The Machine: A Field Guide to the Resurgent Right

Before Barack Obama had even taken the oath of office after his historic victory in 2008, cadres of lobbyists, oil tycoons, and right-wing politicians met to plan his political demise. The massive conservative infrastructure created by business groups beginning in the 1970s would not be sufficient, they concluded: in the age of Obama, something new—and bold—had to be done.

Four years later, the blogger who exposed the nefarious Koch brothers and who first reported on the lobbyists who broug...