Kochs' acquisition of the Republican Party nearly complete

by Joan McCarter

The Koch brothers' takeover of the Republican Party is very nearly complete, and if they have their way, it will be by the end of 2016. They've anointed the five presidential candidates that are their finalists and they've got their plan in place for getting one of them elected, along with a Republican Senate. Politico got the documents and the interviews with the people who know.

The documents detail plans to beef up the network's state-of-the-art data system, and pay hundreds of staff embedded in local communities across the country in preparation for get-out-the-vote efforts that are unprecedented from a third-party group. The plan comes with a $125 million 2015 budget for Americans for Prosperity, the most robust arm in the network of small-government advocacy groups helmed by the billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch. That’s the most the group has ever spent in a non-election year and the documents call the plan "beyond the biggest, boldest, broadest effort AFP has ever undertaken." It calls for the creation of new chapters in Alabama, Idaho, North Dakota and Utah—continuing a move by the group to invest in deep red states where it can focus on pushing aggressive reforms to scale back union power and government regulation, rather than winning or protecting GOP majorities.

That they're moving into deep red states just demonstrates that they're ready to complete their acquisition of the Republican party. It's not enough to have allies among the GOP—the GOP must be assimilated wholly into the Kochs' machine. To that end, they are going to be using the bulk of their money against Democrats, again. Getting involved in the Republican primary isn't really necessary—they've already assured the fealty of the eventual nominee.

The presidential race is not AFP's focus, said Phillips, the group's president. "We're focused on advancing a long-term shift at every level of government towards a culture of freedom. And we're not just fighting for the fun of it—we intend to win." In a letter to major donors accompanying the briefing document, Phillips boasted that "no group is as effective at organizing, educating, mobilizing, and rallying citizens as Americans for Prosperity."

That includes the RNC, which if it isn't just a subsidiary of the Kochs, will be after 2016. So far, only Montana Republicans have been successful in standing together against the Kochs in any fight. Republicans might not recognize it at the moment, but they are in an existential fight with the Kochs, and they're losing.