Crackup: The Republican Implosion and the Future of Presidential Politics

Written by Samuel L. Popkin

Narrated by John Pruden

In Crackup, Samuel L. Popkin tells the story of how the Republican Party fractured into uncompromising groups with irreconcilable demands. Changes in campaign finance laws and the proliferation of mass media opened the way for newly energized groups to split the party. The 2002 "McCain-Feingold" campaign finance reform bill aimed to weaken the power of big corporations and strengthen political parties by ending corporate donations to the parties. Instead, it weakened legislative leaders and made bipartisanship toxic.

Popkin argues that moving money outside the political parties fueled the rise of single-issue advocacy groups and Super PACs funded by billionaires with pet issues. This allowed self-promoting politicians to undermine colleagues with an unprecedented use of tactics once only used to disrupt the other party. One such politician was Ted Cruz, who effectively promoted himself at the expense of the party, mobilized other obstructionists in Congress, and blocked compromises on immigration and healthcare. Into this abyss came Donald J. Trump, who took advantage of the party's inability to do anything for Republican voters struggling with economic decline.

A gripping explanation of why the GOP ended up with Trump as their standard bearer, Crackup forces us to look at the deeper forces set in motion two decades ago.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Highbridge Company
• Release date: May 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781696603881

Reviews for Crackup

[Cindy Bachynski · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The author pretends that the Republicans blocked healthcare and immigration reform but with the divide created by the McCain changes to the political donations they would never support any Democratic reforms for fear of being voted out of office for working with the Democrats. The real problem from 2002 on is that Democrats don't support immigration reform or healthcare in the way that they advertise when running for election. Look at the Progressives that won seats after 2016. All of them said they would fight for Medicare for all and promised to not vote for Nancy Pelosi for Speaker of the House if elected. Alexandria Ocazio-Cortez specifically said she would force a vote for Medicare for all even if it meant being a one-term representative. A very small group of Progressives won that first election. The group that they are part of is called the Justice Democrats, created by Cenk Uyghur and Kyle Kulynski, the few women elected that year were referred to as the 'Squad'. The first vote they made after being elected was for Nancy Pelosi to be Speaker of the House. Cenk and Kyle both have YouTube channels with a combined audience of almost 6 million. People that want Medicare for all watch them. They proceeded to do damage control by explaining that their were so few of them that Nancy Pelosi would have retaliated against them if they had voted against her. Everyone believed them every time they used that excuse for almost 2 ýears, until more Justice Democrats were elected. At this point Progressive voter's saw the chance for the Justice Democrats to make some demands for certain issues to be brought to the floor for debates and votes because the group was big enough to stop progress on legislation or stop Nancy Pelosi from winning the Speakership, if they voted as a group. The policy they specifically focused on was Medicare for all. The Progressive voter's requested that the Justice Democrats join them for a Medicare for all town hall via YouTube and Zoom video conferencing. Some of the people asking had given speeches for Justice Democrats at political events. Kyle Kulynski (1M viewers) supported the idea. Cenk Uhygur (5M viewers) did not. None of the Justice Democrats agreed to attend the town hall that drew more than 100,000 participants. So the voter's were ignored and the Justice Democrats voted for Pelosi then all of them changed the policies listed on their websites from Medicare for all to affordable healthcare.