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SunSeeker

(51,367 posts)
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 01:10 PM Jul 2020

Does 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 Sessions’s 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 Trump’s 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

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Does the Lincoln Project have a secret agenda? The answer is surprising. (Original Post) SunSeeker Jul 2020 OP
Time will tell Sherman A1 Jul 2020 #1
Three ads: The Flag of Treson, the John Lewis tribute, denem Jul 2020 #9
Agreed, but it begs the questions: why is it coming from them, and not the DNSC? Volaris Jul 2020 #36
If we let them do all the negative advertising, soldierant Jul 2020 #38
I'll take concede to that riposte. Volaris Jul 2020 #40
I welcome their support calguy Jul 2020 #2
Amen! nt pazzyanne Jul 2020 #33
I don't care about their motivation. I just want them to keep producing ads! nt LAS14 Jul 2020 #3
I don't know how they keep doing it, day after day there is another great ad. RussellCattle Jul 2020 #4
I don't know how well-funded they are, but they set out to not waste any money... Hekate Jul 2020 #31
Read this interview this morning peggysue2 Jul 2020 #5
I drop the trust part and wnylib Jul 2020 #10
Indeed. theaocp Jul 2020 #14
When I see this ad: It's Wall Street's Turn to Bail Out Main Street, CrispyQ Jul 2020 #6
I cannot think of an article that has me more hopeful. qwlauren35 Jul 2020 #7
John Weaver is tight with John Kasich. irisblue Jul 2020 #8
If they can bring back classic Republicanism. forgotmylogin Jul 2020 #11
Like this LiberalArkie Jul 2020 #16
Ah, the good old days CaptYossarian Jul 2020 #18
And screwed over their members, according to a well-known SAG member I spoke with. lagomorph777 Jul 2020 #21
He was practicing. CaptYossarian Jul 2020 #23
Yes, a prelude to firing all the air traffic controllers Fla Dem Jul 2020 #28
That's where I was going. CaptYossarian Jul 2020 #29
That's why it's especially obnoxious that they named an airport after that piece of shit. lagomorph777 Jul 2020 #35
I think they're ashamed to bear the republican label luvtheGWN Jul 2020 #24
We would have a much healthier democracy... backscatter712 Jul 2020 #30
Supply Side was lies all along bucolic_frolic Jul 2020 #12
My biggest fear Mr.Bill Jul 2020 #13
Nah. To infiltrate, they'll need a few Cuban plumbers. CaptYossarian Jul 2020 #20
I remain skeptical about where they'll end up after Trump wryter2000 Jul 2020 #15
Is Bloomberg involved? CaptYossarian Jul 2020 #17
Yeah, he's just sort of disappeared, hasn't he? SergeStorms Jul 2020 #39
The enemy of my enemy. I'll take all the help we can get Pisces Jul 2020 #19
The reality is his brand of Republicanism was dying Major Nikon Jul 2020 #22
I have yet to see evidence there IS a GOP that is not toxic. Ford_Prefect Jul 2020 #25
SunSeeker...Thanks for the post....n/t Upthevibe Jul 2020 #26
In the end we are all going to have to decide to work together... Historic NY Jul 2020 #27
The enemy of my enemy... RainCaster Jul 2020 #32
I've always hated the "Trust-But-Verify" mantra ... aggiesal Jul 2020 #34
I've said that right from the beginning. SergeStorms Jul 2020 #37
Exactly. Steve Schmidt had a huuuuuuge part in paving the way for dangerous morons like Trump Dark n Stormy Knight Jul 2020 #41
No, they're NOT our friends. SergeStorms Jul 2020 #42
Who cares BannonsLiver Jul 2020 #44
I know it not a marriage... SergeStorms Jul 2020 #49
You don't get it, but ok. nt USALiberal Jul 2020 #46
Please. SergeStorms Jul 2020 #50
With ya, man. Dark n Stormy Knight Jul 2020 #52
When they take on Citizens United UpInArms Jul 2020 #43
How about we win the election with their help first! nt USALiberal Jul 2020 #47
Am all for defeating trump UpInArms Jul 2020 #51
I'll take them with a grain of salt after the election... Baltimike Jul 2020 #45
We can be friends with the Soviets BGBD Jul 2020 #48

Sherman A1

(38,958 posts)
1. Time will tell
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 01:17 PM
Jul 2020

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)
9. Three ads: The Flag of Treson, the John Lewis tribute,
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 02:02 PM
Jul 2020

and 'This Is How It Starts', work that any Democrat would be proud to call their own.

