Today’s Big Story

Swing Voters

The “undecided’ we often hear about are not exactly who you think they are

Whenever I hear the term “undecided voter” now, I immediately think of the 2008 quote from David Sedaris: “To put them in perspective, I think​ of being​ on an airplane.​ The flight attendant comes​ down the aisle​ with her food cart and, eventually,​ parks​ it beside my seat.​ ‘Can I inter​est you in the chick​en?​’ she asks.​ ‘Or would​ you prefer the platter of sh#t with bits of broke​n glass​ in it?’ To be undecided in this elect​ion is to pause​ for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.”

How are there still undecided voters when politics has gotten so extreme? The degree of partisanship is such that the vast majority of voters are already committed to their candidate. That puts a lot of attention on those voters who have not yet decided. But—as is usually the case—things are not always exactly as they seem.

When most people think about a voter still trying to make up their mind, they probably imagine a person who is highly likely to vote but uncertain whether to support Harris, Trump, or a third-party candidate. Both political parties, however, are more focused on a different—and much larger—group of undecideds: potential voters who are highly likely to support Harris or Trump, but unsure if they will vote at all.

According to The Atlantic, campaigns typically describe the first group of reliable but conflicted voters as persuadable; they frequently describe the second group as irregular voters. Persuadable voters get the most attention from the media, but campaigns recognize that irregular voters can loom much larger in the outcome—especially in presidential elections when more of them ultimately participate.

Strategists estimate that just four to seven percent of voters in the battleground states are such “persuadables”—people highly likely to vote but genuinely uncertain about whom they will support. An NBC News national poll released Sunday, for instance, found that almost exactly one-sixth of voters either declared themselves “undecided” in the race or said that there was at least a chance they would switch from the candidate they’re now supporting. The most recent national Pew Research Center survey likewise found that the same proportion of Harris and Trump backers said that they either were merely “leaning” toward their candidate or could change their mind. The latest New York Times/Siena College national poll put the shares of undecided voters and persuadable voters at almost exactly the same level.

In the end, however, neither party expects too many of the voters who are telling pollsters today that they might switch to the other candidate to actually do so. The bigger prize for the two campaigns is the irregular voters who are, as one political consultant told The Atlantic, deciding “whether they are going to get off the couch” to vote at all.

Hurricane Helene Makes Landfall

The Category 4 storm lashes Georgia after Florida

Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region as a Category 4 storm late Thursday before moving into Georgia with “catastrophic winds” as a still-dangerous high-end Category 2 hurricane early Friday. The deadly hurricane weakened to a Category 1 storm by 2 am ET, but “life-threatening storm surge,” winds and heavy rains continued amid multiple water rescues across Florida.

The storm is expected to continue moving inland at a high speed, bringing strong winds and rain—and with that, the risk of flash flooding, landslides, falling trees and power outages—across the southeastern U.S., as far north as the Appalachians. The storm is forecast to dump six to 12 inches of rain over portions of the southeast, with 20 inches possible in some areas. And there’s also a growing risk of tornadoes throughout the southeast.

The Atlanta metro area faced one of its most significant encounters with a hurricane or tropical storm on record. And six states remain under states of emergency as Helene batters the region and causes widespread damage to homes and infrastructure. As for the name Helene, CNN explains where the names for these storms come from.

How Often Do You Need to Upgrade a Phone?

The iPhone 16 is being called ‘a worthy upgrade after three years’

It’s a revelation that ArsTechnica came to recently: The “final form of the smartphone as we know it has been reached and nearly perfected. Nothing fundamental is changing anymore.” Which raises an existential, or at least, philosophical question: How often do we need to upgrade our phones? Sure, with each release, we’re mildly tempted. But what are you really missing? A few camera upgrades? A touch of AI with your Siri questions?

With the latest release of the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro, it’s never been clearer that the cycle of radical invention has given way to iterative updates—not just on an annual basis, but a monthly one, due to delayed features coming in later software updates during the iOS 18 cycle. But that’s not exactly a bad thing. In fact, ArsTechnica says that the new devices make for a worthy upgrade after three years.

Mashable’s tech editor Kimmie Gedeon agrees, saying that the upgrades and extended battery life was enough to convince her. But if you’re not on board yet, The New Yorker says it’s okay. Most of us don’t “need an iPhone 16, which is a testament not so much to the device’s failure as to its resounding success.” Over at IGN, Jacob Kienlen says his main reasoning to upgrade after five years was “because my old phone was finally starting to slow down enough that I could no longer justify holding off.” So don’t feel pressure. If you're happy with your current device and don't see any specific features in the new ones you have to have, hold onto it for now.

No Gasoline, No Speed Limits

Lucid has nosed out the Tesla Model S Plaid for the quickest production sedan on the planet

Lucid Motors—a California-based, Saudi-backed luxury-electric automaker, with manufacturing in Arizona—began production of the Air sedan in late 2021. It’s available in several specifications, with four battery sizes and one to three motors. The Air Pure starts at $69,900 and advertises 420 miles of range, quick charging and a non-trivial 430 horsepower.

But the latest version—the triple-motored, 1,234-hp Sapphire—”is God’s flyswatter”, according to reviewer Dan Neil at the Wall Street Journal. It produced “a convulsive, sneeze-like lurch, a burst of there-not-here, a vanishing. Whoosh.” Testing on a prepared dragstrip earlier this year, Car and Driver extracted a 0-60 mph acceleration of 1.9 seconds, which noses out the Tesla Model S Plaid for the title of world’s quickest production sedan.

And it’s not just the speed that sets it apart. In a market full of look-alike, work-alike UX systems dating from who knows, the Lucid’s graphical interface leaps out as being the easiest and most intuitive, with smart, clear graphics and traffic visualization. As Neil puts it: “While most business is conducted through the car’s central touch screens, the Lucid’s ergonomics show an effort to maintain a humanity that arch rival Teslas have been purged of, by way of dark Vulcan rituals.”

A Weekend Pairing

‘Slow Horses’ + a Ginger Highball Cocktail

Apple was so confident in what it had with this spy thriller that it ordered four seasons of Slow Horses from the jump and had two shot and filmed and aired in the same year (2022). The fourth is now out, and some fans probably hope it could run forever. Gary Oldman is phenomenal as the head of Slough House—a sort of halfway house for British spies who made mistakes in more prominent positions. Of course, they’re usually the ones who save the day.

This is a show that continues to defy expectations. Critics and fans alike are gushing over the immense technical and emotional quality of the latest outing. One such critic who was quick to acknowledge the role the season's talented ensemble played in its success was Collider's Jeff Ewing, who said in his review, the "excellent season reveals that there are many unexplored layers of depth behind MI5 and these characters, creating the groundwork for a compelling fifth season." Stay tuned.

Go for it.