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I feel like I've been hearing a lot of talk lately about patronage politics returning to Washington,

a system based on loyalty, relationships, transactions.

And if you listen to our series on the lottery, you know this kind of system is not new.

Patronage was the beating heart of the Massachusetts lottery in its early

days. And of course, the man at the center of that system was state treasurer Bob Crane.

As a politician, Crane was not all that ideological or focused on particular policy wins.

Crane was focused on people.

Relationships meant power.

And Crane was a master at building them.

He made unlikely alliances around the State House. He traded favors

with business people. And as we discuss all through the series, he gave out jobs, lots of jobs,

the essence of patronage.

Crane used to be the norm in the Democratic Party. It was Democrats who were the party of patronage.

So a question that's been nagging at me is, why did the party change? Why did patronage become a dirty word?

And what was lost when that happened?

So just imagine my excitement.

When, as I was starting to think about doing these interview episodes, I saw that one of my very favorite fellow history nerds has a new book out exploring this very question.

Music exploring this very question. From GBAH News, this is Scratch and Win.

I'm Ian Koss.

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