Covering a GOP primary with many twists and turns, but no major change: Reporter's notebook

I and other journalists have been downright befuddled by the 2024 cycle, which remains largely in a place of stasis.

Since former President Donald Trump launched his third presidential campaign shortly after the 2022 midterms, I've covered the 2024 presidential race for ABC News Digital. And what a race it's been so far.

Ninety-one criminal charges, a handful of rhetorical flourishes that mirrored language used by Adolf Hitler, one (possibly temporary) removal from Colorado's primary ballot and countless insults later, Trump remains the prohibitive favorite to win the GOP presidential nomination for the third time in a row.

And amid handwringing over President Joe Biden's age (he's 81 years old) and mushrooming frustration over how to handle the Israel-Hamas war, the president is expected to handily dispatch with a small, motley crew of primary foes.

As the two frontrunners plod along, there's been a lot of action trying to supplant them. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are battling each other to emerge as the GOP primary's main Trump alternative, and Rep. Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson are waging quixotic bids to wrest the Democratic nomination from Biden.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Cornell West and No Labels are also looming as potential wild cards.