There’s a well-established pattern since the start of the Trump era, but in the past two campaign years it’s more condensed, and even more dangerous. Donald Trump sees a political victory, and Democrats follow it in short order with an attack, either political, legal, or violent in nature.

Immediately after this week’s debate — in which Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance so thoroughly vanquished Tim Walz, simultaneously humiliating all of the Kamala Harris campaign’s supporters in the national news media — the countdown began. Our biggest problem is that we don’t know exactly how much time is on the clock.