The ultimate base of power is not the vote in the ballot box. It is what Lincoln phrase as the willingness to give ‘the last full measure of devotion’. It’s 1860 and the clock is running down.

Far fewer of those dedicated to resisting Congress will show up for work when there is no paycheck at the end of the month and no electricity in their office than you might think.

Katrina. New Orleans. What happens to urban areas, and their influence, when the food, clean water, and electricity doesn’t arrive from fly over country?