Thoughts, Ruminations, & Reflections: Before The Election of 2024

Friends, 

I sit here writing just a few hours before the polls start to close across America wondering, along with so many of you, about the future of the country. 

After more than a year of election coverage, reporting at odd hours of the day and consuming more media than I care to confess, I have a few ruminations before we learn the results. Take these points for what they are – the inner-meanderings of a working, independent journalist reflecting on how we got here and where the story goes next. 

1. What can we say about endurance?

I have read the research – the many marketing experts who say to reach an audience, you need 3, 5, 15, 20 touchpoints before an individual will react. But I question the effectiveness of the complete oversaturation of the media market by both campaigns. America feels simply touched out by these two political parties. How will that fatigue factor in tonight or in the future? For either party to present themselves as new or different or unique will take some crafty storytelling in the future. After election day, the public needs a break. Has anyone thought of “voter exhaustion” as a variable in who wins? 

2. Who is the winner? Who is the candidate of change?

I wrote this to a friend yesterday as we tossed around our curiosities about the election: “A candidate can win the contest, and a candidate can change the American political process (or even shift the paradigm) ... but I’m not sure it's the same person.” It does feel like something has shifted in this election. The plausibility of a third party doesn’t seem so distant. The debate format embraced for decades seems positively outdated. The face-off between the traditional and non-traditional media provides many different (new) paths to reach voters (more on this later). The diaspora of once predictable voters – the disruption of stereotypes. The list goes on and on. It feels like a change has happened, no matter the results. A return to “business as usual” does not seem plausible, possible or likely. Is that hopeful thinking as someone always looking for the next story, or a reality? I’m not sure.

3. The rebel voter.

We have a group of rebel voters – I just don’t know how big. In an unscientific survey done on our Instagram account, more respondents than I expected (meaning more than a handful) said they identified with one party but would vote for the presidential candidate of the other (for example, a lifelong Republican voting for VP Kamala Harris; a Democrat who has changed their vote for fmr. Pres. Trump). I do not know if the media or pollsters have provided enough coverage of this voice. I remain curious about what it means. 

4. Discipline cuts both ways.

I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts by a group of staunch Democrats (former Obama officials). Over the last few weeks, they consistently laud the discipline of the Harris campaign in staying on message. A few months ago, as I researched Harris’ rise in the prelude to the 2020 presidential election, I learned that while her campaign first appeared as a potential viable rival to Joe Biden, she quickly faded because her team lacked organization (and discipline). I wondered if this would happen to her again, but it has not. I am curious how time factors in here; would the campaign have struggled if they had to run a longer race than four months? If a primary had happened, would the Democrats have coalesced behind her? We’ll never know, and I’m not sure it matters. 

I have listened to enough interviews with VP Harris to confirm her remarkable consistency. In fact, I can repeat some of her story by memory, and almost picture the neighborhood she grew up in, not far from where I grew up in San Francisco; I have heard the stories about what her mother said about working with others, the bikes with banana seats the kids rode on after school, how neighbors cared for their lawns. But we have missed a piece of her story. We have not heard the story of VP Kamala Harris in her 20s, 30s and 40s – the prosecutor, the attorney general, the senator, specific examples of conflicts she confronted and navigated, challenges she faced and how she evolved to a leader. I wonder why and if this will matter.  Discipline can cut both ways – it can insulate you from mistakes, but it can also insulate you from connection. I wonder if the campaign threaded the needle. 

On the other end of the spectrum, former Pres. Trump has shown a lack of discipline. I do not need to write more than that phrase for you to understand what I mean by it. He consistently goes off-message or off-prompter; he remains consistently undisciplined. And that’s on brand. Former Pres. Trump has never presented himself as a disciplined candidate; while pundits will argue this will not benefit him in this last sprint to election day, I wonder in this environment if it helps him because although unpredictable at times, he has not veered into a foreign version of himself. For better or worse, he has shown who he is, and this, too, can cut both ways – either a huge benefit or a huge detriment. One area that it feels like the Trump campaign has missed? Reflection. Equally to VP Harris, we have not really heard how former Pres. Trump has grown or evolved; how his leadership style has changed or will change due to his experiences in the White House and after. This feels like a miss. 
 
