Crackup: The Republican Implosion and the Future of Presidential Politics explains how changes in campaign finance laws and the proliferation of mass media fractured the Republican Party into uncompromising groups with irreconcilable demands. The 2002 “McCain-Feingold” campaign finance reform bill aimed to weaken the power of big businesses and strengthen political parties by ending corporate donations to the parties. Instead, it weakened legislative leaders and made bipartisanship a four-letter word.
Moving money outside the political parties fuelled the rise of “purity for profit” groups and Super PACs funded by billionaires with pet issues. This allowed self-promoting politicians to undermine intraparty colleagues with an unprecedented use of tactics once only used to disrupt the opposition.
First Discussant Comment on “The Future of U.S. Housing Finance Reform”