Longtime Republican strategists behind the Lincoln Project mounting rogue offensive against trump

[Gothmog]

The Lincoln Project has been very effective

Link to tweet

A group of longtime Republican political operatives trying to unseat the president say they are willing to forgo a future in Republican politics to oust a leader they believe has driven the party of Lincoln into the ground. Lesley Stahl reports on the anti-Trump Super PAC the "Lincoln Project," whose lifelong Republican founders include former John McCain strategists Steve Schmidt and John Weaver, on the next edition of 60 Minutes, Sunday, October 11 at 7:30 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT on CBS.

Schmidt and seven co-founders launched the Lincoln Project last December in hopes of reaching out to other Republicans they believed were also unhappy with President Trump. "What we thought we could do is talk to those voters in the language and the iconography that they understand, connect with them, and persuade them, many of them, to vote for the Democratic nominee for the first time in their lives," says Schmidt.

Other co-founders of the Lincoln Project include Republican media consultant and author Rick Wilson; George W. Bush campaign veteran Reed Galen; and George Conway, Trump critic and husband of former White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway. "None of us will ever work in Republican politics again," Schmidt tells Stahl. "We joke that-- like some of the explorers who came to the new world, they were incentivized by the captain when he burned the ships…" Asked whether his actions have cost him friends, he replies, "For sure. Of course."

The Lincoln Project made a name for itself with its numerous attack ads, released almost every day on social media. The ads go for the jugular. They have accused the president of being a draft dodger, disrespecting veterans, and failing in his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Critics charge the negative attack ads are right out of the playbook used by President Trump. That's the plan, says Wilson, who is in charge of the advertising. "There's always a reflexive sort of, do-gooder instinct to say, 'Oh, I hate negative ads.' People do hate negative ads, but negative ads work," he says.

[DonaldsRump]

1. I'm going to give them $20 today. They've MORE than earned it.

Great job, TLP.

[Statistical]

2. Very creative team they have.

Hope Democrats are taking notes. They make some very good ads. Just the right blend of gallows humor with seriousness that leaves an impact while still being viral.

I mean #covita come on that is great.

[sandensea]

11. The Covita ad was so good, they're crying for Cheeto in Argentina

In all seriousness, most Argentines can't stand him either - except, course, for the right-wing racist types (some 30% or so).

[Le Drunkard Thomas]

27. Yes Indeed

[sandensea]

31. Evita would approve!

As an AOC-style progressive populist (and 70 years ago no less), she'd have choice words for Cheeto - no doubt about it.

That said, Welcome to DU Tom!

Hope you find it as entertaining - and informative - as most of us do.

[Le Drunkard Thomas]

33. Whut?

Sorry, but I started downing shots and beers early last night. What day is this? Oh shit I'm missing the NFL games aren't I?!?

[sandensea]

35. Gotta take care of yourself, my good man

It'll be a very interesting month ahead (or more) - and we all have make sure we're wide awake for it.

The Rethugs? They can sleep all day.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

3. Good for them.

Though, seems to me it's been many years since the GOP had any real business pretending they wouldn't impeach a "leftist radical" like Lincoln.

[CaptainTruth]

4. I really wonder what they'll be doing during a Biden administration.

I hope they don't turn their attacks on Democrats.

[vercetti2021]

5. Don't think they will

Especially Rick Wilson and Steve Schmidt.

[yardwork]

8. I'm sure they will, and that's why I wouldn't send them money.

Their ads are brilliant and I hope they help defeat Trump, but these are right-wing Republicans who want to privatize social security, etc.

[Fiendish Thingy]

9. They will advocate a return to "normalcy" & the status quo, opposing an ambitious legislative agenda

bank on it

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

17. And they'll start calling favors,

saying that Joe and the other Dems couldn't have won without their support.

Never forget these people had no problem with the system that created Trump, and will do it again if given the chance.

[GoneOffShore]

13. They actually won't work for Republicans again and no Democrat will trust them

They have indeed burned their boats.

[octoberlib]

18. Actually , I know a Democrat in a red district who wants to run in 2022.

She asked Reed Galen if any of them would be interested in working for Democrats in red /purple districts in the future and he said yes,, contact me. She would love to have them work for her because they know how to get to Republicans . I have a feeling they'll get job offers, if they want them.

