What Do You Have To Lose?

About the Book

This book is different. It seeks to answer a question Donald Trump asked voters, “What the hell have you got to lose?” by showing how our right to vote in free and fair elections and to have our vote counted, is under attack on several fronts – some obvious, some not. It shows how the U.S. Constitution gave us that right and so much more. But the January 6, 2021 violence was the first time in our history the right came under direct assault by our own citizens. It drove the message home – voters, you got skin in the game. From the Civil War onward, Americans have struggled to secure their rights in court and through the ballot box. But the current threat is more than battles over voting rights and “hot button” issues – vastly different from anything we faced before – and very real. This book inventories those rights and explains how they stand at the forefront of the American experience. It walks the reader through the threat to our rights and representative democracy. It emphasizes that voters only have a democracy if they keep it – and vote.

About the Author

David L. Nelson holds a JD from the University of Michigan Law School, is a member of the Michigan Bar and admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court. He authored Tool Marks Don’t Lie, River of Iron, and Chasing Blood Money. Mary Margaret Serpento holds a B.A. from Pennsylvania State University, an A.M.L.S. from the University of Michigan, belongs to Phi Beta Kappa, and was a law librarian for 40 years