babylonsister
babylonsister's JournalInside the Lincoln Project's War Room
Inside the Lincoln Projects War Room
Progressives are wary of the conservative group hammering the President, but its founders say theyre fighting for all Americans.
By Paige Williams
October 5, 2020
The week of Labor Day, the founders of the Lincoln Project, a super PAC of Republican operatives who have disavowed their own party in order to defeat President Donald Trump, set up a war room in a location far outside Washington, D.C. Since January, the group, whose founders include the consultants Steve Schmidt and Rick Wilson, had been targeting Trump with the kind of merciless ads that the strategists had aimed at Democratic candidates throughout their careers. A spot titled Regret features the comedian David Cross offering such a long list of Trumps flawsthe blatant racism, and the crass sexism, and the deranged narcissism, and pandering to Nazisthat the recitation is still unspooling as the ad fades out. This type of message is aimed at convincing Republican voters that Trumps dangerous and divisive impulses imperil the country. Another type of ad is designed to unsettle a single viewerthe President himselfand often appears during TV programs he is likely to watch. Shrinking directly addresses Trump, saying, of his notorious Tulsa campaign rally, in June, Youve probably heard this before, but it was smaller than we expected. The founders knew that they were getting to the President when he started tweeting and talking about them, predictably calling their organization the Losers Project.
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The Project, which was founded by eight people, now employs about thirty-five paid staffers. For the first months, everybody worked remotelyin Tallahassee, Denver, East Hampton, Sacramento. Once the war room was ready, more than a dozen employees began arriving at their assigned housing with luggage and pets, prepared to stay until November. The selection of a temporary headquarters had been complicated by the pandemic, but security was also a factor. Founders had been publicly accosted for opposing Trump, and the Project had received menacing voice mails. A Las Vegas caller: Get the fuck out of my country, bitches! From Pennsylvania: Fuck every last one of you motherfuckers! And when a civil war happens . . . duck.
The filmmakers Fisher Stevens and Karim Amer, along with the producer Amy Redford, had arrived to shoot a documentary about the Project. Stevens, a Hollywood actor and a liberal activist, had wanted to make anti-Trump ads himself, but every time he had an idea for a spot he discovered that the Lincoln Project had already done it. These guys were out there every day, putting out a movie! he told me. I thought, Who are these fucking people? Who is doing this stuff?
The Projects founders are a murderers row of conservative operatives. Wilson, who has worked for Rudolph Giuliani and Dick Cheney, counts hundreds of elections, from dogcatcher to U.S. Senate, that he and the other founders have helped Republicans win. Schmidt served in the George W. Bush White House, where he was instrumental in seating the Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and John Roberts. He is widely known for having suggested Sarah Palin as a running mate for McCain, in 2008. Schmidt clearly regrets choosing someone whose crude populism presaged Trump. He was a source for Game Change, a book about the McCain campaign that characterized Palin as unprepared and difficult; in September, he said that Palin represented the beginning of the politics of cowardice and fear.
Another founder, Reed Galen, whose father worked for Newt Gingrich and Dan Quayle, oversaw with Schmidt the reëlection campaign of the California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. John Weaver, a Texan whom the Democratic strategist James Carville nicknamed Meat Cleaver Weaver, spent a decade trying to get McCain elected to the Presidency. Stuart Stevens was Mitt Romneys chief strategist in the 2012 race against Barack Obama. A notable early Project participant was George Conway, the lawyer who antagonizes Trump on TwitterYou. Are. Nuts.and whose wife, Kellyanne, was a top White House adviser until she resigned, in August. The couple, citing family demands, receded from public life, and George Conway quit the Project.
more...
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/10/12/inside-the-lincoln-projects-war-against-trump
Eric Boehlert: The Trump Covid crisis: "Washington" isn't unraveling, the GOP is
https://pressrun.media/p/the-trump-covid-crisiswashingtonThe Trump Covid crisis: "Washington" isn't unraveling, the GOP is
Politico gets it all wrong
Eric Boehlert
Anxious to portray the Covid-19 infection outbreak that has sidelined Trump and scores of top Republicans as a symptom of bipartisan dysfunctions, the Beltway press seems eager to push the idea that "Washington" is unraveling, and that both parties are to blame for the startling revelations that have tumbled out in recent days. It's a lazy narrative that lets the press avoid telling ugly truths about today's GOP.
"Lets not mince words: Washington has been plunged into a crisis of historic proportions, frozen by a disease it is both unwilling and unable to control," Politico reported over the weekend, in an article headlined, The virus slams into a broken Washington. The piece stressed that "Washington" both parties have been "unwilling" to control the deadly virus. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The claim that Both Sides haven't taken serious, painful steps to get the pandemic under control is not only completely false, it provides cover for Republicans who have made the public health crisis worse at every conceivable juncture.
