I’ve felt this way for as long as I can remember but this presidential cycle I feel it even more strongly.
I’m sure prior to the days of instant video communication they served a purpose in that they rounded up rural voters to build hype and sell them on voting for them.
I can’t think of a single reason to hold a political rally like the ones Trump and Harris do on a daily basis now. The people who actually attend them are always fully locked into the candidate. There are no voters who can still be swayed that already take time out of their lives to go wave signs with other people waving signs at people running for office. The guy next to you is already sold on the candidate so who is it the attendees are trying to influence? It’s like wearing a Pearl Jam T-Shirt to a Pearl Jam concert. I guess they are fundraisers but to what end? Harris has raised well over $1B for her short 3-month campaign. My $10/100/1000 donation isn’t going to move the needle for her and she’ll never know my name or that I paid my political tithing. No one is watching them on TV if they are on at all. These are not for persuadable voters, they are for people who already know who they are voting for.
I don’t buy the whole “undecided voter” schtick anymore either. The people who claim to still be undecided are simply people who are either going to vote for Trump or not vote at all but they enjoy the ego boost of media pursuit. Seriously, 90% of the people you see getting interviewed on TV or sitting on cable news panels are so full of crap that it’s cringey. Rallys don’t do anything for them either.
Is there any legitimate reason to hold political rally’s today? I don’t think so.