The hardest part of my job isn’t writing or researching or even choosing a topic to write about, although that’s often difficult.

The hardest part is resisting the impulse to chase every new twist in the nascent Trump/DeSantis 2024 death match like Dug the dog alerting on a squirrel.

As Dispatch readers know, it’s become a bit habit-forming.

Instead of wagging my tail and bounding after Vanity Fair’s juicy new scoop about Team DeSantis telling donors that he won’t challenge Trump after all, I’ll show restraint for once and focus on a more immediate concern. A national election is four days away and, while the outcome isn’t in much doubt, it’s certainly in doubt at the margins. Republican control of the House is a fait accompli and control of the Senate looks likely, but swing-state polls remain tight enough to make the results of individual races suspenseful.