Today, Americans head to the polls in their midterm elections, choosing all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, plus one-third of all elected senators, various governors and other high-ranking state legislators.

Analysts are predicting high voter turnout given what's at stake. Americans are mad about the rising cost of living, rampant inflation and a troubled economy—but also climate change, abortion access and immigration. In a political world where conspiracy theories run amok and political divisions run deep, both Democrats and Republicans feel a lot is on the line. They may be right.

American democracy seems to be in turmoil, and historically speaking, when that's been true, it's rarely been good for the Jews. Canadian-born political commentator David Frum, who writes for The Atlantic and was formerly a speechwriter for George W. Bush, has penned 10 books on American politics. He says the country's democratic state is currently in a period of "regress" and joins The CJN Daily to explain what's at stake for Americans, Jews and even Canadians in today's elections.

What we talked about:

Find David Frum's books at davidfrum.com
Watch B'nai Brith Canada's Jewish Remembrance Day ceremony on Nov. 11
Listen to Gil Troy discuss the U.S. midterms on Bonjour Chai

Credits

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.

'Republicans will take the House': David Frum predicts the U.S. midterms and lays out the stakes for American Jews