Lincoln Project targets Trump’s flaws
‘The week of Labor Day, the founders of the Lincoln Project, a super PAC of Republican operatives who have disavowed their own party in order to defeat President Donald Trump, set up a war room in location far outside Washington D.C.”
That’s the lede in a broad report in the Oct. 12 New Yorker magazine.
On Oct. 11, TV’s long running show, “60 Minutes” also did an explanatory segment on the extraordinary political group.
Here are a couple of 3,334 comments about the show: “The only loser is Trump. Even his wife is disgusted by him” and “These men are brilliant and courageous. If Trump loses, democracy will owe them a debt of gratitude.”
The magazine piece said, “Since January, the group, whose founders include the consultants Steve Schmidt and Rick Wilson, had been targeting Trump with the kind of merciless ads that the strategists had aimed at Democratic candidates throughout their careers.”
The article reported that the group has been reminded that the president has insulted everyone from Gold Star families to disabled people. The Project has endorsed the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden and was airing positive spots about him, with titles like “Decency.”
Schmidt told “60 Minutes” Leslie Stahl, who has been with the program since 1991: “I think we hurt him. We have cut him. We have defined him. We have provoked him. There was not a glove proverbially laid on him for a long time. And I think we’re amongst the first groups to effectively do that.”
One spot titled “Regret” features the comedian David Cross offering a long list of Trump’s flaws — “the blatant racism and the crass sexism and the deranged narcissism, and pandering to Nazis” – that the recitation is still unspooling as the ad fades out.
The project, which was founded by eight people, now employs about 35 paid staffers.
In 1984, Ronald Reagan framed his re-election campaign with the ad “Morning in America.” The economy had recovered from a severe recession and the spot offered a dreamy imagery of prospering families.
In early May, the Lincoln Project released a dystopian homage: “Mourning in America,” A male voice-over recalled the narrator of the Reagan video, but the ad showed a grayscape of dilapidated houses, Coronavirus patients, and unemployment lines. An American flag flew upside-down.
The ad was designed to remind older voters of the difference between what a Republican used to be and what this Republican is.
Schmidt, who wanted the new ads to convey an unambiguous “call to action,” suggested a jab: “Then, he was just a terrible person. Today. He’s the worst president in American history — and the greatest divider. Vote him out.”