Candidate X Overcome [whatever]?” Sure, if you’re covering elections, you can investigate what politicians stand for. You can check who their financial backers are, and ask what that support might be buying, policy-wise. But that would be based on the assumption that audiences are best served knowing the real-life consequences of their votes. The other route is to just make shit up. Set a rhetorical target, then spend years writing about who is and is not hitting it. You don’t have to move an inch.
