Is the Election Even Happening?

A dear friend of mine asked me the other day, “Wait, are we voting for president this year?” Then she corrected herself. “Of course. It just feels like more should be happening.”

Yes, it does. It’s really hard to describe how different the atmosphere is between the elections of 2016 and 2020 and this one in 2024. The first and especially the second Trump campaign for the White House released a febrile energy into the public mood. I once went back to my 2020 inboxes, and I could not believe...