The following was included in an email edition I receive of the NY Times “The Morning.” The reporter, Claire Moses, was interviewing Astead Herndon, a political reporter who has been covering this election cycle. Following are (a portion of) his comments in response to Claire’s questions.

I live in Europe, where many people are only now starting to tune into the midterms. How would you explain to them, and others who need a refresher, why this election matters?

If the Republicans take back the House, it would change the scope of U.S. policy. We know they’d try to stop President Biden’s agenda. A Republican House would hurt Biden’s ability to respond to domestic challenges on his terms, like inflation, and to global crises — Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House leader, has signaled that Republicans might stop approving aid for Ukraine.

We’ve also seen a global rise in fears of democratic…