Finish What We Started: The MAGA Movement’s Ground War to End Democracy

Washington Post journalist Arnsdorf debuts with a raucous recap of the evolution of Trumpism since the 2020 election via the “Precinct Strategy,” a movement encouraging adherents to join the Republican Party’s lowest ranks as precinct committeemen, from which vantage point they can oust moderate Republican leaders and promote MAGA primary candidates. Arnsdorf profiles leading characters in this political drama, including Arizona Republican Dan Schultz, who started the movement; MAGA generalissimo Steve Bannon, who boosted it on his War Room podcast; and Georgia mom Salleigh Grubbs, whose viral video of election workers allegedly shredding ballots set her on a path to becoming chairwoman of her local precinct committee, where she oversees campaigning and election monitoring. Arnsdorf spotlights MAGA extremism (“To talk to Susan... was to hear about how the person in the White House was a body double or a clone wearing a Joe Biden mask”) and paints a fascinating picture of politics at its grubbiest in tedious party meetings where factions wrestle over Robert’s Rules of Order. His colorful reportage teases out from the tangle of conspiracy theorizing the deeper yearning of MAGA zealots to have their voices heard in a world that seems immovably complex and atomized. It’s an entertaining and insightful look at the Republican Party in extremis. Agent: Isabel Mendia, Cheney Agency. (Apr.)