Volaris

(10,260 posts)
36. Agreed, but it begs the questions: why is it coming from them, and not the DNSC?
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 03:35 PM
Jul 2020

Are we letting them do it for us because its efficient, or because we have forgot how?

soldierant

(6,647 posts)
38. If we let them do all the negative advertising,
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 03:43 PM
Jul 2020

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.

calguy

(5,222 posts)
2. I welcome their support
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 01:24 PM
Jul 2020

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.

RussellCattle

(1,503 posts)
4. I don't know how they keep doing it, day after day there is another great ad.
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 01:29 PM
Jul 2020

Must be well funded and really committed.

Hekate

(90,189 posts)
31. I don't know how well-funded they are, but they set out to not waste any money...
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 03:19 PM
Jul 2020

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 California’s 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 don’t 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)
5. Read this interview this morning
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 01:32 PM
Jul 2020

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)
10. I drop the trust part and
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 02:03 PM
Jul 2020

stick with verify.

So he says what he thinks will score with skeptics. I am not impressed. Nor convinced.

CrispyQ

(36,221 posts)
6. When I see this ad: It's Wall Street's Turn to Bail Out Main Street,
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 01:32 PM
Jul 2020

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)
7. I cannot think of an article that has me more hopeful.
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 01:36 PM
Jul 2020

If the Lincoln Project accomplishes its mission, we may see bipartisanship in Congress again.

I am beyond excited. I may become a monthly donor.

forgotmylogin

(7,496 posts)
11. If they can bring back classic Republicanism.
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 02:04 PM
Jul 2020

The old-school type where they play fair and care about their constituents and are not complete assholes, I welcome them.

Fla Dem

(23,339 posts)
28. Yes, a prelude to firing all the air traffic controllers
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 03:11 PM
Jul 2020

On August 5, following the PATCO workers' refusal to return to work, Reagan fired the 11,345 striking air traffic controllers who had ignored the order, and banned them from federal service for life. ... The civil service ban on the remaining strike participants was lifted by President Bill Clinton on August 12, 1993.

Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (1968).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Air_Traffic_Controllers_Organization_(1968)

lagomorph777

(30,613 posts)
35. That's why it's especially obnoxious that they named an airport after that piece of shit.
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 03:33 PM
Jul 2020

I will never speak its new name.

luvtheGWN

(1,336 posts)
24. I think they're ashamed to bear the republican label
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 03:01 PM
Jul 2020

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)
30. We would have a much healthier democracy...
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 03:19 PM
Jul 2020

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)
12. Supply Side was lies all along
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 02:07 PM
Jul 2020

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)
13. My biggest fear
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 02:10 PM
Jul 2020

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.

wryter2000

(46,016 posts)
15. I remain skeptical about where they'll end up after Trump
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 02:20 PM
Jul 2020

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)
17. Is Bloomberg involved?
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 02:35 PM
Jul 2020

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)
39. Yeah, he's just sort of disappeared, hasn't he?
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 03:45 PM
Jul 2020

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!

Major Nikon

(36,814 posts)
22. The reality is his brand of Republicanism was dying
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 02:43 PM
Jul 2020

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)
25. I have yet to see evidence there IS a GOP that is not toxic.
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 03:02 PM
Jul 2020

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.

Historic NY

(37,449 posts)
27. In the end we are all going to have to decide to work together...
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 03:10 PM
Jul 2020

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)
32. The enemy of my enemy...
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 03:22 PM
Jul 2020

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)
34. I've always hated the "Trust-But-Verify" mantra ...
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 03:32 PM
Jul 2020

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)
37. I've said that right from the beginning.
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 03:42 PM
Jul 2020

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)
41. Exactly. Steve Schmidt had a huuuuuuge part in paving the way for dangerous morons like Trump
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 04:09 PM
Jul 2020

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)
42. No, they're NOT our friends.
Mon Jul 20, 2020, 04:25 PM
Jul 2020

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)
44. Who cares
Tue Jul 21, 2020, 10:27 AM
Jul 2020

I don’t care what they do after Trump is gone. It’s not a fucking marriage. They don’t owe me anything.

SergeStorms

(18,880 posts)
49. I know it not a marriage...
Tue Jul 21, 2020, 01:33 PM
Jul 2020

"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.

UpInArms

(51,252 posts)
51. Am all for defeating trump
Tue Jul 21, 2020, 04:08 PM
Jul 2020

With any and all help and tools available...

The question was when would I trust TLP.

Baltimike

(4,123 posts)
45. I'll take them with a grain of salt after the election...
Tue Jul 21, 2020, 10:28 AM
Jul 2020

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)
48. We can be friends with the Soviets
Tue Jul 21, 2020, 10:41 AM
Jul 2020

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.

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