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Opinion
Albert R. Hunt

Now, Get Ready for an Unpredictable General Election

With 100 days until Election Day, polls will be of little help in predicting this contest like no other.
Fighting season.

Fighting season.

Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The U.S. general election officially begins on Labor Day, but the dynamics for this volatile race will be established in August. Or: With a polarized electorate, many of the parameters of the contest are already baked into the cake, so little will change over the next five weeks.

Both predictions can't be true, yet political operatives in both parties acknowledge that they're not sure which is more likely in this bizarre year.