与...的关系里克·克莱因
在距离选举日还有八天的时候，对这一时刻的公平解读包括一项评估，即严峻的警告已经成为现实——政治不仅变得两极化，而且变得激进，以至于现在对所有层面的参与者都很危险。
一个公平的阅读也把对众议院议长南希·佩洛西丈夫保罗的袭击这是一份两党名单，包括威胁、阴谋和跨政治领域的实际暴力行为。近年来成为目标的人包括路易斯安那州众议员史蒂夫·斯卡利斯(Steve Scalise)和最高法院法官布雷特·卡瓦诺(Brett Kavanaugh)，以及华盛顿众议员普拉米拉·贾亚帕尔(Pramila Jayapal)和密歇根州州长格雷琴·惠特默(Gretchen Whitmer)——当然，还有1月6日亲特朗普的暴徒对国会大厦的袭击。
随着对选举工作人员和官员的威胁以及对选民的恐吓策略的报道，也值得重复的是，有185名候选人竞选国会或州长，他们否认上次选举的合法性。其中三分之二是虚拟锁，以赢得他们的比赛，根据由FiveThirtyEight和美国广播公司新闻汇编的数据。
他们都是共和党人——一位前总统的追随者，这位前总统谎称自己获胜，并将在竞选的最后一周比现任总统更加引人注目。与此同时，或许最具影响力的政治话语社交媒体平台有了新主人，他的倾向给这一切带来了新的风险和不确定性。
美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)和其他知名民主党人正在将前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)及其许多支持者传播的阴谋论与保罗·佩洛西(Paul Pelosi)遇袭事件联系起来，并警告接下来可能会发生什么。
“更多的人会受到伤害，”前总统巴拉克·奥巴马周末在威斯康辛州说。
奥巴马恳求民主党人将愤怒转化为投票。但是这次选举可能会完全转向不同的问题:近50%的注册选民最新的美国广播公司新闻/益普索民意调查将经济或通货膨胀列为他们的第一投票议题，民主党的主要议题排在后面。
无论选民选择优先考虑的问题是什么，对民主的威胁是真实的，而且是彻头彻尾的可怕。选举之后，这些威胁的范围似乎只会扩大。
虽然最高法院对多布斯诉杰克逊妇女健康组织(Dobbs v . Jackson Women ' s Health Organization)的裁决推翻了罗伊诉韦德(Roe v. Wade)的裁决，在中期选举之前一直处于前沿和中心位置，但美国最高法院将于周一听取两起案件的辩论，这两起案件可能会颠覆另一个数十年前的法庭先例:大学招生中对种族的考虑。
自1978年以来，法院通过无数次的法庭质疑表示，如果有利于促进来自多样化学生群体的令人信服的教育利益，学院和大学可以将申请人的种族作为许多因素之一。
现在，鉴于法院的保守倾向，高等教育机构正在准备推翻长期存在的种族意识招生的做法。
这两起分别针对哈佛大学和北卡罗来纳大学的诉讼是爱德华·布鲁姆(Edward Blum)提出的，他是一名白人保守派活动家，多年来一直在法庭上挑战基于种族的政策。
“我是一匹只会一招的小马，”布鲁姆说最近接受路透社采访。“我希望并关心在我们的公共政策中结束这些种族分类和偏好。”
如果百隆成功了，其影响将超越学院和大学，也将影响公司招聘多样化劳动力的方式。
纽约州共和党州长候选人、众议员李·泽尔丁(Lee Zeldin)周六与该党最知名的政治人物之一、佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯(Ron DeSantis)一起，并将于周一与另一位全国公认的保守派州长、弗吉尼亚州州长格伦·扬金(Glenn Youngkin)举行集会。
在长岛的Hauppauge，DeSantis长期以来一直将纽约州的民主党领导地位视为其家乡州的政治陪衬，他说共和党在竞选中的胜利将是“全世界听到的21世纪版本”。自2002年以来，纽约从未选出过共和党州长。
据美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)的迈尔斯·科恩(Miles Cohen)报道，这位推测的2024年总统竞选人还利用了他自己的州长行动来支持泽尔丁的平台，尽管泽尔丁的支持者似乎对德桑蒂斯提到佛罗里达州的反应不太积极。
“在佛罗里达州，我可以告诉你，当我们有一名检察官不遵守法律时，我会解除他的职务。我等不及李·泽尔丁成为州长了。他将去曼哈顿，他将取消地区检察官，”德桑蒂斯说，他指的是他暂停佛罗里达州检察官安德鲁·沃伦(Andrew Warren)的职务，后者拒绝起诉堕胎罪。
扬金将于周一与泽尔丁在威彻斯特进行巡回演讲。该地区靠近纽约市，这可能为共和党人提供继续提出犯罪和安全问题的机会，这已经成为大选周期最后几周选民的一个主要焦点。
在紧张的政治环境中，考虑到德桑蒂斯和杨金都有自己独特的政治品牌，可能不会在州外传播，共和党人是否会帮助泽尔丁越过终点线仍有待观察。
Paul Pelosi attack highlights jitters and stakes around midterms: The Note
The TAKE with Rick Klein
A fair reading of the moment, eight days ahead of Election Day, includes an assessment that stark warnings have materialized -- that politics has grown not just polarized but radicalized to the extent that it's now dangerous for participants in all levels of the process.
