For around two weeks in August, there was a real sense of possibility about the 2024 election. By that point, Kamala Harris had taken a Democratic presidential effort that was set to lose in a landslide and completely revived it, bringing it not just into contention but to a lead. When choosing her VP, she passed over the safe centrist option to pick Tim Walz, the most progressively-minded choice on her shortlist. Most encouragingly, this was reportedly because his liberal policy accomplishments represented what she aimed to achieve during her presidency, making it seem as if she was set to run the kind of assertive campaign that we never got with Biden and his rants about Finland and AUKUS. And with the DNC and a September debate looming as prime opportunities for her to make further good impressions, the sky seemed to be the limit.

It feels like a lifetime ago. While it wouldn’t be correct to say that things have exactly gone wrong since then, it also wouldn’t be correct to say that things have gone right, either. Despite all of the things that have happened in the race and around the world over the past two months, Kamala hasn’t grown at all compared to where she was in August—something that has suspiciously corresponded with her throwing out her early messaging and switching tracks to run a campaign that could be generously described as a cruel parody of Clintonism. The race is as close as it’s ever been, which is to say that it’s far too close for comfort. The result is a situation that’s about the worst it could be without an outright Trump lead: one in which the average daily news cycle consists of Kamala declaring that the Cheney family is “brat” followed by the release of a set of polls showing every swing state within the margin of error.

It’s not fun. Even if you try, it’s hard not to feel the same feeling that many others felt in the final stages of the 2016 election. That the people who swear that they know so much better than everyone else don’t know what they’re doing. That there’s something horrible lurking just around the corner. That, despite everything, the horror of a Trump win is simply inevitable. In short, it’s hard not to doom. I understand the impulse, but I’m also here to tell you that there’s no need to resign oneself to despair or panic. Here’s what to keep in mind so you can follow the rest of the 2024 election without going insane...