Apocalypse Now: In the closing hours of the midterm political campaign, President Trump is presenting an apocalyptic vision of what will happen in the likelihood that Democrats take control of the House of Representatives.

Philip Rucker writes in The Washington Post that, “Trump is claiming that Democrats want to erase the nation’s borders and provide sanctuary to drug dealers, human traffickers and MS-13 killers. He is warning that they would destroy the economy, obliterate Medicare and unleash a wave of violent crime that endangers families everywhere. And he is alleging that they would transform the United States into Venezuela with socialism run amok.”

Trump is headlining three final political rallies today. One of his standard lines in support of regional candidates is, “A vote for (insert candidate name) is a vote for me.”

Also on the stump, former President Barack Obama says it’s “the most important election of our lifetimes.” At a Democratic rally he said, in measured cadences, “These Republicans are just blatantly … repeatedly … baldly … shamelessly … lying.”

Dan Balz, writing for the Post, says, “A midterm election is like a pointillist painting, each individual race a dot that by Wednesday morning will add up to an image that will provide some answer to the question of the moment: the identity of America as it is today, its aspirations and values, the tone and tenor of the debate.”

Preserving the Vote: Just two days before the election in which the Georgia secretary of state is the Republican candidate for governor, he has launched an investigation into attempted hacking of the voter rolls with the Democrats as a potential target.

Brian Kemp is running against Stacey Abrams, who would be the state’s first black governor.

Kemp’s office gave no specifics. “While we cannot comment on the specifics of an ongoing investigation, I can confirm that the Democratic Party of Georgia is under investigation for possible cybercrimes,” press secretary Candice Broce said in a released statement. “We can also confirm that no personal data was breached and our system remains secure.”

Democrats have complained that Kemp should not be overseeing the election in which he is a candidate. He’s been purging the voter rolls in the name of stopping voter fraud.

Sanctions: US sanctions on Iran went back into effect today, restoring the economic sanctions that were lifted under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. President Trump pulled out of the agreement claiming it never should have been made.

The sanctions hit oil exports, banking, and shipping, all vital parts of the Iranian economy. Hundreds of individual people also are listed as targets.

Thousands of Iranians chanted “Death to America” at a rally last night. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has vowed to break the sanctions and sell oil anyway. “We are in the war situation, ” Rouhani said. “We are in the economic war situation. We are confronting a bullying enemy. We have to stand to win.”

In Service: Brent Taylor, the mayor of North Ogden, Utah who was the married father of seven children, was killed in an “insider” attack while serving as a major with the National Guard in Afghanistan.

Taylor was killed by a member of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces who was immediately killed by other Afghan forces. It was taylor’s fourth tour of duty.

Finish Line: Mary Keitany of Kenya, one of the fastest marathon runners in the modern history of the event, finished first for the women yesterday in the New York Marathon. Her time was just 17 seconds off the course record. She’s won it four times, tying Greta Weitz. The woman’s got legs.

Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia won the men’s with a time of 2 hours 5 minutes 59 seconds. It was his first win in the New York race.

Day in Court: The trial for notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman, also known as “El Chapo,”begins today in federal court in New York. El Chapo has been held in solitary confinement for the past two years. He’s the guy who escaped when his accomplices dug a tunnel straight to the shower floor in his Mexican prison cell. The tunnel was equipped with a motorcycle on tracks for a quick getaway.

Guzman is accused of murder, conspiracy, money laundering, and drug trafficking. He ran the Sinaloa cartel.

Love Hurts:The suicide letter written at age 24 by the French poet Charles Baudelaire to his mistress sold at auction for $267,000. Spoiler alert: He lived another 22 years.

Baudelaire wrote to Jeanne Duval, “By the time you receive this letter, I will be dead.” He said, “I am killing myself because I can no longer live, or bear the burden of falling asleep and waking up again.”

The poet stabbed himself in the chest with little effect. He was much better at poetry.

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