Ratf**ked Quotes

“Do you believe in a system where we draw lines to disenfranchise voters?’ Ask that question of the American people and the answer would be overwhelmingly no,” Lessig says. “This is not a theoretical problem! If you’re in one of these districts and you’re in the minority, you have no reason to be part of this democracy. Why would you? The democracy just doesn’t work. We have a country where there are ten states that are competitive in presidential elections. There are a few dozen seats where Congress is competitive. We have all these structures for making the voter irrelevant in the vast majority of America. Why would we do that?”
― David Daley, Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind The Secret Plan To Steal America's Democracy

“They're [no longer] one election-and a pen-away from achieving an unimaginable goal in a country which sees itself as a beacon of democracy: a veto-proof supermajority operating without majority support ... Now this has become the strategy for governing from the minority: If you can't beat 'em, ratfuck 'em.”
― David Daley, Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind The Secret Plan To Steal America's Democracy

“Or, as [La Brant] wrote in his memoir: When you have power, 'you exercise it.' When you don't, you try to remove the other side's advantage 'under the cloak of good government.”
― David Daley, Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind The Secret Plan To Steal America's Democracy

“REDMAP locked in control of half of Congress until at least 2020—or until Democrats can theoretically beat Republicans on the newly drawn maps. What would that take? David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report is one of the smartest analysts of state races and redistricting. According to his study, the maps have become so tilted that to retake the House of Representatives, “Democrats would need to win the national popular vote by between six and seven points in order to win the barest possible House majority.” As Rolling Stone observed, that would require “100 Democratic voters to turn out for every 94 Republicans.” O”
― David Daley, Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind The Secret Plan To Steal America's Democracy

“Donations that would be a mere drop in the bucket to a presidential or Senate candidate might make all the difference at the local level.”
― David Daley, Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind The Secret Plan To Steal America's Democracy

“America is the only major democracy in the world that allows politicians to pick their own voters.”
― David Daley, Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind The Secret Plan To Steal America's Democracy

“The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart,”
― David Daley, Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind The Secret Plan To Steal America's Democracy

“REDMAP’s efforts, eclipsing the most ambitious dreams of Elbridge Gerry, were the most strategic, large-scale and well-funded campaign ever to redraw the political map coast to coast, with the express goal of locking in Republican control of the U.S. House of Representatives and state legislative chambers for the next decade or more.”
― David Daley, Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind The Secret Plan To Steal America's Democracy

“REDMAP—for Redistricting Majority Project—a”
― David Daley, Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind The Secret Plan To Steal America's Democracy

“New York Times: Republicans should mount an aggressive campaign to flip state legislatures ahead of post-census redistricting, then press the advantage to both redraw congressional and state legislative lines in their favor and aggressively advance the conservative agenda. Presidents almost always lose seats in a midterm election. Democratic turnout always falls in non-presidential years. Smart money spent on the right races had the potential to make more of a difference than ever. Republican”
― David Daley, Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind The Secret Plan To Steal America's Democracy

“2010 is not just any election year: it is crucial given that this class of governors will be in charge as their states draw Congressional and state legislative districts as part of the reapportionment process after the next census. And given historical trends in midterm elections and the lopsided majority Democrats enjoy in Congress, the possibility that Republicans could make gains in House races next year could give the party a psychological boost at the halfway point of Mr. Obama’s term. Jankowski immediately recognized the opportunity. As provided in the Constitution, every state redraws all of its district lines every ten years, that is, after the census. That means elections in “zero years” matter more than others. Jankowski realized it would be possible to target states where the legislature is in charge of redistricting, flip as many chambers as possible, take control of the process, and redraw the lines.”
― David Daley, Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind The Secret Plan To Steal America's Democracy

“The solution Ben Ginsberg hit upon was to use the Voting Rights Act’s provisions governing majority-minority districts to create African American seats in Southern states. Work closely with minority groups to encourage candidates to run. Then pack as many Democratic voters as possible inside the lines, bleaching the surrounding districts whiter and more Republican, thus resegregating congressional representation while increasing the number of African Americans in Congress. The strategy became known as the unholy alliance, because it benefited black leaders and Republicans at the expense of the Democratic Party. Ginsberg had another name for it when a reporter asked him to describe it: Project Ratfuck. The”
― David Daley, Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind The Secret Plan To Steal America's Democracy