US voters will soon deliver a national verdict on the second presidency of Donald Trump.
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voters → deliver → Trump
On 3 November, millions of Americans will vote in midterm elections to decide control of the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the governorships in 36 states and state legislatures across the country.
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millions → vote → country
The results could have a huge impact on Trump’s final two years in office.
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results → have → office
Our reporters have interviewed nine voters across the country and the political spectrum about extremism in US politics, their confidence in the US voting system, what they hope Congress will tackle first and their views of the president’s secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth.
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Congress → interview → defense
The answers – highlights of which are published below – offer insight into the national mood days before voters head to the polls.
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voters → publish → polls
The Guardian will return to its voter panel after final votes are cast.
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votes → return → panel
Do you think this election cycle has seen more extreme candidates?
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cycle → think → candidates
Sally Rasmussen 62; Medford, Wisconsin; independent/progressive
The times that we’re living through has created a certain extremism.
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we → live → extremism
My bias is that I see the extremism on the right.
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I → see → right
I see the extremism of Trump’s influence on the candidates, on the electorate and the people that I live with every day here in Taylor county.
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I → see → county
He showed his extremism from the very start, seeking to undermine the 2020 election, voting for war, supporting tariffs, never swerving from the lockstep Maga extremist playbook, essentially.
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He → show → playbook
It depends on what you mean by extreme.
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you → depend → extreme
We have certainly seen way more candidates than usual making it out of the Democratic primaries who do not take billionaire or foreign lobby money, like Angie Nixon [in Florida] or Abdul El-Sayed [in Michigan].
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who → see → Michigan
While this shift is seen as electorally threatening to some, most of these candidates who are typically the ones labeled as “extreme” have policy prescriptions that are very close to the average American’s views, especially when it comes to topics like healthcare reform or participation in forever wars.
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it → see → wars
Looking at the other side of the aisle, I do think there has been an emergence of candidates who display an “extreme” level of corruption and bigotry typically only seen coming from the White House these days.
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who → look → House
Mike Rogers [Republican Senate candidate for Michigan] comes to mind, with his main campaign strategy seemingly being a desperate bid to tie El-Sayed to anything radical or Islamist, and so does Vivek Ramaswamy’s notable doubling-down on a campaign ad implying his gubernatorial opponent [in Ohio] lied about her childhood sexual abuse.
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opponent → come → abuse
This political cycle has produced more extreme candidates than ever before.
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cycle → produce → candidates
I’m 70 years old and I’ve never been involved in active politics.
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I → ’m → politics
I’ve always voted since I was 18 and I’ve always voted conservative Republican but I’ve never seen anything that’s so extreme.
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that → vote → anything
Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan is one that stands out and some have already been elected like the mayor of New York [Zohran Mamdani].
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some → stand → York
I never thought I would see someone that far left voted in.
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someone → think → ?
Do you think this election will be free and fair?
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election → think → ?
Sally Rasmussen 62; Medford, Wisconsin; independent/progressive
I believe that at the most local level, it will overwhelmingly be free and fair.
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it → believe → level
And by that I mean that I have a great deal of faith in the town clerks and the county clerks, the people who, at the ground level, oversee elections and whose livelihoods, whose reputations are on the line.
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reputations → mean → line
On the national level, I have every expectation that the extremists that are currently in power will do whatever they can to, well, to cheat, to break the law, to violate constitutional rights of the people, and to try to deny election results, as happened after the 2020 election.
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they → have → election
Patti Fucci 46; Roswell, Georgia; independent/moderate
The election itself will be free and fair as it’s conducted.
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it → conduct → ?
However, we’re already seeing all the multiple attempts in the past two weeks of different types of intimidation from the justice department trying to interfere with elections.
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we → see → elections
And we’ve seen that in California, we’ve seen it right now in Alaska, we’ve seen it here.
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we → see → it
So, they’re using the many tactics of intimidation and meddling and propaganda to interfere in the elections.
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they → use → elections
But when I look at the amount of people that have already voted early, I think that’s the biggest guardrail that this election has.
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election → look → that
Sharon Anderson 70; Etowah, Tennessee; Maga Republican
I can only hope.
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I → hope → Anderson
I’m thankful for the steps that the Republican party has followed with monitors and people watching the polls because, if an election is won fair and square, I am thrilled.
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I → ’m → polls
That is the way of the people but, if there’s any cheating going on or one vote that is fraudulent, that vote should be thrown out because that’s not what this nation is based on.
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nation → ’ → what
In some countries, people have died for fair elections and, unless we have fair elections, it’s to the good of no one.
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it → die → one
Morgan Akin 85; Redding, California; Democrat/moderate
Being a poll worker and observing what goes on, I think [elections] go on pretty well anywhere in the country.
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elections → observe → country
I think you will see a fair election.
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you → think → election
He’s saying if the GOP loses in Alaska, he’s not going to recognize it.
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he → say → it
[But] I think the Democrats have been anticipating this all along and have been putting together different ways of challenging him in the courts.
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Democrats → think → courts
If your party wins next week, what are you hoping they will do first?
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they → win → what
David Ferrari 19; Tallahassee, Florida; Democrat/progressive
I am hoping Democrats immediately reinstate and expand the ACA, [the Affordable Care Act], pass a war powers resolution to end engagement with Iran, pass an AI datacenter moratorium, end all military aid to Israel, reverse the White House’s cancellation of federally approved funding, undo the blanket tariffs, release the Epstein files, and scrutinize and impeach the cabinet and president.
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Democrats → hop → cabinet
…and 49 more, not listed.
The Aporia
