As we head into the final stretch of the marathon which now constitutes presidential campaigns, we are once again witnessing America’s corporate media spoon-feeding the public personal details about the candidates while blatantly taking sides in the contest.

For eight years, we’ve heard about Donald Trump’s mean tweets, his mockery of opponents, and his unpresidential behavior. That these ad hominem attacks have succeeded can be seen in the Trump Derangement Syndrome that afflicts so many Americans. Meanwhile, these same outlets have given Kamala Harris, the supposed “Candidate of Joy,” a free ride as she romps about the country sprinkling fairy dust while staying far away from interviews and press conferences.

Some conservative pundits play the same game. They shine a spotlight on Harris’s “word salads,” her cackling, her use of ethnic heritage to advance herself, her ugly abuse of her staff, and her inability to appear before a camera without a script.

With few exceptions, these outlets understand that a focus on personalities rather than  policies excites readers. We crave stories about good guys and bad guys, heroes mounted on white horses and villains wearing black hats. Sober discussions about the candidates’ plans to solve problems, like curbing inflation or revitalizing America’s small businesses, are sleepers.

Here’s a case in point: In his address in Asheville, North Carolina on Aug. 14, Donald Trump laid out his economic hopes and plans for the United States should he become president. Rather than reporting in depth on these proposals, many mainstream outlets focused on his tendency to go off-topic or on his attacks on Harris. Likewise, two days later, when Kamala Harris pitched her ideas for revitalizing the economy at a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, some on the right were more interested in the small number of attendees at this rally than in what Harris proposed in her speech.

Nevertheless, both presidential candidates revealed some of their plans to fight inflation, to bring government spending under control, and to bring a new era of growth to America. Yet how many Americans from the left or the right know enough about these positions to defend or attack them?

Instead, we’ll continue to hear from voters who will cast their ballots based on a candidate’s personality. Recently, for example, a 60-something woman I know delivered a line I’ve heard a dozen times over the past eight years: “I’m a Republican, but Donald Trump is a nasty piece of work. He’s always making fun of people. He’s mean, and that’s why I won’t vote for him.”     

Circumstances prevented me from asking her whom she would prefer in the Oval Office: a businessman who’d already performed good works for his country or a culturally radical socialist who has brought wreckage and ruin in her wake?

When we push beyond their personalities and learn a bit about the respective achievements of Trump and Harris and their proposed policies should they win the election, we gain a valuable tool in defending our chosen candidate. Ask the niece who supports Kamala Harris what policies in particular attract her, and she’ll probably mention abortion and then talk about how much she hates Donald Trump. Conservatives often fare little better when questioned. Ask that friend who supports Donald Trump what he thinks of Trump’s recent economic proposals, and he may know as little as the niece. 

Try this policy versus personality thought experiment: Suppose Kamala Harris, word salads and all, was a conservative running for president? Suppose her personality was precisely as it is now, but if elected she intended to seal the southern border, cut federal regulations, lower taxes, fight inflation, and end the deep state corruption that has wrought havoc on our government and our Constitution?

Would you vote for her?

I would. In a heartbeat.

Quirks and peccadillos are of little consequence. A candidate’s character matters, of course, but what matters most at this moment in history is the answer to this question we should ask of all national candidates: What good will you bring to the United States of America?

We should vote for the candidate whose policies will build a better America. Period. And we should do our best between now and the election to make sure others know and understand those policies. There’s still time to make those around us more aware that the vote they cast will have a direct bearing on their future, that mean tweets won’t matter a damn when compared to the damage that will be done by a Kamala Harris administration.