Saturday’s episode in the life of Andy Capp, the cartoon character by Reg Smythe, depicted an exchange between Andy and an apparent campaigner (Cam) who started:  “And if you vote for me, I’ll cut taxes on beer and gambling.”

Andy replied: “Let me take a stab in the dark and guess that you won’t keep any of those promises.”

Cam: Why’s that?

Andy: You’re a politician.

When I read the above exchange, I remembered the EFKS-tv program the night before, featuring an interview with Laauli-a-le-Malietoa Leuatea Schmidt, the Minister of Agriculture and Chairman of Faatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST), the governing party, where he spoke on the success of the ‘MILIONA-$-TALA’ rural development scheme, in his constituency, after spending their second million Tala.

I don’t remember whether he said seven or seventeen other districts had similar success after using up their second million.

He stressed the even-handedness of the government in applying the scheme between the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) districts and the thirty-five (35) districts that put their trust in FAST to control the government and develop the country.

I switched to TV-ONE to check whether they had a program similar to the EFKS-TV’s.

I do recall of course that TV-ONE had constantly featured Tuilaepa Malielegaoi, while prime minister, and the HRPP in their program, Taimi ma le Palemia (Taimi).

The relationship between Tuilaepa and the HRPP and TV One, who constantly broadcast Tuilaepa’s attacks on the judiciary, following the HRPP’s shock loss in the last election, was so close that when Tuilaepa and the HRPP’s secretary, Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi, were charged with contempt of court, the host of (Taimi) was charged along with them. However, only Tuilaepa and Lealilepule were convicted.

As the parliamentary term grinds on, party campaigning grinds along with it.

So, Hype and Hyperbole come to the fore.

Hyperbole is defined as a literary device that relies on exaggeration, while Hype is a word associated with excitement and publicity.

Our elections are not until 2026 so the Hype and the Hyperbole will not be in full steam until we come closer to election time.

The hope is that when the campaigning heats up, the tone will be civil and the promises will be reasonable and achievable in the parliamentary term.

The campaigning has certainly changed in the United States since President Joe Biden withdrew from seeking re-election; his Vice President, Kamala Harris’ campaign has changed the 2024 race.

CNN reports that in the five days since the Harris campaign was launched, it has given the Democrats new hope of preventing a second Donald Trump presidency.

Bright green, pro-Harris memes have erupted across social media, CNN continues; fundraising exploded, with Harris’ campaign saying she raised $126 million between Sunday afternoon and Tuesday evening. And Democrats were more eager to devote their own time to working to elect Harris: More than 100,000 people signed up to volunteer for her bid, and more than 2,000 applied for campaign jobs, Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a Wednesday memo. New polls show a race in which Trump had been ahead now having no clear leader.

It’s all made clear how desperate much of the Democratic Party was for a change at the top of the ticket – and how eager its donors and loyalists are to back a candidate who can take on Trump more consistently and aggressively.

The big question of course is: Will Trump accept the election result if he loses or will he do what he did last time and urge his followers to disrupt the vote count confirmation with another violent uprising?

We will watch with keen interest. Manuia le aso Sa.