Going back to Tricky Dick's first election to public office via dirty tricks, the moneyed interests have used the power of Spectacle to advance their agenda of moneyed interests (they used to call it "anti-communism"). They (Republican ownership) have gone all-in on the spectacle of Trump and even though newspapers are sanewahing Trump, they're also smartwashing Harris. That leaves voters with a choice between fantasy islands: the fantasy that Democrats will support democracy (even as they collect billions of advertising dollars from basically the same donor corporations that prevent democracy) vs the fantasy that Republicans will keep exploitive Meanifest Destiny colonialism feeding competition lies to their sugar-addled kids and landscaping customers (aka "the Economy of Stupid"). It doesn't matter to voters if the candidates are lizards: they HAVE to vote for a lizard or the wrong Lizard Machine wins. Issues, schmissues. It's all in the marketing and it's ALL marketing. Trump's spectacle sells trucks, beer, guns and protest signs on the news products.