All across the country, Democratic leaders on the local and national level have tried to take strong measures to help the country control the public health crisis. Democrats have generally been a model of precaution, as they put science first. And all year they've been met by Republicans who have embraced Trump's reckless message of "re-opening" the country, even as the virus rages from coast to coast. Expressing disdain for health regulations and those who abide by them ("politically correct" ), the Republican Party has made a point of mocking preventative measures. (The Politico article even admits, "The Capitol is filled with Republican lawmakers who decline to wear masks."
snip//
The truth is, todays Republican Party cannot govern and that's why there's so much trouble brewing in the nation's capital a pandemic health crisis, a pandemic economic crisis, and a Supreme Court crisis. Those arent the fault of "Washington." They're the fault of Trump and the GOP.
A Blue Money Wave In Senate Races
https://politicalwire.com/2020/10/05/a-blue-money-wave-in-senate-races/A Blue Money Wave In Senate Races
October 5, 2020 at 9:30 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
Traditionally, incumbent senators have a fundraising edge, but its different this cycle thanks to unlimited contributions from Democratic super PACs as well as highly-motivated small donors.
Florida, Florida, Florida
10/05/20 4:00am
Florida, Florida, Florida
Florida Democrats are contesting Republican incumbents throughout the state. These 36 candidates are running in the most Republican districts and areas of the state: the western panhandle, 'the Villages', the 'First Coast', the Everglades, the Southwestern coastline, etc. These campaigns will help Joe Biden flip Florida's 29 electoral college votes.
By Howie Klein
Florida, the ultimate swing state, has played a decisive role in too many presidential elections. Every single vote counts in any statewide election there. In 2018, Republican Ron DeSantis beat Democrat Andrew Gillum 49.6% to 49.2% in the gubernatorial race and Rick Scott beat Bill Nelson 50.1% to 49.9% in the Senate election. Two years earlier, Trump had beaten Hillary 49.0% to 47.8%.
This cycle there's only one statewide election: U.S. president. Republicans in Florida are lucky that Ron DeSantis isn't on the ballot. He's more hated by his constituents than any other governor in America. Recently, his job approval rating dropped from an already horrible 40% to an astonishing 29%! Perhaps that's because no other governor has mishandled the pandemic as badly as DeSantis. Yesterday, Florida reported 2,787 new cases, bring the state's total to 714,591-- 33,271 cases per million Floridians. That's far worse than Texas or California, the only two states with numbers of cases anywhere near Florida's.
And luckily for the GOP, neither Marco Rubio nor Rick Scott is up for reelection either. Floridians rate them both badly. Yesterday, a NY Times/Siena poll of likely Florida voters showed the bottom falling out for Trump among independent voters, a cohort where Biden leads statewide 45-33%. And the debate accelerated his decline. The Times wrote that the revulsion against Trumps performance "extended well into his reliable base. One-third of the presidents supporters said they disapproved of his performance. And 60% of Floridians say they find Trump neither honest nor trustworthy. Only 36% of likely voters say he is.
That's the state of the race in Florida, the most likely state to try to steal the election for Trump regardless of what the voters want... and the state opening up everything with no restrictions despite a horrific and raging pandemic.
more...
https://crooksandliars.com/2020/10/florida-florida-florida
If Trump has learned anything from getting Covid-19, he's not showing it
If Trump has learned anything from getting Covid-19, hes not showing it
Trumps drive-by motorcade photo-op is out of the same coronavirus playbook that got America into this mess.
By German Lopez@germanrlopezgerman.lopez@vox.com Oct 4, 2020, 8:25pm EDT
If President Donald Trump has learned anything from getting sick with Covid-19, hes not showing it.
Since Trumps diagnosis last Thursday, he and his administration have worked diligently to cover up the presidents disease. Theyve downplayed his symptoms. Theyve suggested he needed to be hospitalized not because of his apparently high fever and low oxygen levels but out of an abundance of caution. Theyve posted videos and photos of the president doing normal things. Even the presidents own doctors have taken to politicized spin, arguing that they were trying to be upbeat as they refused to fully and truthfully answer questions about Trumps health.
On Sunday, it culminated in a photo-op in which Trump was driven outside Walter Reed hospital as he waved at supporters exposing at least the driver and passenger in the car to infection. As James Phillips, attending physician at Walter Reed, tweeted, That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack. The risk of COVID19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play.
This is all out of the same playbook Trump has used for Covid-19 from day one. Its an attempt to make everything seem normal, as if the coronavirus isnt wrecking lives, in a desperate attempt to go back to a better world that could help ensure Trumps reelection. As Trump told journalist Bob Woodward, I wanted to always play [the coronavirus] down.
Trump has stuck to this even as its put people in danger again and again and now even after hes gotten sick himself. Hes called for states to reopen to LIBERATE them even as experts warned that opening too soon would lead to new cases (and, sure enough, cases spiked over the summer as states opened prematurely). Hes pushed for less testing, arguing more tests pick up more cases and therefore make the US look bad, even as experts said more testing, along with contact tracing, is still needed to slow the outbreak. Hes mocked masks and frequently refused to wear one himself, even as experts and a growing body of research show masks are key to stopping Covid-19.
more...
