Summary

This chapter begins the second section of Mayer’s investigation, and it is dedicated to some of the most important political precursors to the conservative movement. Blazing the trail for such precursors was the Koch-funded Citizens for a Sound Economy, which Mayer defines as a “fake populist movement secretly manufactured by corporate sponsors” (159). Instead of the grassroots movements these groups attempted to emulate, they were quickly referred to as “Astroturf” groups (159). In less than ten years, the Koch brothers donated at least $7.9 million to Citizens for a Sound Economy.

Mayer has noted in previous chapters that the Kochs were disinterested with conventional politics, leading them to focus on funding ideas rather than individual candidates. Adhering to this strategy, Citizens for a Sound Economy “mobilized fifty paid field workers, in twenty-six states, to rally voters behind the Kochs’ agenda of lower taxes...