Most prediction markets give Hillary Clinton an advantage over Donald Trump. In general, if one candidate comes out in favor of something, the supporters of the other candidate will be more likely to oppose that thing (all else equal). Doesn’t this suggest attempting to get Clinton to come out in favor of eradicating mosquitos is the better strategy?
I think eradication would appeal more to Trump than Clinton so there is a higher marginal value in attempting to persuade him. Trump supporting eradication would at least put the issue in serious political play. Finally, I’m a Republican and if somehow I managed to contact someone on team Hillary she would likely Google me and quickly determine I was a political enemy and so would at best ignore my proposal.
Have you already tried getting the idea through to Trump via a backchannel like Scott Adams (some of Trump’s staffers pay attention to him), who takes cost-benefit style arguments seriously?
Most prediction markets give Hillary Clinton an advantage over Donald Trump. In general, if one candidate comes out in favor of something, the supporters of the other candidate will be more likely to oppose that thing (all else equal). Doesn’t this suggest attempting to get Clinton to come out in favor of eradicating mosquitos is the better strategy?
I think eradication would appeal more to Trump than Clinton so there is a higher marginal value in attempting to persuade him. Trump supporting eradication would at least put the issue in serious political play. Finally, I’m a Republican and if somehow I managed to contact someone on team Hillary she would likely Google me and quickly determine I was a political enemy and so would at best ignore my proposal.
Have you already tried getting the idea through to Trump via a backchannel like Scott Adams (some of Trump’s staffers pay attention to him), who takes cost-benefit style arguments seriously?
No. Adams says he has no contact with the Trump campaign.