The Death of Democracy – Part 5
Is there a radical right-wing campaign to overthrow American democracy?
Welcome to the Civic Way journal, our quick take on the relevance of breaking news to America’s future governance. The author, Bob Melville, is the founder of Civic Way, a nonprofit dedicated to good government, and a management consultant with over 45 years of experience improving public agencies. If you like, you can read the prior essays in this series on democracy (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4).
This is not about persuasion: This is about disorientation. – Steve Bannon
The right-wing extremist crusade has a compelling cause, to discredit our election systems, and it is overrun with true believers. But does the crusade have the other prerequisites of a formidable political crusade?
Does the crusade have ample financing? A robust policy infrastructure? A powerful communications network? A feasible plan for gaining and keeping power?
The answer to every question is a resounding yes. And the evidence is inconvertible.
Financing: The crusade is extremely well-funded. It enjoys the generous support of long-time donors like the Bradley, DeVos, Koch, Mercer, Olin and Scaife foundations. It has attracted newer donors like the Thiel Foundation, Omidyar Network and the My Pillow guy. With the aid of Citizens United, which has accelerated the flow of big donations and dark money, the radical right has more than enough money to fund its infrastructure, communications and strategies.
Infrastructure: The crusade continues to launch and expand the institutions it needs to amass and exploit power. Influential right-wing legal institutes like the Federalist Society, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and Thomas More Society. Think tanks and advocacy groups like the Americans for Prosperity, American Legislative Exchange Council,Centre for Renewing America, Claremont Institute, Conservative Partnership Institute, Heritage Foundation, Manhattan Institute and State Policy Network. Over 150 C3s, C4s, C6s, Super PACs and hybrid PACs spending over $500 million a year in the aggregate.
What do these groups do exactly? Together, they unearth the political opportunities to be exploited, craft the policies to be sold, draft the laws to be enacted and find the loyalists to be appointed. To illustrate, the America First Policy Institute, created in 2017, is updating the infamous Schedule F (ordered by the former president and rescinded by the current president). When the right-wing regains the presidency, Schedule F will be the playbook for a massive purge of the federal civil service (i.e., replace thousands of bipartisan civil service workers with political loyalists).
Communications: The crusade has built a vast communications network, including impressive digital platforms, for shilling right-wing extremism. National outlets like Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire, Liftable, Breitbart and the Blaze. Evangelical networks like Trinity and Christian Broadcasting. Local networks like Sinclair Broadcasting (reaching over half of the nation’s households). Periodicals like American Compass, Epoch Times and the New American.
The extreme right-wing’s communication strategy is nothing if not well synchronized. Every day, the same stories and talking points dominate the right-wing outlets. The content often seems less about informing than inflaming. For instance, right-wing media have treated the January 6th Capitol Coup as a kind of boys-will-be-boys romp. It barely covered the January 6 committee hearings, opting instead to cover more useful stories like Hunter Biden’s travails. More often than not, this coverage resembles a Putinesque disinformation campaign. A firehose of falsehoods and alternative facts to scatter us, divide us and undermine our democracy.
Plan: When the radical right’s leading brand was the culture wars, their plan looked a lot like the plans of other groups, including many from the left. Persuade voters, win elections and change policies.
When the Stop the Steal campaign took off, the radical right saw an opportunity. At first, in the shocked aftermath of January 6, 2021, their intentions were unclear. However, the tentative responses and subsequent silence of GOP leaders bought radical right leaders some valuable time and leeway.
Now, nearly 20 months after the Capitol Coup, the crusade’s grand plan is emerging before our eyes. Its strategies are clearer every day and they are ominous.
Discredit elections – Numerous right-wing leaders, media stars and activists, after failing to illegally overturn the 2020 election, are collaborating to undermine voter confidence in our election systems. Their goal? Empower right-wing legislatures to distort election laws to improve their future electoral prospects and, if unsuccessful, overturn the elections they lose. Their means? Flood the airwaves with conspiracy theories, alternative facts and lies.
Seize the GOP – Take over the GOP and ensure its fealty to right-wing extremists. Purge the party of moderates, RINOs, traditional conservatives and anyone deemed poor cultist material. Primary any Republican officials who honored their oaths to the Constitution. Forsake the party’s traditional principles like conservatism and repurpose it into an engine for authoritarianism.
Elect extremists – Elect as many election deniers, QAnon cultists and other zealots as possible. Regain control of the US House to squash Capitol Coup inquiries in 2023 and guarantee electoral victories in 2024. Nominate Stop the Steal disciples for offices with election administration duties like Governor and Secretary of State, especially in swing states like Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania (the America First Secretary of State Coalition). Build on the success of the GOP’s REDMAP project which has helped the GOP seize political control of over 25 states.
Control the federal courts – Rely on the hyper-partisan right-wing Supreme Court to uphold anti-democratic tactics. Unleash wealthy donors (Citizens United). Weaken voting rights (Shelby v. Holder). Sanction extreme gerrymanders (Gill v. Whitford). Invite GOP lawsuits to block Democratic actions. And empower state legislatures to run federal elections without any state interference (as the Court seems poised to do this fall in Moore v. Harper).
Control the state courts – Pour money into state judicial races, elect more partisan judges and seize majority control of more state supreme courts. Use partisan supreme court majorities to uphold anti-democratic legislation (and invalidate pro-democratic policies). In Wisconsin, for instance, the 4–3 right-wing state Supreme Court majority has supported anti-democratic efforts.
Overhaul election rules – With the red states setting the stage, impose radical election laws on the entire nation, through the federal courts (and other branches once back in GOP hands). Require voters to prove their citizenship. Form special law-enforcement units to police elections. Abolish bipartisan election commissions and impose voting tests for nursing home residents (proposed in Wisconsin).
Rig elections – Politicize election administration and overturn lost elections. Replace presidential electors. Elect state officials who will guarantee electoral votes for the GOP presidential nominee. Appoint election deniers to state and local election boards. Refuse to certify election results (New Mexico) or count valid mail-in ballots (Pennsylvania). Continue to challenge 2020 presidential election results (the partisan Wisconsin election audit cost over $1 million and found no fraud).
Destabilize government – Discredit the merit-based federal civil service as the Deep State, restore the corrupt patronage system, replace thousands of professional (and bipartisan) civil servants with political loyalists without regard to qualifications, politicize the federal workforce, discourage whistle-blowing and intimidate public servants (especially election officials).
Together, these strategies constitute an unprecedented attack on democracy. And the Stop the Steal travesty is merely the tip of the spear.
The question is no longer whether the radical right-wing campaign to subvert American democracy is underway (it is). The question is how to stop it.