The New York Times sent Democrats across America into shock Sunday morning with this story: “Trump Leads in 5 Critical States as Voters Blast Biden, Times/Siena Poll Finds.”

There are three ways to look at this.

First, don’t panic

At the first poll briefing I ever went to, in Jim Hunt’s first campaign for governor in 1976, legendary pollster Peter Hart said: “Polls do not predict. They are snapshots in time.”

Biden’s team will tell you (a) there’s plenty of time, (b) Trump is in plenty of trouble and (c) a year before the 2020 election, Biden was seen as a washed-up has-been with no chance of winning the Democratic nomination, let alone the election.

Second, panic.

Biden is weak. He could lose. Americans think he’s too old and the economy is bad. He has never been good at selling himself. He won the 2020 nomination because South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn gave him a crucial endorsement and because Biden and his team had the discipline to shut up and hole up at home while Trump made a fool of himself on TV every night.

Third, just wait. You ain’t seen nothing yet.

Every election year inevitably becomes sheer chaos: crises, crashes, catastrophes, blunders, bloopers, bad breaks, falls, fails, unforced errors, X factors, shocks, stumbles and October Surprises.

Not counting wars, recessions, recoveries, riots, revolutions, murders and mass shootings. And hurricanes, floods, fires, famines and other Acts of God.

Think back over any election you remember. Think how wrong the conventional wisdom of November the year before turned out to be.

At this point in the 2020 cycle, Biden was toast, and Trump looked strong because the economy looked strong.

Also at this point, we’d never heard of a germ called Covid.

It uprooted our lives, wrecked the economy and upended the election.

So, Democrats, don’t wear out your worry beads. Get to work. Volunteer. Register voters. Organize. Give money. Raise money. Give more money.

Don’t worry. Work.