[GoneOffShore]

19. Well, that's a good thing.

[Gothmog]

14. What will become of anti-trump republicans

Last edited Sat Oct 10, 2020, 06:45 PM - Edit history (1)

Trumpism will still be alive even if trump is defeated in 2020. The members of the lincoln project know that they can not come home again https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-07-29/what-will-become-of-anti-trump-republicans

What they say motivates them is both fear of a second term for Donald Trump and, especially for some of the campaign professionals involved, a sense of responsibility for what the Republican Party has become. It’s possible that there’s really nothing more to it than that. Surely the policy advocates in the group will continue to push for choices they favor regardless of who is in office, but for the political operatives, this might be the end of the line — they may be burning bridges with one party without building any connection to the other.

It’s possible that some of them will eventually gravitate toward the Democrats. But it’s unlikely that they’ll exert much influence over them. Party actors fight hard for power within the organization, and while it’s true that parties are permeable and new people enter all the time and can change policy positions and priorities, there’s very little appetite among Democrats for this particular group of outsiders to wield significant influence.

My sense is that the group would be happiest with some sort of reformed Republican Party, but that they don’t quite know how to get there from here. The obvious problem is that the more elections Republicans lose, the more the remnant in office will tend to be from the safest districts, which usually produce the most extreme politicians. And if, on the other hand, Republicans win this year or in 2022, they’ll likely conclude that there isn’t actually a problem to be solved. They may reach that conclusion even if they lose several consecutive elections as long as the conservative marketplace is still profitable.

So my guess is that ultimately the Lincoln Project will be a curiosity — a marker of the deep dysfunction of the Republican Party, but not a group able to do much about it or to find a home elsewhere. Perhaps I’m wrong and they’ll be able to find a way out of the trap that Republicans have gotten into. I certainly hope so: Democracy in the U.S. requires two reasonably healthy political parties, both firmly committed to the rule of law, full citizenship for all and other important principles.

The members of the Lincoln Project has burned bridges. If trump loses then the remants of the GOP will be in safe gerrymandered seats and trump's base will be still be out there. The GOP will not longer be home to these members. trump may escape jail and I suspect that trump may end up with trump TV which will be attaking the members of the Lincoln group. The members of the Lincoln Project will not running against Democrats in 2024 becauase they wil have no home in what is left of the GOP.
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[GulfCoast66]

28. They claim they will keep it up till al trump enablers are gone.

I very seldom trust republicans, but these guys deserve a little trust. Very little.

[GusBob]

6. Good on them, they are good at what they do

But lets face it, they have a pretty easy target

some of their stuff writes itself

[gohuskies]

7. The LP founders care about the nation

Here is where party partisanship boundaries were breached because these folks could see the corrupt evolution of a party where they once held leadership roles. I may not agree with all of their conservative principles but they recognize the disaster and crisis facing the country and are putting themselves on the line to restore sanity to America.

I appreciate their efforts and donate to them because they know how to hit the soft underbelly of this beast and hopefully strike the mortal blow to end Trumpism which is a cancer upon America that continues to metastasize into deeper hate, racism and terrorism. Thank you Lincoln Project.

[StarryNite]

15. True that

[Qutzupalotl]

10. They do good stuff, but we could do it too.

We can’t just talk to our base, though. We have to talk to theirs.

It’s more than just using iconography and a lexicon they understand. We actually have common ground that we aren’t exploiting. We want to live by the Constitution. We want individual freedom. We want a chance to succeed. We want to stay alive.

[Cha]

12. Rt.. and there they are.. the repubs who are

working Against the orange Ogre & For Democracy.

Thank you, Goth

[FakeNoose]

16. George Conway is part of Lincoln Project too

They all made made nice salaries getting Republicans elected over the years. Up until this year that is. Yes they are good at what they do, and they worked for people who paid them well.

The interesting thing is that the Lincoln Project guys all decided to walk away from the big money - this year. What they do after this remains to be seen, they could go back to working for the Repuke campaigns after this.

Our take-away from this should be that the Democratic Party COULD have hired these guys, if we were willing to pay them good money like they were making from the Repukes. It sounds like The Lincoln Project can see merit in working for the good guys for a change.

What do you think, will the DNC pay them to work for our candidates? Will the DNC pay for professional top-quality work? I hope so.

