General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDoes the Lincoln Project have a secret agenda? The answer is surprising.
Pressed on this, Weaver made an interesting concession. He allowed that he helped elect Jeff Sessions to the Senate in the 1990s. Given Sessionss racially charged history and his longtime role in building a U.S. nativist movement, Weaver allowed this had contributed in its own small way to pushing the GOP toward a Trump takeover.
I have my own atonement to do every day about that, Weaver told me. Did I contribute to putting a brick in the road to where we are today? Yeah, I did.
Trickle-down economics has proven not to work, Weaver said, allowing that growing and growing" inequality is a big reason the American people are losing faith in government, which is often said to have helped Trumps rise.
If the Lincoln Project has a broader agenda, then, it appears to be burning down as much of the GOP that helped bring us Trump as possible. Obviously, we should approach all this with a trust-but-verify skepticism, but Weaver has now planted markers for us to judge the group against.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/20/does-lincoln-project-have-secret-agenda-answer-is-surprising/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)I really appreciate their work thus far in knocking the "Esteemed" Mr. Trump and his playmates, but I trust them about as far as I can toss them. I certainly will not send them any money for anything.
denem
(11,045 posts)and 'This Is How It Starts', work that any Democrat would be proud to call their own.
Volaris
(10,260 posts)Are we letting them do it for us because its efficient, or because we have forgot how?
soldierant
(6,647 posts)we can keep our own ads psitive.
Frankly, we are not much good at negative messaging - never have been. Positive advertising we can do - and especially when our candidate at the topof the ticket is a genuine mensch.
Volaris
(10,260 posts)calguy
(5,222 posts)As well as any republican wanting to join with us in this fight to defeat Trump.
I also have no illusions that we will be fighting these same people in four years.
Let what's going to happen in four years happen in four years.
Right now we have a common goal and like the Americans we all are, we are joining together to defeat our common enemy.
LAS14
(13,749 posts)RussellCattle
(1,503 posts)Must be well funded and really committed.
Hekate
(90,189 posts)Glad to hear Weaver is reiterating what I heard both Wilson and Schmidt say at the outset: the Republican Party as it is today needs to be burned to the ground. They mean it, and I hope they succeed. I hope they get a lot of help.
The Lincoln Project is internet-based, so they can produce their responses to unfolding events extremely rapidly, as we have seen. They count on at least some of their work to go viral. Compared to traditional ad buys, this is economical if not downright cheap.
In addition, their ads get picked up by cable news anchors and commentators and get spread further. I live on Californias central coast, and I may have seen all of one of their ads on my own TV, the rest have been replayed by cable news anchors and here at DU.
When they do buy ad time on TV/cable, they are tightly focused. When I hear people complaining that they dont personally see these ads where they live, I remind them that they must live in a Blue state where there is not much doubt about the outcome of a national election. The ads are focused on swing states, states where Hillary lost, and Red states with the possibility of peeling off enough Republicans to make a difference. Their other tight focus is Trump himself, in DC they want to rattle him to his core.
peggysue2
(10,811 posts)Trust but verify is a good stance to take. So far, everything I've read and heard coming out of the mouths of these project leaders is encouraging. Weaver is the first I've heard to accept responsibility in helping the GOP go completely rogue and antiAmerican. Good one on him!
wnylib
(21,146 posts)stick with verify.
So he says what he thinks will score with skeptics. I am not impressed. Nor convinced.
You gaslight us for years? Atonement gone take time.
CrispyQ
(36,221 posts)I might believe they are in it for the long haul. MIGHT.
Show the grocery stockers, the hospital workers, the delivery drivers, that kept our economy limping along in April, while the "job creators" hid in their gated communities, counting their rolls of TP & watching the DOW tank.
Sure, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but that only lasts for a short time. Have they really had a revelation of how harmful economic inequality is, and more importantly, do they really understand how built into the system this inequality is & are they really behind righting this wrong, once they see how much it will cost them? I have my doubts. We can't even get them to raise the cap on the SS payroll tax. How are we ever going to get something like a COVID stock transaction tax?
qwlauren35
(6,108 posts)If the Lincoln Project accomplishes its mission, we may see bipartisanship in Congress again.
I am beyond excited. I may become a monthly donor.
irisblue
(32,828 posts)Temp allies
forgotmylogin
(7,496 posts)The old-school type where they play fair and care about their constituents and are not complete assholes, I welcome them.
LiberalArkie
(15,686 posts)CaptYossarian
(6,448 posts)when Ronald Reagan headed the Screen Actors' Guild--a labor union.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)CaptYossarian
(6,448 posts)Fla Dem
(23,339 posts)Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (1968).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Air_Traffic_Controllers_Organization_(1968)
CaptYossarian
(6,448 posts)lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)I will never speak its new name.
luvtheGWN
(1,336 posts)and also very upset that the pendulum has swung far, far too right and is attracting the types of people with whom they do not wish to be associated.
I understand the "trust and verify" and the skepticism, but I also thank them for perfectly demonstrating through their ads just how damaged and dangerous tRump is. He's changed the party name from Republicanism to Trumpism.
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)If we had two parties operating in good faith to make the country work, who can be civil with each other.
bucolic_frolic
(42,651 posts)but they really strayed when they went from the physical economy to tax policy to class warfare.
It's true that goods were scarce and expensive in the 1970s. We produced things in the USA with good jobs. So their goal was to stimulate the economy and produce more goods.
