Every four years, someone says “This is the most important election ever.” But it’s hard to question the long-term impact Election Day 2024 will have — from the top of the ballot on down.
So the first five episodes of the fall 2024 season of the “First Opinion Podcast” will grapple with the campaign and its intersection with health, medicine, and the life sciences. I’ll speak with experts on issues that have come up on the campaign trail, topics that candidates should focus on, and what a second Trump or first Harris administration might hold. Think of it as “First Opinion Podcast Hits the Trail,” perhaps, except I’m staying home in the swing state of Pennsylvania fending off campaign texts.
For the debut episode, I spoke with Kathleen Kelly Daughety, vice president of campaigns and civic engagement for Inseparable, a mental health advocacy organization with a strong focus on policy. “Mental health has a long history of being a bipartisan issue,” she said. “If you read Vice President Harris’ speeches, she talks a lot about health not starting below the head.” Furthermore, the Trump administration focused on opioid response, while both the Trump and Biden administrations have prioritized suicide prevention.
“On the substance, it’s promising,” Daughety said. “But on the tone, it’s not so helpful. I think they’re still [using] really stigmatizing language that happens on the campaign trail. And that’s pretty regressive at this point.”
We talked about what questions Daughety wished debate moderators would ask, state and local elections, the suicide and crisis hotline 988, new parity rules, and protecting your own mental health during a fraught campaign. “No one objects to saying that mental health should matter more, but … it’s hard to actually get things done,” she told me.
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