Republican Party - The great suppression: voting rights, corporate cash, and the conservative assault on democracy

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THE GREAT SUPPRESSION

By weaving together lesser known aspects of American history going back to the Founding, the politics of today, and real stories, Roth exposes the troubling state of American democracy. He demonstrates the vast range of tactics conservative elites are using to silence Americans voices and skew public policy in favor of the one percent. But he also lifts up recent successes in expanding voting rights and reducing money in politics, suggesting hope for a path forward.

Tova Wang, author ofThe Politics of Voter Suppression: Defending and Expanding Americans Right to Vote

A riveting look at the project of putting American political democracy in a straitjacket and throwing it into the backseat for a right-wing joyride. Every page in this book screams out that its time to take our democracy back.

Jamie Raskin, Maryland state senator and professor of constitutional law, American University

In this astute book, Zachary Roth pulls together seemingly disparate trends in our politicsfrom new voter-ID laws to the super-PAC free-for-allto present a persuasive account of what democracy looks like to the modern American right.

Sasha Issenberg, author ofThe Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns

America is less democratic than wed like to think, and its getting even worsethats the inescapable takeaway of The Great Suppression. Zachary Roth deftly reveals how a well-organized and determined minority have used restrictive voting measures and legal challenges designed to obliterate longstanding laws and to subvert the democratic process. A jarring and important read.

Daniel Schulman, author ofSons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became Americas Most Political and Private Dynasty

Zachary Roth exposes widespread, under-reported, and dangerous machinations to disenfranchise voters and undermine our democracy, including attempts to rig the electoral college. Thankfully, as Roth reports, the tide is turning. I urge you to read this troublingyet hopefulbook.

Wendell Potter, former health insurance executive and coauthor ofNation on the Take: How Big Money Corrupts Our Democracy and What We Can Do About It

Zachary Roth has written a punchy and to-the-point book about the desperate right-wing campaign to hold on to government power by limiting democratic rights. Read this book to understand the ongoing political battles roiling our country.

Frances Fox Piven, distinguished professor of political science and sociology, CUNY Graduate Center, and coauthor ofWhy Americans Still Dont Vote: And Why Politicians Like It That Way

Copyright 2016 by Zachary Roth

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Crown, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

crownpublishing.com

CROWN is a registered trademark and the Crown colophon is a trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Roth, Zachary.

Title: The great suppression: voting rights, corporate cash, and the conservative assault on democracy / Zachary Roth.

Description: First edition. | New York: Crown, 2016.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016003489 (print) | LCCN 2016013542 (ebook) | ISBN 9781101905760 (hardback) | ISBN 9781101905777 (paperback) | ISBN 9781101905784 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH ConservatismUnited States. | DemocracyUnited States. | Right-wing extremistsUnited States. | VotingUnited States. | Campaign fundsUnited States. | Political cultureUnited States. | BISAC: POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / Democracy. | HISTORY / United States / 21st Century. | POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / Conservatism & Liberalism.

Classification: LCC JC573.2.U6 R67 2016 (print) | LCC JC573.2.U6 (ebook) | DDc 320.520973dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016003489

ISBN9781101905760

Ebook ISBN9781101905784

Cover design by Tal Goretsky

Cover photographs: (arm with saw) PM Images/Getty Images; (sign) Tim Roberts/Getty Images

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During his 2012 campaign for Congress, Ted Yoho appeared before a friendly Tea Party group at a church in northern Florida. A licensed veterinarian and conservative Republican, Yoho hit all the high notes of the modern right. He warned that the United States was approaching a European-style socialism, or worsemaybe a fascism. He fulminated against foreign aid and said the United Nations needs to go. He complained that his taxes went to support people like the young men hed recently seen using food stamps to buy chips and Arizona Iced Tea.

Then, as things were winding down, a man at the back spoke up to lament the states recent trend toward absentee and early voting, which, he warned, raised the threat of fraud and stolen elections. Yoho, standing at the pulpit, a large American flag pinned to the wall behind him, agreed. But the real problem with making voting easier, he ventured, wasnt the opportunity for fraud. It was something more pernicious: ignorant voters. I cant remember which Founding Father said it, Yoho mused, but he said the ability to vote, but vote uninformed, is as tragic or as dangerous as having a loaded gun and not knowing how to use it. He praised Republican governor Rick Scott for shortening the states early voting period from two weeks to one and added that it should be cut further.

Its a privilege to vote, Yoho went on, warming to his theme. Yeah, it may be inconvenient, but you know, its like I told people when I was growing up: to be successful is inconvenient. If not, everybody would be successful.

Ive had some radical ideas about voting, and its probably not a good time to tell you about them, Yoho added a few moments later. But you used to have to be a property owner to vote. The crowd applauded loudly.

Voting was certainly inconvenient for many Floridians that year, just as Yoho had hoped. With those cuts to early voting causing longer lines at the polls,

Of course, Yohos overwhelmingly white, middle-class supporters didnt seem to have trouble getting to the polls. And his nostalgia for a time when those without means were blocked from voting didnt hurt him in his conservative district. He beat a twelve-term incumbent in the Republican primary, then easily won the general election. He now sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and in 2015 he briefly put himself forward as a challenger to thenHouse Speaker John Boehner.