I wanted to share with you our view of what is currently going on behind the scenes in the GOP. In short, it is chaos and it is panic. But there is still an underlying confidence because of how the map shapes up for next year.
As you know, The Lincoln Project was formed by a dedicated group of anti-Trump former Republicans who saw the writing on the wall about what Trump meant for our democracy. I know we say it a lot but Trump took hold of the GOP and almost torpedoed our Republic because we all "lacked the imagination" as my friend Stuart Stevens says, to imagine how far they would go.
When we are assessing what could possibly happen next we have a saying - “Imagine the craziest possible thing the Republicans could do and multiply it by 10.”
That's what they have always been capable of.
This is also why we employ the tactics we use and to great effect. To beat someone who is willing to do anything you have to stop acting like it is 20 years ago and "bipartisanship" is alive and well. It is not.
There is no other group out there doing what we do right now. There are traditional PACS and traditional organizations out there trying to get their people elected in the same old ways. They are not approaching 2022 or 2024 any differently because once again, they are lacking the imagination. Consider if anyone else is willing to:
- Create an insurrection among employees of a Fortune 500 company because their employer supports the seditionists? Nobody else can. We persuaded Toyota like this.
- Run ads to an audience of one to stay in his head and force unforced errors? No one else is. And we’re living rent-free in Trump’s head.
- Target the inner circles of our opponents with ads designed to get them chasing their tails? No other organization bothers. But we do.
We are racking up wins and getting ready for 2022. Are you with us? <[link removed]>
I keep saying it's working and it shows. Right now in Texas we are attacking Abbott where he is vulnerable and his numbers are falling. He has multiple potential opponents with paths to victory now. Did he quash the ad we ran this past weekend calling him out for letting 60,000+ Texans die of COVID? We're finding out now. But our sources in Texas are saying Abbott is panicking and worried. All because we're out there hitting suburban parents and key swing voters with digital ads showing them proof of his failures.
This is especially important because to beat the MAGA mob next year we are going to need to empty out our bag of tricks. The headwinds for Democrats do not look good. Gerrymandering and redistricting are going to give the GOP several seats just for showing up to the dance. Democrats are absolutely swimming against the current and will have to buck history to pull off what our country needs them to do.
Why is everyone else sticking with the same old failed tactics? Why wait until next fall and campaign like it is 2004? Why would we not go tell a Republican-leaning mom in Corpus Christi that the reason her daughter is in quarantine is because Greg Abbott is too preoccupied with kissing Trump's ass to save her kid? How do you think she's going to vote next year if no one tells her the truth?
We're there right now doing just that, but it is only part of our job. We aren't just out there telling voters the truth. We're actively exploiting the divisions in the GOP that run deeper than most know. We need your help to keep up the pressure. Will you help today? <[link removed]>
This is where part two with McConnell comes in. Just this weekend a new report of Trump trying to unseat McConnell came out.
He is, right now, calling all the senators he has in his thrall and attempting to force McConnell out of a leadership role.
But you have to ask, why would the Hawleys or the Cruzes of the world go along with it? I would like to suggest here something I have not yet heard elsewhere: they know that if they help Trump knock off McConnell, then Trump's the guy and you all know what happens to people who shine too brightly in Trump's orbit. But here's the rub: if they let him crash, then they've got a chance. That's DeSantis's calculus. It's why he's fundraising in Jersey while Floridians line up for ventilators. So you might see Josh Hawley making noise like he's helping Trump but privately, he's closing his eyes and praying that Trump will hand him the mantle, not stick a handle in his back. Thinking of them hallucinating these parlor games is a nice dream. It also has major implications for victory next year and in 2024.
McConnell needs Trump in his corner to help fundraise for the next two elections and try to get the majority back. Remember this.
Napoleon is credited with saying, "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake." It is probably apocryphal. But why not take it a step further - why not help your enemy make a mistake?
Historically the Democrats have never really been willing to do this. We at The Lincoln Project have no such restraint. Our ads are dividing and distracting a mob-driven party who can’t afford either.
The Tea Party doomed multiple Republican candidates in 2010 and probably cost them a Senate majority. Now an even crazier wing is coming after whatever establishment remains in the GOP. Have at it, fellas. While you're distracted arguing about who can let the most kids die of COVID, we're out there working to beat you. So when you see an ad from us to the audience of one - and you know he is watching - you know why we are pouring gasoline on this fire.
Now you can see how the two strategies fit together. Why Abbott and McConnell are woven together. While they are eating each other alive, we are out there spreading the truth and breaking through what the cult of Trump is saying.
You have entrusted us with this mission. We are carrying it out. Thank you for keeping us in this fight. <[link removed]>
-Steve
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