General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNever Trumpers and Senate Races
It just occurred to me the other day that, while I know that Never Trumpers via The Lincoln Project and other means are aggressively working to elect Joe Biden and UN-elect Trump in 2016, do we know if they are also working to re-elect a Republican Senate as well (House seems like it's going to safely remain Democratic in 2020)? Does it seem likely that they will split their tickets in 2020 and vote for Biden at the top but still vote solidly Republican in the downballot races? And if so, will that blunt or hurt our efforts to re-take the Senate in 2020? Has anybody heard anything that this might be the case? While their alliance against Trump is useful in the grander (and more important IMHO) goal of defeating and getting rid of Trump in 2020 is certainly a beneficial one, I fear that, if Republicans are able to hold the Senate, they will just return to their obstructionist tactics honed during the Obama years, ESPECIALLY if Moscow Mitch gets re-elected (which seems more likely than not in all honesty).
Bradshaw3
(7,541 posts)Proud Liberal Dem
(24,452 posts)2naSalit
(86,897 posts)Democratic tidal wave because there will be no progress of any kind without a Democratic majority in both houses, and they know it.
They are putting country over party and that really matters right now. It has to be a full defeat pf the r party. They cannot rebuild it without a thorough cleansing.
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,452 posts)I've listened to a few of them and while I'm heartened by much of what they have to say, they do still sometimes veer into the Republican habit of warning about the consequences of Democrats going "too far to the left", which sometimes bugs me. But if they're all in for a Democratic tidal wave in November, I'm fine. Where we might be 2-4 years later remains to be seen how much they might become more active participants in terms of the Democratic Party agenda or if they'll turn on us after Trump is gone, if we start enacting policies that they feel are "too far left". I also don't want to see them having an outsized influence on the Democratic Party/DNC. I mean, it's fine if they want to support us and give us assistance but I just don't want us to feel like we have to start bending in their direction and towards their agenda, which AFAIK is still likely going to be an aggressively pro-corporate agenda, in exchange for said support. One of the things that Biden would have to work on right off the bat is fixing the damage Trump inflicted on the Affordable Care Act and possibly expanding it some with a Public Option, which I'm not sure whether or not Never Trumpers even support?
OnDoutside
(19,982 posts)to go.
I believe in the medium to longer term, their aim is to win the suburban moms, moderate Republicans, Independents and centrist Dems, but that's a better battle to have rather than depending on the far right. Bear in mind that McCain knew that they had to sort the Immigration issue, to go after those voters, so they are on board with the entire DACA/Immigration issue being resolved. There is no way there won't be a civil war within the GOP if the Dems have a blowout win in November.
peggysue2
(10,848 posts)The Lincoln Project is working to unseat Trump and his enablers. That includes Senate Republicans running for reelection on November 3rd. In fact, I just read an interview with John Weaver, one of the group's co-founders, who said the Lincoln Project is planning not only to ensure a Biden win but that Republican obstructionism is stopped dead so that extensive repair and reforms to government and voting rights are successful.
'These are not people who have or ever will turn into Democrats. They are committed conservatives who have said in unison: The Republican Party either reforms itself or it dies. Either way, they're supporting Biden and the Democrats this election season because they fully recognize the danger of Trump and Trumpism to the Republic. Due to successful fund raising, they're planning to be on the ground in a number of Senate races, pushing to elect Dems. They're also planning an extensive info campaign on mail-in voting. Despite all Trump's caterwauling on mail-in/absentee voting, Republicans have used mail-in votes to up their electoral participation. In the 2018 election, that meant a 70% participation rate in Florida where Gillium was the favorite but DeSantis ultimately won.
Whatever help they can give, I'll take gladly.
2naSalit
(86,897 posts)or participate in one of their town hall zoom/twitter? meetings that they open to the public. I watched the first one where they spent a long time explaining their intent, much of which is to drive -45 bonkers with their ads, but to rid the country of trumpism, at least in elected office for now. They want a Democratic tidal wave, period. They can try to reconstruct their party afterward. It was comforting.
Things can't/won't be the same afterward. It will be like cleaning up after an onslaught of hurricanes and tornadoes but they will be like our neighbors who will be helping to clean up the mess with common goals because we are also down to the wire with climate change issues and they can see that too.
Laws and regulations will be implemented quickly and some big changes are afoot, they are looking forward to redirecting and keeping the essence of the democracy alive and that requires a system of more than one party.
That's my take on their help. I'm glad they are doing it, we need all the help they can give.