The Daily Valet. - 11/9/22, Wednesday
✔️ Too Close to Call
Wednesday, November 9th Edition
Well, that was an eventful election night, huh?
Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf
Today’s Big Story
Too Close to Call
Control of Congress is still up for grabs as the expected ‘red wave’ died down to more of a ripple
Republicans may well end up with a narrow House majority in the midterm elections, based on Tuesday night’s returns. But they are nowhere near the “red wave” or “red tsunami” they were hoping for. The cynical among us might say the pollsters and analysts, once again, got it wrong. A night that was supposed to be a bloodbath for Democrats was more of a disappointing midterm outing for the GOP.
But Republicans did succeed in many of the races they’d hoped to claim. In the Ohio Senate race, J.D. Vance defeated Democrat Tim Ryan, who at times had looked like he might emerge as a future party standard-bearer. In Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott hung another loss around the neck of Beto O’Rourke. And his Georgia counterpart, Brian Kemp, did the same to Stacey Abrams—winning one of the most closely-watched campaigns for governor in the country.
But there were no big surprise GOP wins to point to as a sign of a significant electoral upset. And that's historically what happens during a president’s first term. The average gain for the opposition party in House races over the past 100 years is 29 seats, and Republicans appear to be struggling to match that.
As for the Senate, Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire, and Michael Bennet, the Democratic senator from Colorado, won re-election decisively, according to the Associated Press, ending two races that were seen as potential harbingers for a Republican blowout. And Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, John Fetterman, defeated the celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz and flipped a seat from Republican to Democrat.
But we’ll still have to wait for the rest of the results. And the outcome of the two remaining seats that will determine which party will hold a Senate majority—Arizona and Nevada—may not be known for days because both states conduct elections by mail ballot, which take a long time to count. Two years after a presidential race that took nearly four days to yield a winner (and Senate contests that extended into the next January) this just might be the new reality for elections.
There were also some noteworthy firsts: Democrat Maxwell Frost will become the first member of Generation Z elected to serve in the U.S. Congress after winning in Florida’s 10th Congressional District. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a one-time press secretary for former President Donald Trump, was elected the first female governor of Arkansas. And Maura Healey became the first elected female governor in Massachusetts and the nation’s first openly lesbian governor.
↦ Dig Deeper: The Verge says the midterms turned politicians into content creators, as young people want the same authenticity they seek online from their elected representatives.
People Struggle to Make Car Payments
Auto loan delinquencies rise as pandemic loan-accommodation programs end
Well, this is unfortunate news. But it does make some sense considering last month, we were talking about the average monthly payment for a new car increased to a record high of $738.
But now it seems those sky high monthly bills are proving too much for some people. CNBC reports that a growing number of Americans are struggling to make their car payments. The percentage of loans that are now more than 60 days delinquent hit 1.65%—and while that sounds like a small amount, it's actually the highest it's been in more than a decade.
Many borrowers who are falling behind on loan payments were previously relying on pandemic-era programs that allowed drivers to defer payments if they faced COVID-related financial difficulties. TransUnion, which tracks more than 81 million auto loans in the U.S., said more than 200,000 auto loans that previously took advantage of the pandemic-era accommodation are now officially behind on payments.
Satyan Merchant, senior VP of TransUnion, told CNBC that despite the rise in delinquencies, the company believes the auto loan market remains healthy. The average interest rate for a new-vehicle loan climbed to 5.2%, while the average rate for a used car hit 9.7%. And those higher interest rates are pressuring many buyers to stretch out the terms of their loans to at least seven years.
↦ FYI: In 2021, the auto industry in the United States sold approximately 14.9 million cars and light trucks.
Is Social Media Really Over?
The reports of its death are, as they say, greatly exaggerated
Over the past few weeks, a flurry of discussion about the future of social media has been set off by users of the platforms, the media and Wall Street. Vice reports that investors are “punishing Facebook for its ten-year plan to build a metaverse and Elon Musk's controlled demolition of his newly-acquired Twitter.”
Some are having what could be described as an existential crisis: What will happen to my online existence if Twitter goes under? As Mashable's Alex Perry says, “whether Twitter dies next month or three years from now, one fact remains: I may be left as a digital ronin with nowhere to go due to a serious lack of feasible alternatives.”
Of course, if you're old enough (say, an elder millennial like myself), you've been through this with social media several times already. Most of us have all but abandoned Facebook already. And remember MySpace and Friendster? Or Tumblr? We tend to move on. (Though Tumblr might be making a comeback.)
Upstart social networks with sophisticated AI-powered recommendation engines such as short-form video site TikTok, unfiltered photo app BeReal, chat app Discord and video streaming app Twitch are angling to stake their claims as the next social media companies to rule the world. And yeah, that means platforms that once defined social media could become irrelevant. But, then again, there's still nothing quite like the Twitter experience ... so for now, at least, it's probably safe.
↦ Meanwhile: Twitter said Tuesday it will add a gray “official” label to some high-profile accounts to indicate that they are authentic.
Wordle Gets Editor and New Rules
Is your daily game going to become tougher?
Buckle up, Wordle players: The New York Times is making changes to the popular word-guessing game. And it might make figuring out the five-letter word a little more challenging.
The Grey Lady announced Tuesday that the game now has a dedicated editor, along with some tweaks to the rules and word bank. The game will now rely on a Times-curated list of five-letter words instead of a 2,500-word list crafted by the game's creator, Josh Wardle.
Wordle is also slightly adjusting its rules, as plural forms of three- or four-letter words that end in “ES” or “S” will no longer be used as answers. You can use those types of words as guesses, but words like FOXES or SPOTS will no longer be used as a final answer. Interestingly, the answer could be a non-S plural like GEESE or FUNGI.
Some are wondering if this will make the game easier or harder. There were some worries that the viral word game had become more difficult once the Times bought it earlier this year, but The Verge debunked that theory. So I guess that means we just need to be more discerning with our guesses.
In Other News
Other Things We’re Talking About Today
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How to Remember People’s Names
An easy solution to a common problem
Tell me if this situation sounds familiar: You've just met someone new and by the end of the night (or sometimes by the time you're finished shaking hands), you've completely forgotten their names. Hey, it happens to the best of us.
“There's no such thing as a good or bad memory,” says Kevin Horsley, an International Grand Master of Memory based in South Africa. “There's only a good or bad memory strategy.” According to Horsley, the problem is most likely plain and simple distraction. This does make sense. Think about to the last time you met someone. Were you in an unfamiliar space? Or on a crowded elevator at work? Or balancing a drink in your hand with music playing in the background? These situations prevent you from giving your undivided attention.
But studies have proven that hearing our name activates our brain. We perk up and noticed it, even when it's spoken in a noisy room. You may have noticed how influential people like world leaders often make an effort to use people's names—this is because they're aware how much it matters. We simply feel better when people remember us. And it stands to reason we feel worse when they don't. But fear not. We spoke to some experts to find out why we forget and get some proven ways to increase your ability to catch and retain names.
↦ Read: How to easily remember people's names.
What We’re Buying
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Today’s Deals
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Morning Motto
Leave your ego at the door.
↦ Follow: @rickrubin
That’s all for today...
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