OPINION — We’re down to the wire. Less than two weeks out from the election, this is when you begin to hear politicians and their consultants talk about campaign mechanics — mega ad buys, turnout operations, phone banks and ballot security — that will “get their candidate over the finish line.”

This year, Democrats are also bragging about their fundraising prowess, a “green wave” so to speak that gives them a winning advantage, they argue, over Republicans. Perhaps they should remember powerful fundraisers like Hillary Clinton and the 15 other Republican presidential candidates who outraised and outspent Donald Trump by a country mile and lost.

Money is a resource, not an outcome.

Elections, in the end, are won or lost based on ideas and solutions. Campaign mechanics and the money to pay for them matter because they are the vehicle to put a candidate or a party’s content message before the voters. I’m not trying to downplay the importance of mechanics, but issue content is what drives elections, not just a ride to the polls.

The voter has to want to vote, especially in midterms, and real-world solutions that matter to people motivate participation. Democrats and Republicans have two weeks to close the deal with the American public by offering their vision for the next two years; and not surprisingly, the parties don’t see eye to eye when it comes to the election’s most important issue.