The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule

Thomas Frank first gained acclaim as a founder of The Baffler, a witty, acerbic sporadically published business journal that took glee in mocking conventional economic wisdom. He became a household name with the publication of What’s the Matter With Kansas in 2004, which took his home state as a case study in how Republicans have capitalized on cultural issues such as abortion and gay marriage to convince lower- and middle-class residents to vote against their own economic interests. Frank’s latest provocation is The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule, published last month. Its guiding thesis is that the current mess in Washington is not the product of inept politicians and bureaucrats, but rather an intentional dismantling of effective government by conservatives and their allies in the private sector. Frank was recently in St. Paul for the Republican National Convention. I spoke to him yesterday by phone from Raleigh, North Carolina, where he was slated to give a reading. What follows is an edited transcript of our conversation.