Loss of trust in politicians has exacerbated the problem
The midterm elections in America are a perilous station
The majority of voters vote despite the great polarization.
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Biden is in trouble if his party loses a majority in Congress.
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Doubting the credibility of elections is a problem that threatens democracy.
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The historical significance of Tuesday's US midterm elections should not be overstated.
The expected Republican gains and the consequent loss of Democrats' control of Congress - if they were achieved - would be nothing out of the ordinary.
The party in power usually performs poorly in the middle of an election cycle, especially if the incumbent is unpopular, and Joe Biden's 55% disapproval certainly is.
Yet from another perspective, the immediate importance of the vote for an angry and divided America, (51% to 47% between Biden and Donald Trump in 2020), cannot be overstated.
Looming is an economic recession and pessimism about the future, deep divisions over race, abortion rights, crime, gun ownership and the climate, and a rise in political violence fueled by disinformation, far-right critics, conspiracy theorists, and paramilitaries.
The state of the union is hectic
The State of the Union in 2022 is so frantic that some are asking: Can democracy last?
The main concern is that the radical Republican Make America Great Again faction continues to deny Trump's defeat in 2020, while many moderate Republican candidates refuse to challenge them.
Trump supporters in many states are working to reform voting rules and intimidate opponents.
The basis for this sinister campaign lies in the implicit or explicit use of political violence.
Recorded examples include stalking election workers, threats to judges, armed demonstrations in states, attacks on abortion clinics, debates over COVID-19 rules, and harassment of librarians about which books should be stored.
Biden again warned of the dangers to democracy, and last week the US president directly linked the shocking hammer attack on the husband of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to "Trump's big lie" about the stolen elections.
"We are facing a defining moment," Biden declared. "We must speak with one overwhelming voice as a nation, and say there is no place for voter intimidation or political violence in America."
out of control
Yet his assertion that "for all of us, democracy is on the ballot" is flatly rejected by conservatives who argue that the president is creating fear to win votes.
Some 63% of likely Democratic voters agree with Biden that a functioning democracy is more important than a strong economy, according to one poll, but 70% of Republicans say the opposite.
And 79% of voters said they felt "things got out of hand" in America.
In a recent CBS poll with YouGov of 2,100 registered voters of all stripes, 53% said they believed Democrats if they won would cut police funding, while 59% said they would open the US-Mexico border to illegal immigration. limited.
Neither proposal is considered Democratic Party policy.
In contrast, 63% said they believed Republicans would try to impeach Biden, while 56% expected the GOP to reverse Democratic victories and impose a national abortion ban. , 89% of them said they would definitely vote.
Based on this evidence, reports of the death of democracy are greatly exaggerated.
Meanwhile, neither Republicans nor Democrats have magic answers to fundamentally global problems, including recession stress, energy costs, post-pandemic supply issues, climate impacts, the economic downturn in China, and war in Europe.
Like the proponents of Brexit, it is foolish to think that the United States is somehow immune to such global challenges.
Constitutional paradoxes
The escalation of political violence, which often stems from the far right, also reflects a broader crisis facing all Western democracies: the frustration and anger that ordinary people feel at the distrust of self-serving political elites, and that their voices are being lost.
In the US, the failure to fix constitutional anomalies, such as the Electoral College and the individual allocation of Senate seats, regardless of population size, is a handicap in itself.
And after all, as if these aren't enough problems, there's Trump.
In the midst of the election landscape like a thundercloud ready to explode, the former president is getting closer by the day to announcing his candidacy for 2024, speaking in Iowa last week, saying, “In order to make our country successful and secure, I will probably do it again.
Get ready, that's all I'm telling you.
very soon.
Get ready.”
Clearly, Trump has learned nothing, regrets nothing, and cares about nothing but endless self-promotion.
It is amazing that he is not in prison, facing charges of insubordination and vandalism during the Capitol riots of January 6, 2021, election fraud in Georgia, criminal theft of White House records, fraudulent business dealings, and a lawsuit by a writer who says he raped her, yet he is not Not only is he a free man, but he is the favorite in the Republican nomination.
Given his record in office and his behavior since then, it's hard to imagine a more dangerous prospect for American democracy and global security than Trump's second presidency, yet it is the results of this week's midterm elections that may hinge on his final decision to run, so if for no other reason. We hope that Americans will vote for the Democrats.
Trump apparently has learned nothing, regrets nothing, and cares about nothing but endless self-promotion.
63 %
Among those polled, they believe that Republicans will try to impeach Biden if they win the congressional elections.
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