority in the state House and 36-16 majority in the state Senate. Mississippi, the nation’s fourth-most rural state, defines “rural” as any county with fewer than 50,000 residents or a town with a population of 15,000 or less. In the 2023 election, 51% of Mississippians lived in communities meeting this criteria. Though Democrats still have an edge in urban centers such as Jackson and Vicksburg, the slow and repeated loss of rural voters is the cause of Cole’s woes. “Losing them is the motif of my entire career,” he told me. A losing tide Cole and Mississippi are not alone. Democrats have been losing rural voters across the U.S. since the 1960s. But the party has hemorrhaged these voters since 2000. In 1992 and 1996, Democrat Bill Clinton won 49% of the rural vote in both elections. But by 2008, that number had declined when Barack Obama only took 43% of rural voters. Four years ago, that number collapsed even more. In 2020, Joe Biden captured about 35% of the rural vote. The Democratic Party’s collapse in rural America has fueled support for Donald Trump and his “Make America Great Again” movement. Supporters of Donald Trump attend a 2016 rally in Biloxi, Miss. Spencer Platt/Getty Images Trump took 65% of the rural vote in 2020, up from 59% in 2016, according to the Pew Research Center. In all, Republicans won 71% of rural white voters in 2020, a 9-point improvement over 2016. Though only 1 in 5 Americans live in rural towns, Trump’s apparent monopoly automatically puts nearly two dozen states across the South, Midwest and Great Plains out of reach for Democrats. One of them is Mississippi. In 2016, Trump earned 59.3% of the vote, soundly beating Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, who got 39.7%. Though Trump still won the state in 2020, his percentage dropped slightly to 57.6%, while the Democratic candidate, Biden, earned 41.1%, a little more than Clinton had in 2016. Only themselves to blame As the owner of MLB Research Associates, Matt Barron specializes in rural Democratic races and is considered one of the nation’s leading political strategists on the rural vote. Beyond the policy debates, Barron said the blame falls on the Democrats. “They don’t even try to compete in rural America,” he told me. Cole, the former Mississippi state Democratic Party chair, agrees. In rural America, he explained, Democrats have stopped grassroots organizing and party-building. Mississippi incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves speaks to supporters during an election night watch party on Nov. 7, 2023. Brandon Bell/Getty Images As Barron tells the story, in the hotly contested 2023 Mississippi governor’s race, for instance, the Democratic National Committee ignored local organizers and sent national campaign staffers from Michigan and Ohio to canvass rural Mississippi for votes. As outsiders unfamiliar with the local terrain, the staffers needed a GPS to navigate the back roads. Lost geographically, they were even more adrift strategically, Barron said. The Northern urbanites lacked any knowledge of how to push Democratic voters to the polls. The result was lower-than-expected turnout in an election that saw the incumbent, Tate Reeves, a Republican, beat Democrat Brandon Presley by 26,619 votes, or 3.2% of the 820,000 votes cast. Cole said Presley’s loss is an example of a much larger issue. “Our politics became nationalized by a cadre of professional operatives,” he told me. “It has become a big industry.” Cole explained that media consultants earn a percentage of all campaign advertising spending. It maximizes their profits when they spend money in pricey urban markets and ignore rural media. Predictably, Democrats get shellacked in rural America, and the same strategists then blame rural voters for being unreachable. A grassroots campaign Ty Pinkins is trying to reverse the Democrats’ failure. Slim and youthful, the 50-year-old African American army veteran is the Democratic nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in Mississippi. To defeat his Republican opponent, incumbent Roger Wicker, Pinkins is working with Cole to “build a grassroots pyramid.” The Bronze Star recipient has put 70,000 miles on his Chevy Tahoe canvassing 67 of the state’s 82 counties. His goal is to have a campaign leader in every county and all 1,762 state precincts. As Cole sees it, Pinkins’ grassroots campaign will last beyond the November 2024 election – and provide the key to a revived state Democratic Party. But grassroots campaigning is not easy – and getting lost in rural Mississippi is is not always what one expects. On a hot summer day, Pinkins took a wrong turn and found himself at a crossroads next to a rickety old house. After he knocked on the screened door several times, the 85-year-old Miss Maggie finally came out. When Pinkins told her that he was running for the U.S. Senate, she smiled and laughed. Soon, the two shared steaming plates of fried chicken, brown gravy and sweet potatoes. She told the candidate, “Baby, now tell me about yourself.” Once Pinkins finished, it was Miss Maggie’s turn, and the two talked until dusk. Before he could leave, Miss Maggie went back inside. She returned with a sack of coins. “I don’t have much time left,” she told Pinkins. “I’m 85 years old. This is all I’ve got, and I’m giving it to you.” For Pinkins, reaching rural voters is not an impossible dream – though sometimes it takes getting lost and hours of conversation to earn one vote. Jeff Bloodworth is Professor of History at Gannon University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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