Is ‘democracy on the ballot’ in the U.S. midterm elections?
Posted November 2, 2022 7:21 am.
In today’s Big Story podcast, it’s the kind of hyperbolic claim usually made by partisan contenders: “This is the most important election of your life” or “This year, democracy is on the ballot.”
But with candidates who deny the results of the 2020 presidential election running in races across the United States — and some of them poised to take over posts literally overseeing vote counting in future elections — non-partisan institutions and journalists are sounding the alarm.
Today’s Big Story guest is James McCarten, Washington correspondent at The Canadian Press.
What should Canadians expect from our neighbours on November 8 and beyond? Is political violence at the polls a real possibility? What does it mean for our own political future if America continues to slide away from democratic norms?
“First of all, the midterms always carry with them a lot of baggage for the party that’s in the White House. Right. It’s become now a pretty standard pattern that the party that’s in the White House takes a beating in the midterms,” said McCarten.
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You can also find it at thebigstorypodcast.ca.
