Below is a slightly expanded version of my Hill column on the widespread claims that democracy is in peril if the GOP prevails in the midterm elections. On the eve of the midterm elections, one would think that our constitutional system has only days to live. Indeed, on Fox Sunday, House Majority Whip James Clyburn declared "I've studied history all of my life. I taught history. And I'm telling you, what I see here are parallels to what the history was in this world back in the 1930s in Germany. This country is on track to repeat what happened in Germany when it was the greatest democracy going, when it elected a chancellor that then co-opted the media." In other words, the Republicans are like Nazis about to overthrow democracy, an analogy to the rise of Adolph Hitler. It is notable that Democrats, including President Biden, are now arguing that the media is pro-Trump or coopted by the Republicans.

Here is the column:

If a single moment could sum up the growing hysteria heading into the midterm elections, it was the appearance of historian Michael Beschloss on MSNBC this week when he warned that, if the Republicans prevail, we could see "our children … arrested and conceivably killed."

In other words, it is not gas prices, the economy or crime that once again are the top polling issues for voters. Instead, it is democracy or death, gas or grandchildren — you choose.