The 2024 presidential election has become the quest for more 

Excuse me a minute. I’m tweeting that Donald Trump is flying into Traverse City’s airport Friday evening for another rally. 

Oh, wait. Here’s another Trump team email. He’s doing a Saturday rally at Suburban Showplace in Novi, too. 

Trump, Harris, Vance, Walz & friends have been in Michigan A LOT this year, haven’t they? Actually, I’ll answer that for you.  

Yes.  

In fact, by the end of the week, the Republican and Democratic tickets have already visited Michigan more times in 2024 than they did in both 2020 and 2016 combined, based on calculations by mirs.news. 

And we still have almost two weeks of this to go.  

Once Vice President Kamala Harris blew out of UAW Local 652 last Friday, she dropped by Oakland County for a rally. She was in Detroit on Saturday, attended some Michigan church services on Sunday and did that Oakland County gig with Liz Cheney on Monday. 

Meanwhile, Trump is flying into Traverse City on Friday, the same day JD Vance has a southeast Michigan event. The next day, Trump is schedule to be at Suburban Place in Novi for a noon visit. 

Oh, and later that day on Saturday, Harris will be back in Michigan with former First Lady Michelle Obama. 

The mirs.news tally for the number of days the Trump/ Vance ticket has been in Michigan is at 22. For Harris/Walz, it’s 17, and that’s since she became the presumptive nominee in July. 

We’re not even counting the surrogates’ visits. Former President Barack Obama, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, department-level officials and out-of-state congressional critters have all descended on Michigan like 17-year cicadas. 

It’s exhausting. It’s all-consuming. It’s almost over. Hopefully. 

When it is, remember this: 

A combined 93% of the 2024 presidential candidate visits have been in seven competitive swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and, of course, Michigan, according to National Popular Vote. 

It’s not like the other 43 U.S. states. Michigan’s results are expected to be so close that Trump and Harris’ time and treasure is being spent right here. Neither Trump nor Harris would be here if it didn’t matter. But it does. 

The ridiculous amounts of money they’re spending here prove it. 

In TV, digital and cable spending alone, Harris’ campaign and her allies have spent $150 million in Michigan. Trump and his Republican-aligned friends have spent close to $100 million. 

Yup, that’s a quarter of a billion dollars being spent to influence your vote. It’s $30 for every registered voter in the state of Michigan. It’s the value of the Hope Diamond. It’s roughly the gross domestic product of the Marshall Islands. It’s the cost of sending 850 students to Harvard for four years, according to The New York Times. 

It’s the cost of politics in 2024. Everybody is doing a little more than the last election. More personal visits. More social media saturation. More mailers. More text messages. 

There’s no public budget either Harris or Trump is operating under. There’s no magic number of visits.  

How much does it take to win a presidential campaign? How many visits will it take? 

The answer is simple: more. 

The Biden — now Harris — campaign committee raised $900 million between January 2023 and Sept. 30, 2024, according to Forbes. That’s nearly $1 billion. Trump raised $371.9 million.  

I counted a dozen fundraising emails in the last 24 hours from Harris. I got about the same from Trump. 

Hypothetically speaking, what if Harris had had $2 billion to spend? What if Trump had come to Michigan 44 times this year instead of 22? 

When does the law of diminishing returns activate? In the campaign world? Never. 

There is no limit to the more. No end to the number of canvassers, doorknockers, mailers or ads.  

Forget that people have been dialing out for weeks. They’re tired of talking about it. Tired of the texts. Tired of the ads. 

We’re all begging for less.  

It’s hard to say, but until Nov. 5, you’re getting more.

(Kyle Melinn is the editor of the Capitol news service MIRS. Email him at melinnky@gmail.com.)