[ehrnst]

20. Conway left in August

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/513323-george-conway-says-he-is-withdrawing-from-lincoln-project

If the DNC had hired them, the fur would have flown... and no, the Democrats will not "Hire them."

Why do you think they would?

They could hire the consultants that they used that did the videos and managed the PR, but that would not be the same thing at all.

[FakeNoose]

21. It's because they're rethinking this whole thing now

... especially since it seems like the Repuke Party is imploding faster than we can invent new memes.

[calimary]

22. Am I wrong to be unable to avoid looking a gift horse in the mouth?

While I definitely AM grateful that they're pulling the rope in this tug-o'-war WITH us, on OUR side, I can't forget one thing.

This is an anomaly.

We usually don't find these folks on our side.

They're usually very loyal and resolute on the side AGAINST ours. And they use their skills AGAINST us - frequently and rather decisively, and too often, successfully as well.

It's just that this particular candidate stinks too bad even for them. They're out of rationalizations to stay in. They obviously ran out of those quite awhile ago. They knew they couldn't pass the "face yourself in the bathroom mirror in the morning" test. They didn't want to be hypocrites and party-over-country. This mattered more. Their country mattered more.

And I'll give 'em that. Heard, saw, observed, acknowledged, confirmed, and accepted.

But can we expect this to be some sort of epiphany? Is this a wholesale change-of-heart, where they finally see the light about how wrong Republi-CONS are about almost everything? How their party's policies and "ideas" suck unless you're very wealthy and don't need any help in the first place - unless you want a boost from the "haves" column to the "have mores" list?

I'm glad to have their help. Hell, I'm glad to have ANYBODY'S help. Because getting rid of trump is a HUGE job and very heavy lift. And if they can help us, WONDERFUL! But if we get what we want, where do THEY go now? Are they awakened? Have their souls really been saved? Have they, indeed, seen the light on government's potential to be a force for the greater good, while recognizing that people out there REALLY, SERIOUSLY, and FACTUALLY NEED HELP - to degrees that there's no possible way they can "boot themselves up by their own bootstraps"?

I kinda doubt it. And I won't hold my breath. Mitch McConnell has already started whining about all that deficit spending...

[JHB]

26. No, you're not, and you're not alone.

See #25 below.

[Happyhippychick]

23. Glad to have these guys on our side!

[usaf-vet]

24. All I can say is I believe the history books will look at these guys and credit them with doing....

.... their best to unseat this evil bastard. If Biden wins (WHEN HE WINS) they will be seen as true heroes in the fight to save our Democracy.

If they should ever venture to the extreme Northern Wisconsin shore of Lake Superior the first drink is on me the rest of the grateful Democrats will line up behind me for the next round.

Thank You to one and all.

[JHB]

25. I'll believe that when it (doesn't) happen

Personally, I think they'll be back, and much, much sooner than people seem to think. They'll take all the credit for defeating Trump, as if the people doing all the heavy lifting -- Democrats -- were bumblers who'd have been lost without them.

Once Trump is out of the picture, they'll effectively be The Disownership Society, a club dedicated to deflecting blame for Trump, for washing his stink out the Republican's suits. For pretending the Republican party hasn't been on a direct path to where it is now for decades, and returning it to the happy, "healthy" days of the Bush administration.

I could be wrong, of course, but I'm going to give them time to prove it before giving them kudos. Like, say, sometime in 2025.

[GulfCoast66]

29. The sad thing is so few republicans are worried about the danger to our democracy.

And if these guys wanted to take the party back to Eisenhower times when republicans supported civil rights and were there just to slow down liberal change, I could respect them going forward.

But I’m thinking they just want to go back to Reagan Republican style. Screw the poor and middle class but keep the racist on a tighter leash.

That said, people can change. I did not go from a secular conservative republican to a liberal Social Democrat overnight. It took steps. But the first one was the most important. Admitting that something I believed was wrong. Then another. And another.

Changing ones core beliefs as an adult is difficult. Our synapses are well worn. But once you let your intellect override your habits it moves much faster.

[al bupp]

30. The enemy of my enemy is my friend...

and this friend knows how fight dirty. The Dems probably always needed a good attack dog. Go boy, sick 'em!

[Blue Owl]

32. K&R

[Cha]

34. Kick.. TY again, Goth!

[Gothmog]

36. Sixty Minuts and the Lincoln Project

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[betsuni]

37. K&R