Reed Galen: Why former Republicans back Biden over Trump -- and attack Senate Republicans

[Nevilledog]

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/why-former-republicans-back-biden-over-trump-attack-senate-republicans-ncna1236472

American politics, like our national life, is upside down and backward this year. Schools aren’t able to open, college football won’t be played, and former Republicans are working to defeat incumbent senators of their old party.

The Lincoln Project, of which I am co-founder, stated in our founding op-ed of December 2019 that we would work “to defeat Donald Trump and Trumpism at the ballot box.” Seven months on, as the election campaign heats up and former Vice President Joe Biden picks Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate, we spend each day exploring new and different ways to accomplish both those goals.

To listen, read and watch Republicans inside the Beltway, you’d think we cooked up this plan over a long weekend in May and decided to begin “burning the Republican Party to the ground.” Never mind that such detractors still seem to have no explanation for why conservatives would want to do such a thing.

But in fact, our efforts are not about the Republican Party writ large, even though it will also need a thorough cleaning once this year’s remnants are swept into America’s political dustbin. No, our efforts have become broader then President Donald Trump because America as we know it cannot survive four more years of what has become a broader and sustained assault against our democratic institutions. The rapid expansion of executive and unchecked power has brought us to the brink of authoritarianism. And this would not be possible without the complicity of Republicans in Congress.

*snip*

[Mister Ed]

1. K&R. Well worth reading the whole op-ed.

I love this description of the corrupt, craven GOP officeholders:

These people are no longer Republicans, nor should they be called conservatives. They’re scarecrows on America’s political plains, empty husks of individuals who traded their principles and their consciences for political expediency. They bought their tickets on the Trump Train. It’s time for them to take the ride.

[Tommymac]

2. Thank You TLP for putting Country ahead of Politics. About god damn time. n/t

[Cha]

3. Yes, TY, TLP & Reed Galen.. well done!

[crickets]

4. Strong message overall, but I disagree with Galen's opinion that the likes of

Susan Collins and Lindsey Graham are not 'real' Republicans. Of course they are. That's the problem.

Once upon a time, the GOP stood on the three pillars of individual liberty, fiscal conservatism and a moral foreign policy. It was a party that claimed to adhere to the Constitution and the rule of law.

"Once upon a time" is a fitting start to that sentence, because it leads into a fairy tale. The GOP has claimed to stand for these things for decades, but history often tells a different story. The author needs to work on his selective memory.

If TLP genuinely wants to create a new and better Republican party, kicking out the 'bad apples' is only the first step. Steps beyond that would involve a lot of soul searching that is unlikely to happen. They'll just come back with a different team singing the same old songs, while being a little more subtle and polite about it all. Ho hum.

I do respect and appreciate TLP's efforts in fighting against trump, and trying to ensure that he does not get reelected. That is a good and noble thing they deserve praise for. What comes after remains to be seen.

[OnDoutside]

5. I get what you are saying, though a stated aim of the LP is to

demolish the Republican Party, and build a new party. It would not surprise me if the Lincoln Project evolved into the Lincoln Party.

Edit.: I think Stuart Stevens was brutally honest in his book, "It was all a lie" that the GOP is so rotten to the core, that everything it stood for, was a lie. In that context, Graham etc are charlatans and not living up to what the GOP was supposed to be about (if they ever were, maybe after Nixon).

[crickets]

6. Good points. I read a couple of articles about Stuart Stevens recently that indicate

some Lincoln Project members are taking more time for self reflection than others. As with any group, it's a mixed bag. What it boils down to is deciding what they really want to accomplish and stand for as a party.

In that context, Graham etc are charlatans and not living up to what the GOP was supposed to be about (if they ever were, maybe after Nixon).

True. But in the end, what is the GOP supposed to be about? Can they come up with a platform that is relevant and meaningful beyond the wealthy WASP male interests the party currently aims to please? They've reached a sad point when just about anything else other than what they have now would be an improvement. Time will tell.

[OnDoutside]

7. I agree about the mixed bag, some just want Trump gone, believing

that, as the British American guy on that RVAT YouTube said, they can just return to "normal politics" in 2024. Others, with decades of experience within the GOP, like Wilson, Galen and Stevens recognise there is no way back for the GOP, that it must be burned to the ground, to allow a new conservative party to take its place. If Democrats get the win they deserve, it may well set off a civil war within the GOP. Slime like Cruz, Haley, Rubio will fight for control, but control of what ?

There are consequences for Democrats in the medium term, if this does happen, as this new party will aim to target Hispanics, suburban mom's, and center right Democrats. The positive is that the RWNJs would be sidelined.