Welcome to the beat. I'm Ari Melver. And I think you know what time it is. We are now inside one week to the midterms.

This record breaking turnout is continuing around the nation. You've heard us report on that. Well, that is the story.

The latest numbers show more than 29 million Americans have already voted.

Exceeding those Trump midterms of 2018 were in full gear. And it's a tense backdrop for these races because

there are active federal warnings about threats and attacks on poll workers and the voting process itself.

We've seen the reports of these self-appointed poll watchers showing up armed and in tactical gear like that shot at photo we got out of Arizona.

Republicans are also running basically insurrection apologists and election deniers for office. It's not normal.

So if it feels like the threat levels are rising, it's because they are.

Threats to lawmakers have increased tenfold over the several years here of the Trump era.

More campaigns will turn on the question of whether candidates will honor democracy itself.

So these are truly unusual stakes. And honestly, it complicates how pro-democracy candidates wage their campaigns.

If you want to call them then. In fact, that very point came up when we were talking to a comedian, a political commentator Bill Mar.

Right here on the beat. Putin was elected. Erdogan and Turkey was elected. Victor Orbin. People haven't gotten it. I don't think this ship of state has hit the iceberg.

But we're still like acting like it's normal. Like they did on the Titanic after the either. Oh, what was that?

And then they went back to drinking champagne. But really the ship was going to go down.

So when the ship's going down, you put the champagne aside. You have to face it.

And so in a way that might be a potential question or implicit criticism of the democracy activists, the democracy believers in America.

And the Democrats who between the two parties are of course the ones warning about what you have to do.

So you keep your right to vote. Well, as it happens Biden aides stress.

He has been leading on the fundamental stakes that what Mar was warning about is what the president has already been doing.

He laid down that marker about the dangers of a road to fascism right here on the American right, led by Trump.

And now there's this new presidential speech on Capitol Hill. It's actually one hour to wait a night.

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