Midterm defeats can upend US presidencies. Think of Mr Newt Gingrich’s new model Republicans in 1994, Mrs Nancy Pelosi’s Democratic wave in 2006, or the Tea Party sweep of 2010. These sounded the death knell for the domestic agendas of Mr Bill Clinton, Mr George W. Bush and Mr Barack Obama.
If Democrats lose next week, a similar fate would befall Mr Joe Biden. Yet, the 2022 race belongs in a class of its own. Roughly half the Republicans running for federal or statewide office believe the presidency was stolen from Mr Donald Trump in 2020. That means America’s system itself is on the ballot next Tuesday.
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