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CNN opinion piece: How the Lincoln Project's anti-Trump adds could remake US Politics

Loud Wrong

Loud Wrong

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Feb 24, 2020
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www.cnn.com

How the Lincoln Project's brutal anti-Trump ads could remake US politics

Lincoln Mitchell writes that if the Lincoln Project's anti-Trump ads are effective -- and contribute to Joe Biden's win-- the organization will have empowered a handful of political consultants, who will be well positioned to influence the new president or help remake conservative politics.
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com

Lincoln Project co-founder Reed Galen says these ads are meant for an audience of one: Trump himself. And they seem to have been successful at getting inside Trump's head, with the President taking pains to make a show of his ability to drink water with one hand at his Tulsa rally.

But will these ads get inside the heads of the voters enough to affect the election?
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While this undoubtedly will help Biden in the election, it may also ultimately change the tenor of his presidency.

If Biden wins, organizations like the Lincoln Project will have newfound influence and options. They will be among the many groups, including progressive Democratic activists, organized labor, LGBTQ voters and voters of color who can claim to have helped elect him. Unlike those other groups, the Lincoln Project, while virulently anti-Trump, is made up of conservatives. They will be well positioned to be a conservative counter to the progressives who would like to see a President Biden tack left once elected.
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Among the project's more prominent members are George Conway, an influential conservative lawyer who is married to top Trump aide Kellyanne Conway, as well as some of the party's most well-known political operatives including Steve Schmidt, Rick Wilson and John Weaver. Their work is attracting attention across and beyond the political spectrum, from comedians to conservative critics to progressives who do not trust the Lincoln Project.
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For Trump haters, each new Lincoln Project ad brings a jolt of excitement. For Trump lovers, each new ad is a source of outrage and anger. For Biden, should he win, the effect of the Lincoln Project's campaign will have been the empowerment of a handful of smart political consultants positioned to influence the new president or help remake conservative politics.
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These are the two ads mentioned in the opinion piece:

 
PeskyToaster

PeskyToaster

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Oct 27, 2017
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They are the condom of political allies, useful for fucking one person but belong in the trash after we're done.
 
gaugebozo

gaugebozo

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Oct 25, 2017
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I take issue with this:
It will be difficult for a Biden administration to ignore the Lincoln Project's leadership after the election.
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Why exactly? They say their videos are for an audience of one. What political movement do they have to affect democratic politics? More likely they'll turn their attention to Republicans. "Man, going for Trump really destroyed us. We need to moderate and win back the suburbs."
 
Chaos Legion

Chaos Legion

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Oct 30, 2017
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Let them remake the Republican party while Biden and his administration are focused on the long list of items we need to accomplish in four years.

People are spending far too much time postulating about the nefarious plans of the Lincoln Project.
 
El Bombastico

El Bombastico

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Oct 25, 2017
36,156
I can see this as all part of power play by the Lincoln Project to take over and reform the GoP into something more politically viable in future elections. Whether they will actually succeed is another damn story.

And LMFAO at Biden being beholden to them in any way...
 
Sheldon

Sheldon

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Oct 27, 2017
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Are any of the Lincoln Project dudes interested in shaping policy? I don't think Schmidt, Wilson or Weaver have any interest or experience in government. They just want to go back to getting paid to campaign for Republicans.
 
Lumination

Lumination

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Oct 26, 2017
12,613
I waffle back and forth between
  • All they did was put a budget to what everyone is thinking. They don't have the ability to fabricate attack ads on Democrats; it would just look like the stupid redneck GOP house rep ads.
  • Maybe people are stupid enough to blindly believe any figure of mild authority that they follow on twitter.
 
El Bombastico

El Bombastico

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Oct 25, 2017
36,156
Sheldon said:
Are any of the Lincoln Project dudes interested in shaping policy? I don't think Schmidt, Wilson or Weaver have any interest or experience in government. They just want to go back to getting paid to campaign for Republicans.
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I thought Schmidt was fine being the token "moderate, friendly Republican" on MSNBC. But I guess being on campaigns pays more?
 