A fair reading also puts the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul, on a bipartisan list that includes threats, plots and actual violence committed across the political spectrum. Those targeted in recent years include Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, as well as Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer -- and, of course, the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol that was committed by a pro-Trump mob.
With threats to election workers and officials and reports of intimidation tactics against voters, it also bears repeating that there are 185 candidates running for Congress or governor who deny the legitimacy of the last election. Two-thirds of them are virtual locks to win their races, according to data compiled by FiveThirtyEight and ABC News.
All of them are Republicans -- followers of an ex-president who falsely claims he won and who will be a more visible presence than the current president over the campaign's final week. Meanwhile, perhaps the most influential social media platform for political discourse has a new owner whose inclinations layer new risks and uncertainties onto it all.
President Joe Biden and other prominent Democrats are connecting conspiracy theories propagated by former President Donald Trump and many of his supporters to the attack on Paul Pelosi -- and warnings of what might come next.
"More people will get hurt," former President Barack Obama said over the weekend in Wisconsin.
Obama implored Democrats to turn outrage into turnout. But it may be that the election turns on different issues entirely: Nearly 50% of registered voters in the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll name either the economy or inflation as their No. 1 voting issue, with the main issues that Democrats are running on farther down the list.
However voters choose to prioritize issues, the threats to democracy are real and downright scary. It looks likely that the scope of those threats will only grow after the elections.
While the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, has been front and center in the lead-up to the midterm elections, the nation's highest court is set to hear arguments Monday in two cases that could upend another decades-old court precedent: the consideration of race in college admissions.
Since 1978, the court has said, through numerous court challenges, that colleges and universities may consider the race of applicants as one of many factors if it is in the interest of promoting compelling educational benefits that come from a diverse student body.
Now, given the court's conservative tilt, institutions of higher learning are bracing for what could be the undoing of the long-standing practice of race-conscious admissions.
The cases, brought against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, respectively, are the brainchild of Edward Blum, a white conservative activist who has spent years challenging race-based policies in the courts.
"I'm a one-trick pony," Blum said in a recent interview with Reuters. "I hope and care about ending these racial classifications and preferences in our public policy."
If Blum is successful, the impact would reach beyond colleges and universities and impact how companies recruit diverse workforces, as well.
New York's Republican gubernatorial candidate, Rep. Lee Zeldin, was joined by one of his party's most high-profile political figures, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, on Saturday and will rally with another nationally recognized conservative governor, Virginia's Glenn Youngkin, on Monday.
In Hauppauge, Long Island, DeSantis -- who has long cast New York's Democratic leadership as a political foil to that of his home state -- said a Republican win in the race would be "the 21st century version of the shot heard around the world." New York has not elected a Republican governor since 2002.
The speculated 2024 presidential contender also drew from his own gubernatorial actions to bolster Zeldin's platform, although Zeldin supporters appeared less responsive to DeSantis' references to Florida, ABC News' Miles Cohen reports.
"In Florida, I can tell you when we had a prosecutor who was not following the law, I removed him from his post. And I can't wait for when Lee Zeldin becomes governor. He is going to go to Manhattan and he is going to remove the district attorney," DeSantis said, referring to when he suspended Florida State Attorney Andrew Warren, who refused to prosecute abortion crimes.
Youngkin will take to the stump with Zeldin on Monday in Westchester. The area's proximity to New York City could provide both Republicans the opportunity to continue raising the issue of crime and safety, which has become a major focal point for voters in the last weeks of the general election cycle.
Amid a tense political environment, it remains to be seen whether either Republican helps push Zeldin across the finish line, considering both DeSantis and Youngkin have their own distinct political brands that may not translate out-of-state.
