Study looks at excess deaths during COVID by political party | Greater Reno

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Here’s the weekly roundup of local government and political stories by me. Also, I take a look at disparities in excess deaths by political party during COVID-19, plus what songs Republican candidates picked to introduce themselves at former President Donald Trump’s rally Saturday.

Photos in this newsletter were taken by me at Trump’s “Save America” event in Minden.

© Mark Robison/RGJ Image from Donald Trump’s “Save America” rally Oct. 8, 2022.

Local politics and government news

• Trump stumps for Lombardo, Laxalt in Nevada tour stop ahead of midterm election

Despite only two weeks’ notice, several thousand passionate attendees — some from around the country — waited hours on the hot asphalt of the Minden-Tahoe Airport tarmac for a chance to get a closeup view of the nation’s 45th president. The Carson Valley event was aimed at inspiring voters for the Republican ticket in wildly close races for governor and U.S. Senate — and to perform a greatest hits of accusations, grievances and mockery of political opponents. Read my recap here.

• 4 errors found on Washoe County sample ballots. Here’s how they happened

It started with two errors and blossomed to four. I talked to county staff for their explanation of each. The county still expects to meet the Oct. 19 statutory deadline to send out mail-in ballots, but general election ballots now must be reprinted and voting machines updated.

• 3 takeaways from Mike Clark-Keith Lockard debate for Washoe County Commission District 2

I co-moderated my first debate of the 2022 midterms with Sam Shad from Nevada Newsmakers. Republican Mike Clark and Democrat Keith Lockard squared off over election integrity, public safety, homelessness and growth in an election to see who will replace incumbent Bob Lucey, who lost in the primary. You can check out my highlights here; the article has the debate video embedded at the top. Or search your favorite podcast platform for “Nevada Newsmakers” to listen the debate.

Inspirational quote on education

“The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.” ~ Plutarch

Tip of the hat for sharing the quote to Russ Roberts, president of Shalem College in Jerusalem. He mentioned it on a recent episode of Sam Harris’ Making Sense podcast.

© Mark Robison/RGJ Sheree Flowers of Chicago attends from Donald Trump’s “Save America” rally Oct. 8, 2022.

COVID death disparities between Republicans and Democrats

A new study by three Yale researchers, in a paper put out by the National Bureau of Economic Research, looks at excess death rates for Republicans and Democrats during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here’s an excerpt: “Political affiliation has emerged as a potential risk factor for COVID-19, amid evidence that Republican-leaning counties have had higher COVID-19 death rates than Democrat-leaning counties and evidence of a link between political party affiliation and vaccination views. … The gap in excess death rates between Republicans and Democrats is concentrated in counties with low vaccination rates and only materializes after vaccines became widely available.”

Don Moynihan, a political scientist at Georgetown University, summarizes the study this way on his Substack newsletter:

“Absent the vaccines, the effect of partisan ideology was not very large. But when people gained the ability to choose to take the most powerful step to protect themselves and others, Republican and Democratic outcomes vary.

“The obvious conclusion is that more Democrats got vaccines and more lived. Fewer Republicans did and more died. …

“Before vaccine availability, excess deaths are similar for Democrats and Republicans. After vaccines become available, the two groups separate: the excess death rate gap between Republicans and Democrats increases from 1.6 percentage points to 10.4 percentage points. In counties with very high vaccination rates, Republicans behave much like Democrats, and also have lower excess deaths.”

© Mark Robison/RGJ Adam Laxalt and Donald Trump, slightly obscured by his teleprompter screen, at the “Save America” rally in Minden Oct. 8, 2022.

Theme songs for Republicans

At the Trump rally in Minden on Saturday, candidates got to pick the song that would play when they came out. As a music geek, I found some of their choices interesting, especially Joe Lombardo’s and multiple ones leading up to Trump himself.

• Joe Lombardo, governor – “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin. Inspirational lyric: “So now you’d better stop and rebuild all your ruins/ For peace and trust can win the day despite of all your losing.”

• Adam Laxalt, U.S. Senate – “Only in America” by Brooks & Dunn. Inspirational lyric: “One kid dreams of fame and fortune/ One kid helps pay the rent/ One could end up going to prison/ One just might be president.”

• Sigal Chattah, attorney general – “Let It Rock” by Kevin Rudolf and Lil Wayne. Inspirational lyric: “I wish I could say/ The things you do/ But I can’t and I won’t live a lie/ No not this time.”

• Michelle Fiore, treasurer – “Fighter” by Christina Aguilera. Inspirational lyric: “Hmm, after all you put me through/ You’d think I’d despise you/ But in the end, I wanna thank you/ ‘Cause you made me that much stronger.”

• Donald Trump: An eclectic collection of songs played in the moments leading up to Trump’s appearance, including “Pinball Wizard” from what is reportedly one of his favorite albums, “Tommy.” Also played after his plane landed were two songs from the Broadway play “The Phantom of the Opera,” a James Brown live track, the Village People’s anthem “YMCA” and a selection from a Puccini opera.

David Bowie was played shortly before and after Trump spoke. There were multiple comments during the event, including from Trump, that criticized or mocked trans people. So it was a surprise to hear Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” minutes before Trump took the stage.

The song is about a young man who likes to wear dresses and glitter and whose mother isn’t sure if he’s a boy or a girl.

Trump probably doesn’t even know what music is picked for his entrance, but somebody seemed to be making a statement by getting his crowed to sing-along and dance to “Rebel, Rebel.”

Ah, “Hot tramp, I love you so!”

Mark Robison covers local government for the Reno Gazette-Journal. Follow him @GreaterReno and Facebook.com/GreaterReno.

Please consider supporting Mark’s local government reporting by donating to the RGJ Fund right here – his wages are 100% paid for by grants and donations, and 100% of RGJ Fund contributions go toward Mark’s wages. Thank you to all the donors who support this work! We especially thank the John Ben Snow Memorial Trust for being a major funder. To discuss how you can help, please email mrobison@rgj.com.

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Study looks at excess deaths during COVID by political party | Greater Reno