08 Jun I will win because I’m a winner. I just won. I will continue to win.

Dave Pell, whose free daily email newsletter is the most entertaining news aggregator on the internet, has written a simple but wonderfully clear analysis of the media’s role in creating Donald Trump’s winning candidacy.

Political races and sports are covered in the exact same way in America. You get predictions about what a competitor needs to do to win, a brief spurt of action, postgame analysis, and a bunch of repetitive talkshows during which former players provide often obvious insights—which consumers continue to rehash around the social media watercooler.

It’s not just the media, it’s you, too, dear reader:

[Y]ou know it’s true because you’re partly responsible (partly in the nearly completely sense). Whenever the media tries to cover the issues at stake in an election, you turn them off. When they cover the game, you leave them on.

Horserace media + race-fan public = D. Trump:

So Donald Trump knows it’s not about the issues and sees a game he can win…. Most politicians don’t like to answer the strategy questions. Trump almost only answers those. He loves that topic. His campaign is not really about a wall or philosophy or an ideology. It’s about winning. I will win because I’m a winner. Because I just won, I will continue to win. You keep criticizing me and trying to get me to become more like the establishment, but last time I checked, I’m winning. So I give the advice. Check the scoreboard. Hit the bench. Grab some pine, Meat. And let me tell you this: Winning.

The whole piece is worth a read, if only to find out why Pell believes it’s not too late to turn things around. And if you’re not already subscribed to his NextDraft newsletter, it’s probably the last thing I would give up on the internet (with the possible exception of James Fallows).