The Lincoln Project wasn’t just another anti-Trump Super PAC.
In the endless search for Republicans willing to organize to oppose President Trump, it offered a real example of GOP-ers fighting back. The group caused endless headaches for the President and his campaign, working to make Trump a one-term President through a relentless succession of viral ads.
Cool. It’s like just the other day I was getting beat up for suggesting that remembering that these guys were scum before liberals started fawning over them for eloquently ripping Trump was a good idea. Boy, was I an idiot! Thanks, TPM commenters, for teaching me that valuable lesson!
I think there is, or should be, a sense of relief on the left as we all figured that the Lincoln project would pivot to attacking Biden and the Democrats after Donnie was gone.
Nice to see them eating their own.
My sense was that this was like most PACs… they take in lots of donations, then spend the money delivering “message” via media venues they own or work for or profit from.
Legal, but shouldn’t be.
Am I wrong?
I’m still willing to give a couple of them the benefit of the doubt. Some of them are fierce commentators on their own.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, until he is not.
What doubt? I mean, at their core they are still conservatives with the same bad ideas. Their break with Trump was not effectively policy, but implementation. He made them look bad in public.
No one thought the Lincoln Project was a bunch of reformed GOP henchmen/women who had suddenly had a “come to Jesus” moment about their past because of Trump. Actually, one or two may have…But the overwhelming majority are pissed off, unrepentant GOPers who didn’t (and don’t) want a dictator because it would nuke their power game. Since they were not elected, they didn’t have to fake Trump loyalty. I am sure many of the elected GOPers were/are quietly cheering them on, not to mention the conservative business community. Fascism is SUCH a downer for capitalism.
If it takes a viper to kill a viper, fine. Let them have at it. Biden won. They have been VERY useful. Just don’t take your eyes off of them. Not even for a second.
geez!!! they are republicans …what did you expect???
I never assumed the LP was about restoring democratic ideals. It was always about preserving the GOP from #IQ45. They thought that there was a Republican Party after him, and that they would be around to pick up the pieces, and consulting fees, after him. They were wrong. The party is run by its deplorable base, and is now a death cult.
Yes and no. It’s quite typical for campaigns and PACs on the Republican side to make paid media buys through the consultants’ companies, which take a percentage of the buy as their fee. That appears to be what finally landed Brad Parscale in hot water with Trump earlier this year, since he was getting rich off his media buys for the Trump campaign. So there should be serious money getting spent on the ad buys, but it’s not a surprise if they were taking 10% or whatever off the top.
Yuck. Both Conways can just go away forever now. Steve Schmidt can wait in the hall, he might still be useful someday.
One of the things about the Lincoln Project a lot of people don’t get (but not you, dear readers) is that everyone in the group is a Republican. And we all know how dirty the GOP is. George Conway is one of the dirtiest tricksters ever. It won’t be long before they train their eyes on the Democrats.
But circular firing squad, hell yes.
I got the same treatment. I would name names but what’s the point, right?
Actually, quite a few did. And still do.
The thing is, despite how much our choir liked their ads, they did very little to move any needles in any markets they went up in. And they took in and spent a crap ton of money, most if it being steered to their own firms.
Came here to say that. Their ads may have had us saying “Hells Yeah!” but they were shown to be ineffective in changing people’s minds.
In some respects, they were preaching to the choir. Something… something…offkey comment lurking there somewhere.
Come on, fess up, with the ‘Gina virus’ there’s not nearly as many turdlings to steal and you’re bored.
“Bored” is among my favorite reasons for commenting here, but sadly there’s less diversity of opinion here than in years past, so it’s harder to get a real shitstorm going. Hopefully that was just a matter of Trump scaring us into a modicum of unity and we can get back to yelling at each other now.
A good reminder that a Republican is still a Republican, even if we temporarily find ourselves on the same side.
Also, this bit on the unexplained money gap confirms my decision to never donate to the Lincoln Project. No GOP political consultant can pass up a good grift.
The group took in $90 million, filings cited by the news organization show. Of that, the AP noted, $50 million went to consulting firms controlled by its own executives. $27 million was spent on broadcast, cable, and online ad reservations.
It’s not clear what the $50 million in payments to firms controlled by the Super PACs’s leadership were for. The AP cited experts saying that there appeared to be a gap between the money at the group’s disposal and its output.