Despite the fact that history favors the other party during the midterms, Trumpian lies, the gerrymandering, the voter suppression and the political headwinds that Democrats face there are reasons for hope. The Democrats may legitimately lose control of Congress but it may not be an overt or covert assault on democracy.
[NPR's] David Gura speaks with journalists Mark Bowden and Matthew Teague about their new book "The Steal: The Attempt to Overturn the 2020 Election and the People Who Stopped It."
(EXCERPT)
GURA: Mark, I wonder sort of where things stand now? There have been all of these audits - this has really dragged on well past after Inauguration Day and well into President Biden's - first-year President Biden's term. There is still a lack of trust in the way elections are administered and the way these machines work. And I wonder where you see us going from here, given the trust - the lack of trust - that was infused because of this?
BOWDEN: Well, I don't see that distrust going away. I mean, certainly it serves the interests of Donald Trump and the people around him to keep it alive and to keep beating the drum. But, you know, I came away from this book optimistic about the future because what we saw was that the American people are not as fundamentally dishonest as Donald Trump. The elections are very decentralized, and local officials are, for the most part, deeply patriotic and honest. And I think, well, it will be very hard - it would be very hard - on a large scale to sway them from doing anything other than counting the votes accurately and reporting them as such.
TEAGUE: You know, I went into it thinking that there would be stark differences between, you know, a red side and a blue side and one versus the other. And that really wasn't the case. Many of the heroes of the book, the people who stood up and said, no; we're going to tell the truth - were conservative people and even Trump supporters themselves. So it's clear that the line between truth and lie is something that runs through every human heart, that it's not just a matter of partisan politics. And that gives me hope for the country.
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