The election is around the corner. A week ago, we saw the final candidate debate — the only vice presidential debate, and at last one with some thoughtful exchanges of ideas. Has it occurred to anyone else but me that our two political parties may have gotten their president/vice president choices backward?

But as I look back at last week’s debate, it occurs to me that what was important was not what either candidate said — it was how deftly the media (CBS, in this case) controlled the narrative in an in-depth discussion of key voting issues viewed by 70 million people just one month before the election.

It’s no secret that our very left-leaning media is solidly in Kamala Harris’s camp. The problem is that they constantly use their supposedly neutral “news” platform to put one side in a far better light than the other. Here are a few examples:

What was discussed vs. what was ignored. Nominally, the 90-minute debate covered the full gamut of critical election issues, but in each case, the moderators’ specific questions steered the discussion toward aspects distinctly favorable to the Harris side while carefully skirting no-go zones that might get them in trouble.

The first topic discussed was the escalating war in the Middle East, but the question posed to the candidates related to Israel’s prosecution of that war gave wide birth to the very troubling pro-Hamas, anti-Semitic element within the Democrat base. Similarly, the immigration segment sidestepped the matter of how our current administration managed to allow tens of millions of illegals into our country, instead challenging Donald Trump’s controversial plan for deportation of those immigrants. How will that work? Will Trump separate children from parents?

JD Vance fielded those questions very effectively, answering concisely and pivoting to other important aspects. But on topic after topic, he had to work hard to keep focus on matters of central importance to the election.

Climate Change and Hurricane Helene. Helene ripped through the southeastern U.S. on September 26; five days later, when the debate was being held, the crisis was in full bloom, the death toll well over a hundred (more than 230 as of this writing), and many victims still in danger.

CBS sensibly included the hurricane as a debate topic but did not venture into the question of how well or how poorly the current administration had prepared for or was managing the unfolding disaster. Instead, the candidates were asked about their positions on climate change policy, as if greater commitment, pledges to spend even more money, and government mandates on fossil fuel use and electric vehicles would somehow make the whole problem of lethal weather events go away.

In both introducing and closing out that segment, co-moderator Norah O'Donnell pointed to “overwhelming” scientific consensus on the linkage between climate change and the severity and frequency of hurricanes. But she’s wrong: the data say otherwise, and the science is far from settled. Later that week, Joe Biden added his own two cents, stating that “anyone who still believes it’s a hoax” — obviously referring to Donald Trump — “is brain dead.” He also ignored the spotty performance of FEMA.

At least CBS and the administration have their talking points aligned.

Immigration — and Springfield, Ohio. A particularly telling example of CBS narrative control came at the tail end of the immigration segment when JD Vance wandered off their carefully planned ranch, pointing out that the Biden-Harris administration has actively helped more than a million immigrants bypass the legal immigration system via the parole process.

A moment before, co-moderator Margaret Brennan had ignored the agreed-upon debate rules, offering a “clarification for our viewers” contradicting Vance’s prior statements. Vance would have none of it, politely but firmly clarifying her clarification with hard facts. In obvious panic, Brennon abruptly cut off his mic, sarcastically thanking him for “explaining the legal process” — evidently no need in her mind to expose viewers to that little slice of the administration’s dirty laundry.

State of Democracy. And who won the 2020 election? While they keep telling us that Trump should stop relitigating the 2020 election (and he should), our media would like nothing better. CBS made that the final debate topic, the most memorable slot on the agenda. It came in the form of a loaded question for Vance: VP Mike Pence would not go along with Trump’s effort to “overturn” the 2020 election result by refusing to certify the election results on January 6. Would Vance do the same?

That opened the door for Governor Walz to deliver a well-rehearsed, passionate pitch about Donald Trump’s unprecedented effort to overturn the election and to pose his own well-timed point-blank question to Vance — did Trump lose?

Vance parried by pointing out the simple reality that despite all of the hand-wringing about insurrection and assaults on democracy and Trump’s plan to be a dictator, the 2020 election was certified as planned on January 6 (although a few hours late) and 14 days later Joe Biden was inaugurated, also as planned and without incident.

Nevertheless, the exchange worked for CBS and for the administration’s intent to spare no effort to make sure the January 6 horror stories remain front and center.

And now, just a week later, does any of this matter? The media’s persistent hand on the scales is simply par for the course, just another 90 minutes of unsolicited “help” for any undecided voters who rely on information from CBS, CNN, or NBC. And in fairness, the same must be said for Fox News viewers on the other side.

But last week’s debate was a capsule example of how media plays the game and a reminder to all that our once-neutral media is nothing of the sort. In a close election, as this one probably is, it could make a critical difference.

The coming election could not be more important. We are at an inflection point in our history (a frequent Joe Biden assertion with which we can all agree). The election outcome quite possibly could affect the survival of our great nation. And so, a takeaway for voters: don’t let anyone — and particularly biased media on either side — tell us how to vote.