In fact, a moment of humility is a miss from both campaigns. It’s something Americans like in their leaders (think of George Washington); I wish I had the opportunity to cover more heartfelt reflection and less rhetoric.  

5. Who shot Trump and why?

The attempted assassinations of former Pres. Trump remain a black hole of news coverage during this period. I wish I had a better understanding as to why. The news came and went quicker than any shooting I have covered in recent memory, a fact I share not as a sympathy nod towards former Pres. Trump but a reality. We still know nearly nothing about the shooter in Butler, Pennsylvania, and very little still about the would-be shooter in Florida. This concerns me. I worry genuinely about the security and safety of both candidates; quite frankly, of politicians in general. These crimes reflect actual political violence, not the threat of it, which leads to the next point. 

6 Rife with hyperbole.

What does a journalist do in an environment when claims of fascism, racism, sexism, corruption, extremism swirl at every turn? I worry about the use of these terms, not because I do not think these things exist but because when we (the media, politicians, those in power) use them, we better REALLY mean them in every sense of the word; not as a throwaway insult. The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a story we all know because it hits so close to home. My concern sitting before the close of polls remains of this heightened, irresponsible media environment where the press has so closely echoed the vernacular of the campaigns (both of them) without more careful thought. The more we use these terms, the more anesthetized we become to them. America has real enemies. But will we know them when we see them, and will we call them by their name? 

7. Who can we trust?

The feeling of not knowing who to trust is so pervasive and not confined to either party. Fundamentally, America believes in individualism – the power of the people over the power of those in elected office. In fact, those elected in positions of authority have the responsibility to uphold our Constitution; to aid in what the Declaration of Independence promised – “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” That larger calling feels so absent from our political conversation. Have we crossed the Rubicon in these post-pandemic years where we exist in a void of trust so wide that the seams of society start unraveling in more unpredictable and urgent ways? I do not want to sound apocalyptic, but the stakes of the next few hours and days remain high – will election officials, candidates and the media rise to the occasion?  

8. What’s the Joe Rogan effect?

Podcaster Joe Rogan has more listeners and viewers than any evening news show in America; the cable networks do not come close to him. He interviewed former Pres. Trump and Senator/Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance, Elon Musk and Democratic Senator John Fetterman from Pennsylvania, but he also unexpectedly endorsed Pres. Trump days before the election. Before that, Rogan said he invited VP Harris to join him in a conversation, but her team said she would not come to his Austin, Texas, studio as others had and had set limitations on time. Rogan never talks to guests outside his studio, and his interviews often span two or three or four hours, so this conversation never materialized. I wish VP Harris had participated. After 20 years in this industry, I see how politicians often veer towards “comfortable” press; this is not good for them or the audience who wants to get to know them. I wonder if this makes a difference.  

9. Ignored storylines that feel like they may make a difference:

RFK Jr. cannot remove his name from the ballot in some key swing states. How much does that matter? How many “rebel voters” check the box for RFK Jr. on purpose, or decide to check the box for others on the ballot because they don’t like either leading candidate? The Green party, the Libertarian party and the Constitution party remain on the ballot. What’s the impact? What do the results of this election tell us about the state of polling in America? And BTW ... what the heck happens in the House and in the Senate?  

Just a few thoughts ... I must plug back in to our election night coverage, which involves charting out past electoral votes and margins of victory! I know many anxieties come with this day and the results; not to mention, all the many political conversations that accompany the headlines in your personal life. Building a solution in news includes building a community where you can come for calm news coverage and context. I will protect this standard for us. 
 
At unpredictable times like these, I lean on history as a guide. At so many intersections of our shared American story, the next chapter has seemed uncertain. But that comes with the territory – the freedom and the liberty to constantly refine our story and choose a new path. Whatever happens next, we will continue to link arms with you and provide quick, concise, nonpartisan news along the way. I am very grateful to share this developing story with you and have faith in the tenacity of the American people to forge a way forward. 

Thank you for your support and your belief in our mission. Now back to the news! 

Jenna