What the public can teach pundits (and politicians) about saving democracy

The American public understands something fundamental: The MAGA attack on democracy is only possible because the civic foundation of our democracy has been weakened to begin with.

(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Last week, a New York Times/Siena poll set Democratic hearts racing, showing a four-point advantage for Republicans — a five point swing since the summer. The shift represented the political fallout of continued inflation, looming recession fears, and the president’s limited approval.

Republican wins in key battleground states in November could be catastrophic for the future of free and fair elections in this country. The MAGA-infested GOP is dead set on leveraging every office they take to prosecute a culture-driven grievance agenda. And every indication suggests they’ll use any state and local election office they win this cycle to engineer future election outcomes they cannot win fair and square.