We haven't even said "Jack" yet (let alone Yossi Yona), and the election campaign has already crossed the midpoint.
The preliminary game is over, the hesitant fumbles are giving way to the heavy blows that the candidates will throw at each other, until the final point.
It is still early to give any signs in the election campaign; it is better to wait a little longer to identify what are the trends that will accompany us to the polls, and what is just background noise. Nevertheless, here are some comments that can already be formulated, eight or so weeks into the campaign.
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1. Benjamin Netanyahu - Say what you will, the man is strong in the picture and there is at least a 50% probability that he will also be the next prime minister. Netanyahu is trying to win elections for the third time in a row. The last man to do something similar was David Ben-Gurion, whose record for the longest term in office Netanyahu is seeking to break.
2. Tzipi Livni - Try to solve the mathematical problem before you: A politician who went from point A (Kadima) to point B (Hatno'a), and lost 22 seats along the way (28 seats for Kadima in 2009, 6 seats for Hatno'a in 2013) joins a third party (Labor) and boosts it by more than ten seats.
Don't try to find an explanation, you won't succeed.
This election campaign brought back from the dead not only the Labor Party, but also Tzipi Livni's career. The possibility that after these elections Livni would become a senior minister in the government (not to mention the slim possibility that she would become prime minister) seemed until recently a distant dream in the parliament.
The chance that it will return to square one and fall into opposition still exists, but the rapid manner in which it returned to playing a significant role is truly unfathomable.
3.Yair Lapid - In the previous elections, Yesh Atid managed to slip under the radar. No poll was able to predict how momentum would "hit" Lapid at exactly the right moment, sweeping him to heights he had never planned to soar to.
Lapid's problem is that this time he entered the radar range too early. Modi has experience from 2013. Everyone is careful to mention how excellent a campaigner he is, who inspires with his appearances and fills the conference halls.
Indeed, after the budget crisis got out of his control and led to elections contrary to his plans, Lapid came to his senses, formulated messages, and quickly put on the campaign clothes that so suit him.
This still doesn't guarantee anything, but those who planned to see the "atmosphere party" of the previous elections crash will probably have to wait until next time.
4. Naftali Bennett - Shortly after 'Protective Edge', Bennett realized that elections were a necessity for him. The operation strengthened his position and he began to flourish in the polls while everyone else falters.
This was his signal to intensify the attack from the right on the prime minister. Thus Bennett sowed fears in Netanyahu's mind, unrest in the Likud and instability in the coalition. Bennett decided to make it happen, because he has great ambitions.
He has exhausted the phase of 12 seats and the Ministry of Economy, and now the time is ripe for him to jump a grade.
In the first interviews he gave during the campaign, he stated that 24 seats were the goal for the Jewish Home to become the ruling party.
The short time that has passed since then has tempered the ambitions. The possibility that he will overtake Likud no longer seems realistic.
Now all he can do is hope for a significant upgrade in the next government, because he didn't need these elections for another term in the Ministry of Economy.
5. YouTube - We realized that the days of Seppi Rivlin and the pale tracker in election campaigning are over. Today, everything goes viral. Videos are distributed on social media and in the free media, and are not saved for the anachronistic broadcast schedule that has been reserved for the parties for the past two weeks.
We understood everything, only Rabak, what about the level? Infantile animation, faded imitations and lame jokes? - Couldn't you have done a little more. What do we have elections for if not for some fine video.
The writer is Channel 10's political correspondent.
