Leading newspapers across the country are urging voters to make their choice this election based on who would preserve "democracy."
The effort mirrors President Biden's warnings that Republicans were a threat to our democracy.
Several papers followed suit, by primarily attacking the Republican Party rather than explaining the reasons why Americans should elect Democrats on the ballot.
The Washington Post editorial board grabbed attention with their stark headline that read, "This is not a normal election, voters should keep that in mind."
The paper laid out a binary choice for voters, saying they had to pick between "candidates committed to the democratic system and the peaceful transfer of power," or "those who have tried to profit from toxic lies about election integrity."
If Republicans are in power, voter suppression will follow, along with "conspiracy-theory" driven vote audits, the Post warned. The paper encouraged viewers to "keep the big picture in mind" because the "stakes are higher" than tax brackets.
"In office, deniers could make voting more difficult, encourage doubts about the integrity of the count, run conspiracy-theory-inspired vote audits — as the Arizona Senate did following the 2020 election — or even refuse to certify election results," they said.
Voters must "recognize that this election matters, more than many others in the past, and to be sure to show up," the paper demanded.
The Boston Globe also pressured voters to reject Republicans or suffer "the global war on Democracy."
"The GOP does not deserve control of Congress," the Globe's editorial board stated bluntly.
The board complained Republicans were "unfit to govern" because of "election deniers" on the ballot, as well as GOP leaders signaling "sham investigations" will be on the agenda if they take control.
Republicans are "one of the most dangerous political movements in the world today," the Globe decried. "[T]he Republican Party is actively fanning the flames of the global war on democracy, and that will only get worse if it does so while controlling the levers of the most powerful government in the world."
The Globe told voters they held the power to protect the country from Republicans.
"Voters should not elect a GOP majority in Congress — and Americans should be especially wary of election deniers on the ballot. The only way to protect American democracy is to prevent those attacking it from controlling it. And the only people who have the power to do that are the voters. It’s time for them to use it," the journalists wrote.
The New York Times echoed the same fervent plea to voters, fretting that politicians who warned about voter fraud in the last election could be re-elected. "Their presence in Congress poses a danger to democracy, one that should be on the mind of every voter casting a ballot this Election Day," the Times wrote.
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The editorial board warned readers to not place their concerns about inflation over their concerns about the future of the country. Like the others, the Times centered their anxieties around the 2020 election and Donald Trump.
"With Mr. Trump said to be readying his bid to return to the White House, this board urges American voters to consider how important each vote cast on Election Day, at every level of government, will be. Even if the member of Congress in your district has refused to accept Mr. Trump’s lies about this election, there are other races on the ballot in many states for offices — including secretary of state, attorney general and governor — that will play crucial roles in overseeing and certifying the 2024 presidential election."
"Still, with that election two years away, many voters say they are more concerned with the present threats to their livelihoods than with the equally serious but less visible threat to democracy," the paper worried.
The Los Angeles Times' letter editor Paul Thornton also directed readers to view this election in dire terms, in the paper's editorial board section.
"[T]his is far from an ordinary time," he wrote, marking Tuesday as the first major election since the "Jan.6, 2021 insurrection."
While Californians were safe from "election deniers on the ballot," he warned battleground states "like Arizona, Pennsylvania and Texas face control by or further entrenchment of officials who deny that Biden won in 2020 and would toss aside election results they find inconvenient."
"This was clear before the attack on Pelosi’s husband a week ago, a stark reminder that powerful political forces in this country no longer have use for the peaceful transfer of power," he feared.
One newspaper didn't mince words on the election outcome.
"As you cast your ballot for your chosen candidates Tuesday, vote as if democracy depended on the outcome," the Austin Statesman's board warned.
