For years, progressives have warned that authoritarianism in America probably would not arrive with tanks in the streets or an announcement that elections had been canceled. It would come through executive orders, agency regulations, government databases, threats of prosecution and a president relentlessly testing whether Congress, the courts or anyone else could still tell him no. Donald Trump’s attempt to seize control of mail voting through the United States Postal Service

Most Americans think elections begin when the polls open. They don't. By the time the first ballot is cast, another election has often been underway for months. It's the contest to determine what we'll believe about the outcome before the votes are even counted. Whoever wins that battle starts Election Day with a tremendous advantage. The first vote isn't cast at the polls. It's cast in our minds. Donald Trump's recent speech about election fraud wasn't remarkable because it