Geist 6one7

Geist 6one7

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Oct 29, 2017
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These same type of ads will be used against Biden/the VP four years from now by this same Lincoln Project to get a Republican back in the White House so fuck off in to outer space with all of this CNN.
 
Slayven

Slayven

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Oct 25, 2017
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Chaos Legion said:
Let them remake the Republican party while Biden and his administration are focused on the long list of items we need to accomplish in four years.

People are spending far too much time postulating about the nefarious plans of the Lincoln Project.
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let them fight mitt over the corpse, while battling the Gaetz of the party
 
Xando

Xando

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Oct 28, 2017
27,630
ERA won't like this but these dudes have been way more effective than anything Biden or the DNC put out
 
OP
OP
Loud Wrong

Loud Wrong

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Feb 24, 2020
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Geist 6one7 said:
These same type of ads will be used against Biden/the VP four years from now by this same Lincoln Project to get a Republican back in the White House so fuck off in to outer space with all of this CNN.
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These type of ads have always existed against the dems. They're being run now in battleground states.

Xando said:
ERA won't like this but these dudes have been way more effective than anything Biden or the DNC put out
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As someone in a battleground state who sees these ads all the time, you're not wrong. The Biden ads are weak and few and far between. Meanwhile the Trump ads lying about Biden supporting the defunding of police run non-stop.
 
Slayven

Slayven

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Oct 25, 2017
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Who out there is serious saying, i know they are GOP but this ad if fire lets have them have a seat at the table? People keep saying these are bone stock republicans like it is some shocking revelation.
 
jph139

jph139

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Oct 25, 2017
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I don't really buy that Biden will have to lean, during his presidency, toward these guys. There's no real motivation there, because the margins are enough that you don't need any real Republican leadership on your side - they're just for running up the score. But I do agree with this:

Alternately, if Trump loses badly and brings his party down with him, currently a possibility but far from a certainty, there will be a need for a post-Trump conservative party. The Lincoln Project, having staked out political space as anti-Trump conservatives, will also be well positioned to be at the heart of that movement.
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This is exactly the position they want to be in - if Trump's loss is as big as polls are suggesting, there's going to be a realignment, and the Lincoln Project aims to be on the winning side. That's the play here. A "principled Republican" face will still play well for the white moderates and suburbanites.
 
RedStep

RedStep

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Oct 27, 2017
2,658
They're useful for now - if it's working, we'd be doing worse if they weren't around. I'm measuring the net.

Once we get over the massive hurdle in front, we'll figure out how to divvy up the winnings and go from there. Can't be worse.

Edit: Also I'm one of those weirdos that thinks that a 1-party system (any) eventually turns sour, so I'd rather the opposition be somebody I have something in common with. We're never going to get a singular utopia, I'm just hoping our side learns some attack strategies along the way.
 
Slayven

Slayven

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Oct 25, 2017
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Xando said:
ERA won't like this but these dudes have been way more effective than anything Biden or the DNC put out
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at what? appealing to moderate republicans? Yeah of course but that would always be the case. But appealing to the suburbs and women that won 2018 for dems? I don't see any impact on that
 
Geist 6one7

Geist 6one7

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Loud Wrong said:
These type of ads have always existed against the dems. They're being run now in battleground states.



As someone in a battleground state who sees these ads all the time, you're not wrong. The Biden ads are weak and few and far between. Meanwhile the Trump ads lying about Biden supporting the defunding of police run non-stop.
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Certainly, but this piece is seemingly trying to position the potential Biden administration as being in some way indebted to them post election because of these ads.
 
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OP
OP
Loud Wrong

Loud Wrong

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Feb 24, 2020
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jph139 said:
I don't really buy that Biden will have to lean, during his presidency, toward these guys. There's no real motivation there, because the margins are enough that you don't need any real Republican leadership on your side - they're just for running up the score. But I do agree with this:



This is exactly the position they want to be in - if Trump's loss is as big as polls are suggesting, there's going to be a realignment, and the Lincoln Project aims to be on the winning side. That's the play here. A "principled Republican" face will still play well for the white moderates and suburbanites.
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As we get closer and closer to November, if the polls dont swing back towards Trump, I think we'll see a whole lot of Trumper senators and House members suddenly finding religion.
 