But The Laffer Curve, derided as a wishbone in fact as well as form, which said lowering taxes would raise revenue, was a lie. It was to cut taxes for rich people. Enter the income inequality aspects.
Mr.Bill
(24,103 posts)is they are trying to gain our trust so they can infiltrate the Democratic party. I sort of think Kasich speaking at our convention is a red flag.
CaptYossarian
(6,448 posts)wryter2000
(46,016 posts)However, I am encouraged that they're going after all the Republicans. They're not trying to pretend that Trump is an aberration and that all will be well if we go back to people like Bush.
We'll see, but for now, I sure welcome their help.
CaptYossarian
(6,448 posts)When he dropped out of the primaries, he said he'd help any way possible, but has been invisible ever since.
Many of the Lincoln ads are similar to his before he left the race.
SergeStorms
(18,880 posts)I would have bet even money that would be the case when he he started his campaign. Bloomberg is quite like Trump in some respects: He's out for himself, only!
Pisces
(5,592 posts)To oust Trump and Senate Republicans.
Major Nikon
(36,814 posts)The biggest problem the GOP has is our country is becoming more diverse and the party of white America is faced with having to gain an increasingly larger share of a shrinking demographic. Eventually they had to appeal more to the racists in order to stay viable.
Trump is just a symptom of the problem. The only solution is to completely reinvent the GOP into one that is more diverse and opposed to failed ideas that only benefited the richest Americans. Come to find out there's already another party that does exactly that.
Ford_Prefect
(7,817 posts)I don't see how we can return to a time when it wasn't since that would be at least pre-1960 if not further back.
As a child in that era, I met and saw Republicans who were responsible and constructive, if conservative on certain issues.
I can't say that I have met or seen one in action in the last 40 years. Certainly, I have seen none since the 1st Gingrich crusade established the corrosive party of NO. This fish rots from the head all the way down to the local school board, county roads authority, and even dog catcher.
I wish fervently that my neighbors were persuadable. They appear not to be.
Their information comes pre-digested by the Right-wing propaganda machine. They are fully vested in the cult of No-good-things-come-from-federal-sources-or-people-who-think (Liberals and Intellectuals).
Their fear and anger are sharply honed weapons against a progressive change of any sort and anything which cannot be fit under the stereotypes outlined in their dogma.
They are confused, afraid, and frequently alarmed by what they are told is an unending assault on the America they believe in.
Upthevibe
(7,879 posts)Historic NY
(37,449 posts)the damage is great and the repair will take all. We shall overcome, has a hollow ring if we don't, once and for all.
RainCaster
(10,673 posts)You know the rest.
There is a bigger issue here- our government in its current form is corrupt, bloated and only serving a wealthy few. The Lincoln Project sees that just as easily as we Dem's do. So let's work together to solve it. Then we can go back to the little bickering things that seperate us.
But the big issue that has been coming on since Reagan began the "trickle down" mantra is the issue of "Government of, by and for Big Money". DFT has only managed to move that needle so far to the extreme that we all can see it for what it is- corruption. Except for the SCOTUS, who sees it as free speech. That's an issue we will have to deal with once we remove att those treasonous bastards from the White House, Senate and House.
For right now, I'm willing to accept their help, but I will keep a wary eye on their intentions.
aggiesal
(8,863 posts)If you're verifying anything, it's because you don't trust it.
If you trust something, there is no need to verify.
So when someone tells me, "I trust you, but let me look it up and verify."
That means you don't trust me.
Sorry, for my 2¢ rant.
SergeStorms
(18,880 posts)The very people who are trying to get Trump out of the White House, are the people who paved the way for an asshole like Trump to get there in the first place. Am I happy they're attacking Trump and attempting to remove him? HELL YES, I am, but without republicans' "dog whistles" and hate radio for the past 50 years, Trump would never have been allowed anywhere near the White House. They bear full responsibility for this travesty, so they damned well SHOULD help clean it up!
Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,760 posts)by bringing in Palin. She was a massive boost to the Tea Party.
Yep, let them attack Trump. But I'm under no illusions that they are our friends in much except in the enemy-of-my-enemy way.
SergeStorms
(18,880 posts)When you have people like George Will, George Conway, and Rick Wilson trying to walk back on the mess they created, you'd better know they're not doing it for the benefit of Democrats.
BannonsLiver
(16,161 posts)I dont care what they do after Trump is gone. Its not a fucking marriage. They dont owe me anything.
SergeStorms
(18,880 posts)"the enemy of my enemy is my friend"...yada, yada, yada. All I'm saying is don't trust these bastards for a second, and if we think they're our "friends" they'll slit out throats the minute our backs are turned. Without all of these same people Donald Trump does not exist. Their dog whistles over the decades gave rise to the bullhorn Trump has been using now.
Use them and discard them.
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)SergeStorms
(18,880 posts)I don't get it? See above.
Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,760 posts)100%.
UpInArms
(51,252 posts)Ill pay more attention
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)UpInArms
(51,252 posts)With any and all help and tools available...
The question was when would I trust TLP.
Baltimike
(4,123 posts)But I hope folks will contribute to the DEMOCRATIC campaigns that desperately need it instead of those well healed rich folks
BGBD
(3,282 posts)if it means beating the Nazis. We can worry about these guys if we run into them on the other side in the future.
Right now all I want to do if beat Trump and I'll ally with whoever I need to. If one day the LP guys fight us on tax policy or something like that, it won't make a big difference either way compared to this existential threat we now face.