The Media. The American Presidential elections have turned into 24-hour infotainment. At this stage most voters have dug their heels in. Their candidate has already been decided. But if you look at the news reports be it mainstream or independent, the topic of conversation revolves around the viability of Vice President, Kamala Harris or former president Donald J. Trump. Why, you ask? The money is in content – content creation to be exact. Everyone is competing for ad dollars from Disney, WarnerMedia to Tiktok and Meta.

It was obvious after the presidential debate where Donald Trump faced off against Joe Biden, that the incumbent needed a lot of spin to support his case. Truth be told his positions as a politician and a president are considerable. He made strides for certain voters but he showed no spunk when it came to debating his case. His opponent on the other hand, “Teflon Don” actually seemed much more controlled and seemed to pull back on just going in for the kill. However, his growing popularity seems to have been exacerbated by the obstacles he seemed to have been mired in over the last two years. For a while it seemed he would drown in an ocean of court proceedings but every verdict that was meant to diminish his viability and deter his will ended up emboldening his base. So while his opponents were cheering for his demise, his base and lots of uncommitted onlookers saw the emergence of a martyr.

On a fateful afternoon of July 13th 2024, an attempt was made on the life of the former president that shifted the energy decisively in favor of his candidacy. Trump literally dodged a bullet by an ear scratch that was meant to split his skull. No longer could voters and onlookers afford to see that former president seemed to surfing a high tide. It was no longer about his political platform. His life was now in danger and according American political folklore, assassinations are for folk heroes; Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. The last attempt on a president was Ronald Reagan in 1981 and he was able to escape with his life.

After the attempt on the life of former president Donald Trump, the tide of the election took a turn. It was no longer about Left vs Right but Heroes vs Villains. If you are fond of storytelling audiences have a thing for heroes and obstacles. It could be the hero rising in the face of obstacles or the villain who just won’t die. Thus far, the greatest winner of such a faceoff in the producer of the story. The people who get to put up the story for an audience to watch.

However, in every great story a true hero is always his/her own worst enemy. Hubris has a way of making its way into the scheme and setting the hero back a step or two. Joe Biden did not want to step away despite calls to his mental feebleness and then Donald Trump picked his V.P. The Ohio senator J.D. Vance is a published author of the book HILLBILLY ELEGY and entrepreneur whose favor with the MAGA crowd is still rather fickle. And then Joe Biden stepped down picking his Vice President, Kamala Harris to lead the ticket. Trump who seemed unbeatable now looked vulnerable as he picked someone who had once been an avowed Never-Trumper turned MAGA fan. His record with the base had been shaky until quite recently, and his biography opens a lot questions as to how close he really is to the “Hillbilly base” he so loves to court. He has an unapologetic quality that worked wonders for Trump but seems to drown every other rising star in the Republican Party from Vivek Ramaswamy to Ron DeSantis.

The change in the Trump camp worked wonders for the Biden/Harris camp which had seemed to be on the dive. There has been a boost in funding. The news machine seems energized to talk about her campaign and having a younger candidate to go up against the former president who seems up till now to have been sailing towards a win. Finally, it looks like we have some parity in the race… or do we?

It is easy to get lost in the media hype machine of what the race now looks like but unfortunately, it is pretty hard to ignore the reality that most American voters’ loyalties are set and that we may not truly know until election day. But one thing is for sure; the precedent for a media slugfest is in order. With a Trump candidacy that is known to break the rules of civility to his advantage and a Harris candidacy backed by the last wind up of the Democratic Party coalition, we are in for a showdown.

We are already seeing Fox News pundits refer to Vice President as the original “Hawk Tuah Girl” and the repetition of the title “Felon” referring to Donald Trump. We are in for an autumn of rudeness and foul references to rival Nick Cannon’s WILDIN’ OUT. This will be highly entertaining for the news cycle but horrible for our national political morale and I dare say pretty calamitous for our social conversation. But if you work in media either as a commentator, a producer or a reporter, brace yourselves, you may be in for the most fun of you will have all year.