And the campaign has begun.
Arguably one could say the mid-term elections began the moment the 2024 election was over. But now, at last, the 2026 mid-term campaign is edging into public view.
On Friday evening, there was President Trump campaigning in Suffern, New York for GOP Congressman Mike Lawler. Newsmax (where, full disclosure, I am a contributor) carried the Trump appearance in full on its Newsmax 2 streaming channel.
There was the President on live television at a rally, surrounded by thousands of supporters, pitching his cause and making his very serious, occasionally funny, pitch for not just Congressman Lawler but the larger GOP cause and his administration.
The dawning issue for the elitist media now will be: how much of this new Trump campaign will be carried? And when?
While the media is much more attracted to presidential campaigns, mid-term elections are covered as a test of the president's political appeal as the president of the moment races from one state to another campaigning for this, that or another presidential favorite running for Senate, House or a governorship.
The opening shot in all of this, with Trump campaigning for Lawler and, of course, the GOP nominee for New York Governor, one Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, was the signal that in the Trump camp, the campaign is on. And appearances will not be, as the Rolling Stones used to sing, helter skelter.
Trump is certainly aware that his last two years as president will need support from Congress -- both House and Senate. With back-up from GOP governors. Thus it was no accident that the star of this Trump rally was Congressman Lawler.
It is very safe to say that the media—particularly the liberal, Trump-hating media—is acutely aware of all this. And one can guess that the media coverage from that quarter will be highly selective as the days, weeks, and remaining months of the year in the run-up to the November election present themselves.
It is very safe to say that it will be telling from a media standpoint as to just how much and what kind of coverage there will be from the media. Having participated myself in presidential appearances for mid-term elections, the entire spectacle has long become a considerable circus. And it's safe to say that when the president shows up in city that's not as big as New York or Los Angeles, the appearance is quickly the big news in the surrounding area.
And it is also very safe to say that the national media is highly aware of all this. After all, they are ones being shuttled on a campaign plane - notably including but not limited to Air Force One. Then they are shuffled off and on to a bus or stashed in a presidential motorcade to make sure the local media is given considerable view of the local Congressman and the campaigning President.
Not to mention that in the doing the White House and, in this case, the Republican National Committee, are trying to construct a serious media theme and message that gets across the reason why the President wants candidate X elected to the House or Senate in November.
And, while it is often not anticipated, some event X out there can suddenly erupt in the middle of the campaign that can change the political lay of the land completely.
Not to—ahem!—date myself, but back in my literal childhood in 1962 when my geeky self was following the 1962 mid-terms exactly something like that happened. Suddenly, in the mist of the GOP campaigns to win congressional seats - and in California to elect former Vice President Richard Nixon as Governor of California - of a sudden there was Democrat President John F. Kennedy on the nation's television screens to announce that he had discovered the Russians were in the process of installing long range nuclear missiles in Cuba, a mere 90 miles from America.
Suffice to say the focus suddenly shifted to what became a seriously serious showdown with the Russians, known now to history as "the Cuban Missile Crisis." After several tense days and JFK's promise that if any missile were launched on the U.S. there would be a full retaliatory attack from the U.S. on the Russian homeland, the world saw itself teetering on the brink of nuclear war. Everything stopped - and, blessedly, the Russians removed their missiles.
Americans, instantly overwhelmed by a combination of patriotism and fear, rallied to JFK and his Democrats in the mid-term elections. And oh yes, out there in California where JFK's famous 1960 foe Richard Nixon was running for governor, Nixon's candidacy abruptly went down in flames.
In 1986 the reverse occurred, as the Iran-Contra scandal exploded on the political scene during the fall campaign. And, as I can attest as a White House staffer at the time, GOP hopes of any GOP congressional gain went down the tubes as a result of all the seriously negative media coverage.
All of which is to say? The midterm election campaign, as seen this last week with a Trump campaign stop in New York, has begun. And without doubt, the media - the liberal media - will be there to inspect every presidential word, thought and grimace while on the mid-term campaign trail.
And as is occasionally noted in this quarter: buckle in. The media deluge is stirring.
