CNN’s October 17 Table For Five broadcast replayed Trump’s promise of $5,000 for adult U.S. citizens if Republicans retain the House and Senate. He has found an affordability problem he wants solved immediately: the price of keeping his majority.

Trump contrasted the money with an economic depression if Democrats win. That is quite a range of presidential forecasts. His party wins and you get a windfall; it loses and the economy falls apart. Apparently the decisive economic indicator is whether the president enjoys election night.

The reported condition concerns which party wins, not how each recipient votes. Even an adult citizen who voted against him would fall within the promise. The campaign pitch is intensely partisan; its promised eligibility is rather less interested in checking your enthusiasm.

CNN replayed a conditional pledge, not a report of payments reaching households. Future money is already producing a present benefit for the politician offering it. That part of the transaction requires neither a delivery date nor a favorable congressional result.

The promise is conditional. The demand for political credit is punctual.