Surviving an election that may never end

Over the past week, the normally brisk production of stories by the politics desk has turned into a fire hose of text. There’s an election coming up, and we are providing as much history, analysis and context for you, our readers, as we possibly can.

But if you’re like me, you may be a little weary of it all. This seems like the election that went on forever and feels like it could be the election that never ends. Remember when Joe Biden was the Democratic nominee? That was a thousand years ago, or at least a couple of hundred stories ago.

Normally, I focus on one story in this weekly politics newsletter. But there have been so many notable stories this past week, I want to bring your attention to a selection:

• A “cheat sheet” on the presidential candidates, where we rake into a pile all our stories looking at each candidate’s record on significant issues and policy areas.
• A story about how since 1997, 26 states and Washington, D.C., have passed reforms that have expanded voting eligibility to over 2 million people with felony convictions.
• A roundup of research on independent voters, and why, in the 2024 election, the two major-party campaigns and many news reporters are spending a lot of time talking to and about them.
• A study documenting the dramatic rise in Donald Trump’s violent rhetoric over his political career, surpassing that of nearly all other democratic politicians and approximating that of authoritarian figures such as Kim Jong Un and Fidel Castro.

There’s more to come between now and the election. That’s both a promise and maybe an apology, too. Even politics editors can feel saturated by politics news. If you’re like me, you’ll leaven it all by taking a walk, reading new cookbooks and browsing real estate listings. It’s surprising how far away I can get looking at somebody else’s living room.

With the election five days away, we’re sending you this special edition of our Politics Weekly newsletter. If you don't subscribe to the politics newsletter but would like to, sign up today.