On average, Democratic voters are much less likely than Republicans to vote. Many of them can't seem to make it out of bed in November. Democrats are also, surveys show, less likely to know much about the issues. They buy the bumper stickers, they don't read the books.

For these and other reasons, getting Democrats to vote on Election Day requires enormous effort. Sometimes it requires financial incentives like walking around money or giving free cigarettes to the mentally ill homeless.

Sometimes, under extraordinary circumstances, convincing Democrats to vote requires race riots and a nation-wide fear campaign. Unfortunately that's what we're seeing right now. The only way to understand the last three months in this country is with the presidential election in mind.

This has been the most radical and ambitious get out the vote operation ever staged in a democracy. Politicians are now saying and encouraging things that could easily destroy the country. Things that could fracture the nation, divide our people forever, turn this beautiful happy place into a permanent maelstrom of angry tribalism.