{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "Bring Back the Smoke-Filled Rooms", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/117894244758/", "html": "<a href=\"http://cookpolitical.com/story/8407\">Bring Back the Smoke-Filled Rooms</a>\n<blockquote>But, if pork and gerrymandering and party bosses are so bad, how come politics seemed to work so much better when all were in full flourish and not under attack by reformers. As Rauch argues, \u201cour grandparents were not all fools and crooks.\u201d To be sure, he says, \u201cwe can\u2019t go back to their world\u201d of Tammany Hall and paper bags full of cash handed out on the House and Senate floor. But, says Rauch, \u201cWe can learn a lot from it.\u201d</blockquote>"}