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?
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?
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.
-Steve
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