When I was a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2014, I witnessed the start of a troubling trend in reporting and campaigning. While we all know that liberal bias has always existed in reporting, the so-called journalists were beginning to give up all objectivity in favor of helping Democrats win. Very hard on us, very easy on them. As a candidate, I found it frustrating and unfair. However, there was a silver lining that was beginning to appear and now has emerged in full view.

Like any endeavor, when you campaign, the number of reps you get and the difficulty of your opposition has an effect on your “edge.” Because “mainstream” leftist journalists are so opposed to conservative Republicans, it forced us to be on our toes and keep our head on a swivel. We had to bring our “A-game” continually. Over the last decade, as candidates, our team has gotten stronger, more pointed, and willing to take on any reporter because we know we can do it. As a party and a movement, we have become anti-fragile. Trump has taken us all to higher levels on this front. He has taught us to fight back fearlessly.

Conversely, the leftists/Democrats have been sleep-walking through media-assisted “victories” and convincing themselves they are righteous and deserve to win. Trump was a very favorable anomaly derived of Hillary’s hubris, but once he won, the leftist media supercharged their bias. In 2018, 2020, and 2022, as the media manufactured hoax after hoax and refused to cover stories that made Democrats look bad, Democratic candidates got lazy. They thought their victories were earned on merit, instead of help from the corrupt media. The media, meanwhile, emboldened by their partisanship, continued to cheerlead as bogus Democrat-led prosecutions of their opponents — something that never happened before in America at this scale — stunned Republicans initially and gave Democrats further short-term gains. Again, the Democrats in office misread the landscape.

The pinnacle of the media/leftist hubristic partnership arrived in the form of Old Joe, a terrible candidate getting a free pass, “winning” out of his basement. When the charade collapsed in the debate earlier this year, Obama and Pelosi staged a coup to oust him, with media help at every step of the way. However, because of the leftist religion of identity politics, they were stuck with Kamala Harris, the most ineffective and unpopular Vice President in decades. For a time, the media propped her up without exposing her to any scrutiny. But now, as Harris has been forced to campaign, it has become stunningly clear that she is perhaps the worst political performer ever to be nominated as President by either party. She has never been held accountable for anything by the news media and it shows. She had been elevated politically in a partisan California environment and has never had to fight hard for any office. She is the culmination of Democrat/news media collusion that allows weaker and weaker candidates to artificially succeed.

Meanwhile, conservatives have been getting better and better on their own with no help from the media — the way it is supposed to work.

If, during the pre-season, one athlete trains hard and daily while the other athlete sits on the couch watching TV, the day will come when the season begins, and all will be laid bare. That day has arrived. Trump is a beast and Harris is a snowflake. We’re the pros now, and they’re the JV. Because of its hubris, the media/leftist establishment deserves what they’re about to get, and, as a well-deserved bonus, we’re about to get our country back.

Doug Truax is a West Point graduate, former Army Ranger, successful entrepreneur, and former candidate for U.S. Senate in Illinois. He is Founder and President of Restoration of America, one of the largest conservative organizations active in the 2024 election.