The Election Season
Traditionally after Labor Day, the starting gun is fired for the political season, sending candidates out of the blocks and into the long sprint toward Election Day. From here, campaigns shift into higher gear, with candidates sharpening their messages, accelerating their travel schedules, and racing to define the stakes that voters are faced with. Voters are also watching the contenders more closely as the pace quickens and the choices ahead come into sharper focus.
This year, the choices are unusually clear in several major races for elective office. Voters will decide between candidates who favor a more expansive role for government and candidates who argue for traditional constitutional limits, market-based policy, and a smaller federal footprint.
By the time the campaign reaches its final lap, the race will be less about who started fastest than who can sustain momentum when it matters most. In a nutshell, the candidate who can credibly explain how his or her agenda will improve voters’ daily lives will have the advantage. That also means voters should expect polished promises, selective facts, and plenty of campaign-season bullsh*t.
Remember when the word “gravitas” defined a candidate’s qualifications? This year’s word is “affordability”. Democrats and the Socialist/Communists running for office will claim that they will lower the price of food and fuel. If you ask any of them about solving the affordability issue, their answer is “Trump’s the devil!”
Unfortunately, they will not offer any solutions because without price controls the government cannot lower those prices. Lower prices are the result of a competitive market not government mandates…unless the Republic turns to communism.
The Democrats and left-wing candidates will advocate universal healthcare despite the fact that many Americans remain satisfied with their current employer-provided private plans. This call is designed to rally voters who want a larger government role in healthcare. They will not emphasize that government-run systems can involve long waits for some specialist care, as seen in Canada, where access delays have pushed some patients to seek treatment in the United States.
The other point of contention will be the Middle East policy of the current administration. The conflict with Iran is a major reason gas prices remain high, although today’s national average is still below the record level reached in June 2022. Will the media report that context, or remind voters that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was tapped in 2022 as the Biden administration tried to ease fuel prices? Not a chance. AAA currently puts the national average near $4.15 a gallon, compared with its record high of about $5.02 on June 14, 2022.
On the other hand, Republicans running for office are faced with a hostile legacy media that’s in the tank for the Democrats and all their manifestations. Look no further than their treatment of Abdul El-Sayed, running for the Senate seat in Michigan. He is on the record that one has a better chance of achieving the American dream in Canada. A voter in that state would be hard pressed to find local or national coverage that accurately reports his radical views, past and present.
The same holds true for Rep. Sandy Cortez (AOC). The former bartender is treated reverentially, reporters never questioning her word salad blather. A bona fide graduate of the Kamala Harris Institute of Malapropism, the press continues to give her views glowing coverage. It is indeed laughable when compared to the scrutiny afforded anyone who calls out her absolute naïveté on domestic and foreign policy.
This is the conundrum facing Republicans this election season: fighting to get common sense and traditional values into the public forum. Consider James Talarico, the Texas Senate candidate who has described capitalism as an “oppressive system” linked with white supremacy and argued that it must be dismantled to achieve a better world. This nut says there are six genders and God is non binary while being taken seriously by the media. The scrutiny of these views has been far lighter than the treatment typically given to conservative candidates who raise comparable ideological controversies.
There is no question that Republicans face an uphill battle. The legacy media in this country shows little interest in pressing Democrats and their allies for clear answers to national problems. Too often, coverage functions less as accountability journalism than as ideological reinforcement, which is precisely why many problems remain debated but unresolved.
The result is a media environment that too often favors Democrats and the broader Left. That imbalance is dishonest, harmful to the Republic, and obvious to fair-minded Americans who expect the press to challenge power rather than protect it.
This election season will boil down to President Trump versus the Corporate Press.