Above the fold
In Plain Sight
Two political campaigns culminated two weeks ago today. One spent roughly 1.5 billion bucks and is 20 million in the red. The other spent about one-fourth of that and is headed to the White House.
How did we get here? Perhaps you should saunter down your driveway this AM to retrieve your newspaper and “read all about it.” It’s chilly. Be sure to double-cinch your robe and put on the furry slippers first.
Maybe you don’t “take” the paper anymore. “Anymore” might mean 20 years or so. Maybe you don’t even watch the evening news anymore.
Each quarter Nielsen ratings show fewer Americans watch than the previous one. Combined ABC, CBS, and NBC reach about 18 million views nightly these days.
And for two months if you turned on your TV you saw a Harris/Walz political ad.
How many views on YouTube did Joe Rogan’s three-hour podcast with Donald Trump have in the three days following its cast? Thirty-eight million. As Joe Biden would say, “Not a joke, folks!”
Harris was offered “free” airtime with Rogan and declined. But, Saturday Night Live called and she was there in a New York minute.
Donald Trump and his team aggressively used social media platforms to refute Kamala Harris’ claims at her rallies in real time. While Walz was waltzing on stage Team Trump was typing. Social media posts cost very little.
Share research shows 46% of young people aged 19-29 voted for Trump, up from 36% in 2020. That’s yuge. They’re dancing the “Trump dance” from coast to coast nonstop.
Dour MSNBC reported this morning that nearly one in five Americans consider social media their first source for news. In the important 19-34 age bracket two out of five do too!
MSNBC show anchors spent weeks calling Trump a fascist and comparing him to Hitler. Morning Joe with Mika in tow spent last Friday at Mar-A-Lago making nice with President-Elect 47. They say they want to call it down the middle now even if they still differ with many of Trump’s policy initiatives. They won’t say if they kissed the ring or bent the knee.
Morning Joe’s producers woke up and smelled the coffee. What’s brewing is a viewership shift from one platform to another and a philosophical shift from far left to some normalcy.
As usual, all of this was hiding in plain sight.
As usual, Musk saw it first. He bought Twitter. Free speech was unburdened from what had been.
Trump mastered the media manipulation game way back when.
Together they took down all seven swing states.
They may have taken down the legacy media with it.
Next, they tackle DC.
The WH press room will never be the same.
Comment section
The legacy media took themselves down. It’s kind of like betting on a risky horse just because the hoof owner owns the track. What the bettor doesn’t understand is that the track owner profits even more when the favorite that he owns, loses. Like sheep heading for slaughter, they all ran close and together.
Nobody saw the hard working stud gobbling up ground on the backstretch. Nobody cared that the stablemate to the favorite was gelded and sniffing his own whip.
The Stallion was steady and strong. And his bettors were doing their homework. Consistent works, the distance fit, oh and he’d been there before!
Nothing like feeling comfortable and confident in the winners circle. Photos all around please!
And yes, even for Mika , and Joe.
When Uncle Joe quit at the far turn and his duel entry Chameleon of Joy was left to run the media must have thought they still had a winning ticket mostly cause the competition seemed gelded. But, they really had a mule. She carried the Dems water as best she could and had a big assist from the media. But, as they turned for home she could not be unburdened by what has been.
And now she is a has been.
And, the media folks are the only ones left at the race track after the feature race ended.
Related Posts: