A Campaign That Just Started Is Almost Over

When Vice President Kamala Harris took the stage at the Democratic National Convention last night, she did not linger on her party’s bliss over the events of the past month. She used the opening words of the biggest speech of her life to change the subject.

“OK,” Harris said. “Let’s get to business.”

Harris’s crisp opening reflected the urgency of the clock, but also the hard reality of a hyper-compressed political calendar: Her presidential campaign is almost over, even though it has just begun, and both she and former President Donald Trump have hardly a second to waste in a close race.

Because Harris has been atop her party’s ticket for only about a month, she and Trump have sprinted in a matter of days through campaign elements that normally take months. Harris has raced to define herself and her candidacy, running a campaign heavy on rallies and light on policy and taking questions from the press. Trump, who built a campaign premised on defeating President Biden, has struggled to change up his attacks. And now, with both conventions done and dusted, comes everything else.

Much will be packed into the next 74 days, and much can change in that time. If your head is spinning, dear reader, I get it. Mine too! Here’s my road map to the rest of the campaign. If you blink, you might miss it.

Coming up next: the summer doldrums.

Ah, finally. The presidential race is set. It’s summertime. Candidates and voters can take a minute to breathe before the fall campaign ramps up.

For like, two days.

Harris is heading home to Washington this weekend, my colleagues Reid Epstein and Katie Rogers report. Trump, who is campaigning today in Las Vegas and Glendale, Ariz., also has no campaign rallies planned for Saturday and Sunday. That might be all the peace and quiet we get before …