Bill Maher and Quentin Tarantino discuss the 2024 election strategy and why independent voters hold the key to winning the presidency.
The Big Picture
If I had two hours with the guy who wrote and directed Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds, the presidential election strategy would not have come up. But thankfully, Bill Maher is different.
The former Politically Incorrect and Real Time host started his Club Random podcast in 2022. Bill had Quentin Tarantino, one of Hollywood’s greatest filmmakers, on his show recently. About halfway through, Bill steered the conversation toward politics, specifically the upcoming presidential election.
Zooming In
Maher and Tarantino on the Left’s Voter Engagement
At one hour and fourteen minutes, Bill starts discussing the election with Tarantino. Bill, a lifelong Democrat, is unafraid to break from party dogma. He states:
“The bigger issue is the left and their ability, or their desire, to engage with anyone who’s not already in the bubble. And they get a big fat D minus on that.”
Tarantino agrees, replying, “I couldn’t agree more.”
Why Independent Voters Matter
Bill recognizes what the Independent Center has been saying for years: reaching beyond the base is key to winning elections. He notes that the candidate who wins independent voters will win the election. The data backs this up:
- Donald Trump won independents by 4% in 2016.
- Joe Biden won them by 13% in 2020.
Spending time talking to the base is like preaching to the converted—it gains a candidate almost nothing.
The Kamala Harris Media Strategy
Bill is excited that his party has a shot at winning with Kamala Harris, but he criticizes her lack of media engagement. He states that she isn’t doing interviews and wouldn’t go on his show, even though he will vote for her. He believes that’s a problem, but Tarantino doesn’t. Tarantino says:
“There’s no reason for her to go on your show before the election.”
Bill’s response is as if he were a proud member of the Independent Center:
“Yes, there is, because I speak to the exact voter she needs, the person who is in the middle, the person who is not ideologically captured by either side… Basically, that’s exactly the audience she needs.”
Why Swing Voters in Battleground States Will Decide 2024
Bill continues:
“The MSNBC crowd is already voting for her. People who watch me, who will decide this election… This election will probably be decided in like four states by something like 80,000 votes in each. That’s how close they are these days.”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
Independent Lens
Independent voters will decide the 2024 election. Candidates who fail to engage with them are setting themselves up for failure. As Maher put it, engaging only with your base is a losing strategy.
For Harris or Trump to win, they must stop focusing on safe spaces and start speaking to the voters in the middle—the ones who determine elections.
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