Zephyr Teachout Keeps Preaching 'We Can Actually Do Something' About Corruption

SUBHEADINGGOESHERE

Paul Blumenthal
Posted: 11/22/2014 7:30 am EST Updated: 11/22/2014 7:59 am EST

WASHINGTON -- Earlier this year, Fordham law professor Zephyr Teachout emerged as a political star among progressives when she challenged New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary and performed far better than expected. Teachout received 35 percent of the primary vote and won over 20 counties despite raising little money. She ran on a strongly populist platform that emphasized the anti-corruption and anti-monopoly principles she hopes to bring to the fore of American politics.

In that vein, Teachout also published a book this year titled Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United, which traces the legal history of corruption. The book was intended, she said, to be a long letter to the Supreme Court's conservative majority showing how wrong they have been in major campaign finance cases.