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/10/4/21501511/trump-covid-19-coronavirus-motorcade-drive-by-walter-reed-hospital
Republicans gripped by dread as multiple crises swirl
This headline warms my heart.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/05/republicans-dread-coronavirus-infections-426351
Republicans gripped by dread as multiple crises swirl
The presidency, control of the Senate and even a quick confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett are all in doubt less than a month from the election.
By RYAN LIZZA and DANIEL LIPPMAN
10/05/2020 04:42 AM EDT
Updated: 10/05/2020 07:56 AM EDT
snip//
A senior Republican congressional official spoke for many by arguing that the handling of the issue over the weekend was incredibly worrying, but that it was too early to judge whether the issue further jeopardizes Trumps reelection chances, the Barrett nomination or GOP control of the Senate.
The official added one caveat, a scenario that he believed would crush the GOP on Nov. 3.
He added, That could turn this into a death spiral.
Secret Service Frustrated After Trump's Joy Ride
They should all call in sick.
https://politicalwire.com/2020/10/05/secret-service-frustrated-after-trumps-joy-ride/
Secret Service Frustrated After Trumps Joy Ride
October 5, 2020 at 7:01 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
Its a situation that has prompted growing and more vocal concern.
Said one current Secret Service agent: That should never have happened I mean, I wouldnt want to be around them. The frustration with how were treated when it comes to decisions on this illness goes back before this though. Were not disposable.
Washington Post: Secret Service agents aghast at Trumps drive outside hospital.
Trump campaign adviser accuses Biden of using masks as a 'prop'
He's just jealous. Probably wishes mf45 would have tried it.Trump campaign adviser accuses Biden of using masks as a 'prop'
By Justine Coleman - 10/04/20 10:42 AM EDT
President Trumps senior campaign adviser Jason Miller accused Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Sunday of using masks as a prop.
With Joe Biden, I mean, we can't all just stay in our basement for the rest of our lives, Miller continued. We have to get out there and live our lives and take this on, develop the vaccine, develop more therapeutics, and defeat it.
more...
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/519523-trump-campaign-adviser-accuses-biden-of-using-masks-as-a-prop
Participants in Amy Coney Barrett's introduction were encouraged to take off their masks and mingle
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/10/3/1983138/-Amy-Barrett-s-introduction-has-emerged-as-a-superspreader-event-that-may-affect-her-confirmationParticipants in Amy Coney Barrett's introduction were encouraged to take off their masks and mingle
Mark Sumner
Daily Kos Staff
Saturday October 03, 2020 · 9:31 AM EDT
A day after Donald Trump admitted to testing positive for COVID-19, the Rose Garden ceremony formally introducing Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee for the Supreme Court has emerged as a super-spreader event. In addition to Trump, at least 11 others including former White House press secretary Kellyanne Conway, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, Republican Senator Mike Lee, and Republican Senator Thom Tillis have tested positive following Barretts introduction. While othersincluding Hope Hicks, who did not appear at the event, it seems clear that this was the nexus of transmission. At that event one week ago, someone had an active case of COVID-19, and it spread.
It spread because, as The Washington Post notes, the event was treated like a triumphal flashback to the Before Times. Though some guestsnotably those who sat near the back of the affairchose to wear masks, most of those front and center came in mask-free. There was also little effort to demonstrate any form of social distancing, with ecstatic Republicans hugging, shaking hands, and generally celebrating at close range their hunger to replace a legendary Supreme Court Justice who was at that moment still awaiting her funeral.
snip//
The contrast between what the Post called the carefree, cavalier attitude toward the virus on display in the Rose Garden last Saturday and the somber roll call of test results a week later is shocking, but what happened at the White House was only one of thousands of such outbreaks that have happened across the nation. And no matter what they apparently believed, no one is immune.
From Edgar Allan Poes, Masque of the Red Death
Biden looks to seal election after Trump's week from hell
Biden looks to seal election after Trump's week from hell
Now it's the Democrat traversing the battleground map, and the president stuck inside.
By MARC CAPUTO
10/03/2020 07:37 PM EDT
Joe Biden is on the campaign trail. Donald Trump is in the hospital.
In a role reversal, the president who mocked his rival for being weak and hiding in his basement is stuck in isolation under doctors supervision while Biden jets off to states like Michigan on Friday and Florida on Monday, with the battleground map all to himself.
Its a contrast the Biden campaign intends to sharpen as long as Trump is sidelined from coronavirus. Only a month remains until Election Day, and a record 3.2 million Americans already cast early ballots in 21 states, with Democrats out-voting Republicans so far.
The Biden campaign, under strict orders from the candidate to not speak ill of Trump personally while hes in the hospital, announced it was pulling its negative ads out of respect to the president, though some still aired on stations that didnt take them down quickly enough.
The positive-ad announcement had an ulterior motive, another Biden adviser acknowledged: To pivot to the closing argument stage of the campaign, in which the Democrat tries to rally voters with an uplifting case for change. Besides, that adviser said, Biden doesnt need to say much about Trumps struggles to contain coronavirus because, now that the president is hospitalized for it, its obvious.
more...
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/03/biden-looks-to-seal-election-after-trumps-week-from-hell-425891
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