 Nearly a year ago, in the October 2nd issue, The New Yorker published a cover by Barry Blitt called “The Race for Office,” a watercolor image featuring Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and other Washington gerontocrats with walkers jostling for position. The image was not intended to be cruel—indeed, no actual humans were harmed by Barry’s pen—but it was meant to highlight the prospect of the forthcoming elections and their depressing lack of a sense of vitality. The Comment in that same issue, “This Old Man,” pointed out that although Joe Biden’s Presidency had, in fact, been rich with achievement, polls indicated that a large portion of the electorate believed that neither Biden nor Trump would live out a second term. That has all changed, of course. Biden’s poignant, human, yet unmistakable failure in the June debate against Trump made it plain—first to the Democratic Party leadership, then, if reluctantly, to Biden himself—that he was headed toward a catastrophic defeat. Time and again, as in his interviews with our correspondent Evan Osnos, Biden had been able to perform credibly, if hesitantly, but now that had all come undone. In the past two months, our writers have covered the utterly reordered race: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s ascent; Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,’s bearish galumphing toward MAGA oblivion; Trump and J. D. Vance’s reluctance to accept the reality that they are no longer running against Joe Biden. Clare Malone’s definitive Profile of R.F.K., Jr.; Anthony Lane’s comic coverage of the R.N.C., in Milwaukee; Andrew Marantz’s keen reporting on the transformation of the Democrats at the D.N.C.; Vinson Cunningham’s brilliant columns on Harris’s self-projection on television, and on the persistence of the Obamas; Jonathan Blitzer’s deep reporting on the far-right plans for a potential second Trump term; Isaac Chotiner’s often blistering interviews; Geraldo Cadava’s expert analysis of the Latino vote in America; Susan B. Glasser’s unmissable weekly Letter from Biden’s Washington; as well as reporting and analysis from Jelani Cobb, Amy Davidson Sorkin, Emily Witt, and more. This is the kind of writing (often also available as audio narration) that you can expect from The New Yorker, always, and especially in these remaining weeks of the 2024 campaign. The election is also at the center of our original video and podcasts, including The New Yorker Radio Hour and The Political Scene, with Tyler Foggatt’s in-depth conversations on Wednesdays and the Washington Roundtable’s expert takes on Fridays. In the weeks to come, our staffers will be on the ground across the country, from one battleground state to the next. There will be a live blog during the September 10th debate; profiles, analyses, interviews, and daily coverage in our new column, The Lede. There is no telling where this is all going, to be honest. Two months ago, very few would have predicted that Harris would be in a dead heat with Trump. Or that we would be making nervous jokes about cats, couches, coconuts, and “crowd” sizes. If we’ve learned anything, over time and especially in recent years, it’s that history, as the saying goes, can feel like just one damn thing after another. The job, the hope, is to make sense of things, to portray things deeply, fairly, with intelligence and with a sense of the stakes, which cannot be overstated. This hardly ends at the ballot box, of course. We will be covering all aspects of Election Night and mapping the results, state by state, county by county. Who knows, maybe there will actually be a definitive result by morning. And then we will be trying to assess where we are, either with a President who is a first in myriad ways, or with a very familiar face who has promised what he has promised for Day One. I have to close with a note of sincere gratitude. All of our efforts depend on the support of our subscribers. If you appreciate these pieces, I hope you will consider upgrading to a subscription. It is the single most impactful way you can support the future of our work. As ever, David Remnick
Editor, The New Yorker | 
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