Abaddonn

Abaddonn

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Dec 4, 2018
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This article made no sense to me, first they claim these guys won't have much influence on the election, but then they turn around and claim that Biden will have to give them alot of influence for some reason.
 
Slayven

Slayven

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Oct 25, 2017
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Xando said:
What about it? Neither Biden nor the Lincoln Project were in the race.

Pretty much every of their ads is going viral so while they might only target trump their clips have a huge reach, even internationally.
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2018 midterms was a referendum on the GOP and trump, it's way more relevant to 2020 then 2016
 
OP
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Loud Wrong

Loud Wrong

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Feb 24, 2020
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Abaddonn said:
This article made no sense to me, first they claim these guys won't have much influence on the election, but then they turn around and claim that Biden will have to give them alot of influence for some reason.
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It is all over the place. I looked up who the author is. Seems like given his credentials, he should be better than this op-ed:

LINCOLN A. MITCHELL is an adjunct associate professor of Political Science at Columbia University, where he also serves as an associate scholar in the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies.

Given CNN's love of fear mongering, it makes sense why they hosted this opinion piece.

If he wins, Joe should be more worried about having to answer to AOC. She'd destroy him if he gave TLP a seat at the table.
 
Cipherr

Cipherr

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Oct 26, 2017
13,503
The media wants a horserace narrative every fucking election so bad...

No matter whats actually happening, their desire to somehow paint it as 'both sides are winning' is so obvious.
 
BassForever

BassForever

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Oct 25, 2017
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Enemy of my enemy is my friend, for now. Whatever it takes to destroy Trump and his fringe in the GOP will make US politics a better place.
 
Gabbo

Gabbo

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Oct 25, 2017
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Yes, they'll have influence over a Biden admin because they released ads to counter trump. That's a stretch, but it is an opinion piece.
 
Nigel Tufnel

Nigel Tufnel

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Mar 5, 2019
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lol@ all the 'Biden won't cowtow to conservatives if he wins' takes in here.


If only he had a 50 year record in public office to clue us in to his tendencies.
 
Salty_Josh

Salty_Josh

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Oct 28, 2017
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There's something to be said about all the money being spent on these political ads that will reshape a country's politics being used in a "democracy"
 
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Garp TXB

Garp TXB

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Apr 1, 2020
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Sheldon said:
Are any of the Lincoln Project dudes interested in shaping policy? I don't think Schmidt, Wilson or Weaver have any interest or experience in government. They just want to go back to getting paid to campaign for Republicans.
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Yeah Rick Wilson is purely a tactics guy. Though he has spouted some awful shit in the past, lately he's acted relatively moderate... though whether or not that's an act is up for debate.
 
Gabbo

Gabbo

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Oct 25, 2017
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f4u1dfb6 said:
lol@ all the 'Biden won't cowtow to conservatives if he wins' takes in here.


If only he had a 50 year record in public office to clue us in to his tendencies.
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To say Biden won't try the same thing Obama did and try to 'reach out' is one thing (he will, to the detriment of everyone), but to the people behind the Lincoln Project? nah.
 

Zelas

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,020
Xando said:
ERA won't like this but these dudes have been way more effective than anything Biden or the DNC put out
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So what. Nobody will ever be able to claim Biden will owe his victory to this one group out of many. And he probably wont be running again in '24 so there's even less reason for him to keep them satisfied.

They only conclusion that could be made is that the Lincoln Project will gain more prominence and run more ads in smaller races. They'll grow to be just like all of the other political ad groups, with the same fractional influence.
 
Alpheus

Alpheus

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Oct 25, 2017
7,695
Yes definitely the Republicans who are trying to resurrect their Golden Goose not the people getting shot at protesting. I'm glad they're trolling Trump cuz he fucking deserves it but fuck this noise from this puff piece.
 
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