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The former special assistant for legislative affairs to President Clinton, president of the American Constitution Society, and author of the "damn fine" (Elle) Under the Bus shows how the left can undo the right's damage and take the country back Despite representing the beliefs of a minority of the American public on many issues, conservatives are in power not just in Washington, DC, but also in state capitals and courtrooms across the country. They got there because, while progressives fought to death over the nuances of policy and to bring attention to specific issues, conservatives focused on simply gaining power by gaming our democracy. They understood that policy follows power, not the other way around. Now, in a sensational new book, Caroline Fredrickson - who has had a front-row seat on the political drama in DC for decades while working to shape progressive policies as special assistant for legislative affairs to President Clinton, chief of staff to Senator Maria Cantwell, deputy chief of staff to Senator Tom Daschle, and president of the American Constitution Society - argues that it's time for progressives to focus on winning. She shows us how we can learn from the right by having the determination to focus on judicial elections, state power, and voter laws without stooping to their dishonest, rule-breaking tactics. We must be ruthless in thinking through how work to change the rules of the game to regain power, expand the franchise, end voter suppression, win judicial elections, and fight for transparency and fairness in our political system, and Fredrickson shows us how.



About the Author

Caroline Fredrickson

Caroline Fredrickson joined ACS in 2009 and serves as president. She oversees the group and provides a steady hand of leadership to the nation's leading progressive legal organization.During her tenure, Caroline has helped grow ACS, which now has more than 40 lawyer chapters across the country, student chapters in nearly every law school in the United States, and thousands of members throughout the nation. She is an eloquent spokesperson for ACS and the progressive movement on issues such as civil and human rights, judicial nominations and the importance of the courts in America, marriage equality, voting rights, the role of money in politics, labor law, anti-discrimination efforts, and so much more.She has been widely published on a wide range of legal and constitutional issues and is a frequent guest on television and radio shows, including a notable and well-covered appearance on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor in 2012 defending the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. Caroline is author of Under The Bus: How Working Women Are Being Run Over (The New Press, 2015) .Before joining ACS, Caroline served as the director of the ACLU's Washington legislative office and as general counsel and legal director of NARAL Pro-Choice America. In addition, Caroline was chief of staff to Sen. Maria Cantwell and deputy chief of staff to then-Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle. During the Clinton administration, she served as special assistant to the president for legislative affairs.Caroline graduated summa cum laude from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in Russian and East European Studies in 1986 and from Columbia University School of Law with a J.D. in 1992. In law school, she was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar, served on the Columbia Law Review and co-founded the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law. Following law school she clerked for James L. Oakes of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She currently is a member of Law Students for Reproductive Justice's Advisory Board. In 2013, Caroline was named a Public Member of the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) , which includes 50 government and 40 public members. Caroline is a co-chair the National Constitution Center's Coalition of Freedom Advisory Board. In 2015 Caroline was named a Demos Senior Fellow.



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