A Guide to Progressive Messaging with Anat Shenker-Osorio

Plus: Issues to Watch in the Legislature's Stretch Run and Marisa's Trip to State Prison If you are having trouble reading this email, [read the online version](. [KQED Logo]( August 13, 2019 Good morning everyone. KQED’s senior politics editor Scott Shafer here with your weekly fix on government and politics. The Legislature is back from recess with plenty of hot button bills to manage. We’ll get to that in a second, but I’m sending this after a few weeks in Africa, where I got to observe political power out in the wild (and yes, lions still rule). I couldn't resist sharing one vacation photo at the end of today's newsletter! — Scott Massaging the Message with Anat Shenker-Osorio [Marisa, Anat Shenker-Osorio and Scott] As Democratic candidates shape their pitch to presidential primary voters, a few campaigns have turned to Oakland-based consultant Anat Shenker-Osorio for help. Her work has a longer timeline than campaign pollsters, who are focused on measuring voter perceptions in the moment. "I really work on changing long-term attitudes about issues: marriage equality, perception of immigrants, perceptions of people who are formerly incarcerated," she said. "I do empirical testing of sorts, where we actually expose people to different kinds of message and see how that alters their policy perceptions, and find that sometimes something as simple as a single wording choice can radically alter what they think about a policy and how they want to vote." Marisa and I talked with Shenker-Osorio on the Breakdown last week — [check out her thoughts]( on how the presidential primary field is doing on messaging so far, and her research into a Race Class Narrative that can build a winning coalition for Democrats. Vaccines, Uber and Lyft Among the Topics of Bills as the Legislature Returns Legislators returned to Sacramento yesterday for the final stretch of this year’s session. Katie [digs into]( of the highlights. Attorney General Becerra Fights Trump Changes to the Endangered Species Act California Attorney General Xavier Becerra joined counterparts from other states condemning a weakening of the Endangered Species Act by the Trump Administration. Kevin Stark of KQED’s Science team [reports on Becerra's action.]( Newsom Visits Solano Prison To Plan Criminal Justice Reforms Marisa [accompanied Gov. Gavin Newsom]( on a visit to Solano Prison for a look at a program where inmates transformed their living space behind bars. Rep. Speier on Guns, Russia, and Immigration Bay Area Democratic Congresswoman Jackie Speier, herself a victim of gun violence, [spoke to KQED Forum]( about the stalemate in Congress over gun safety, as well as her thoughts about President Trump’s immigration policies and much more. My Gravity-Defying Visit to Victoria Falls in Zambia [Scott hacing gravity-defying visit to victoria falls in Zambia] [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( [Donate]( [Manage Subscription]( | [Privacy Policy]( KQED 2601 Mariposa St. San Francisco, CA 94110 Copyright © August 13, 2019 [KQED](. All Rights Reserved.