• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, February 2, 2024

That's how long before the final vote is cast and we find out who won the 2024 election: Democracy; or something else. Because that's what's on the ballot.

Remarkably, many Americans say they plan to vote for something else.

I have no delusions about influencing many -- if any -- of them, because if they can support someone who wants to be a dictator, even if it's just for one day, they're on the wrong side of American history.

It's not that I love Joe Biden, so much as I love Democracy. But unless something changes in the next 277 days, Biden is America's best shot at preserving it.

So I plan to use as much of the time we have left trying to persuade the persuadable. People with open minds and a curiosity for the role media plays in shaping how people feel, think and behave because of media.

The reason for the graphical update in the "Red, White & Blog" logo above is a nod to what I've been trying to do with that in my personal blogging, but for the duration of this election cycle, focusing explicitly on how media influence how Americans feel, think and vote by using this column as a meta narrative organizing all the news, information and data I receive about that, as well as my own observations and critiques related to it.

I'll try to keep it concise, and use it as a way to call out and link to other coverage on MediaPost and elsewhere, and comment on why it is something that might be worthwhile to someone who cares about the role media plays influencing politics.

I'm starting with a clock counting down to 1am (ET) on Wednesday, Nov. 6 when the final ballots will close in the Aleutian Islands, because I think time is the best way to think about the role of media in this race. 

You can click on the link in the image above if you want to track how much time is remaining, and that might prove a useful device as I write about time-relevant things like changes in campaign news, shifts in polling and how it impacts the news cycle.

So here's what's on tap for today:

• Why, after half a dozen years, I'm saying hello to "Donald J. Trump" again.

• Why he's been dominating the presidential election news cycle to date.

• And perhaps most relevant of all, given the theme of today's blog, how campaigns can target persuadable voters in the real world.

Thanks for indulging me so far. I hope you like this approach and that I can sustain your interest in it. Let me know either way. And worse case, you can simply ignore it and read other things we publish on MediaPost that may be more relevant to you.