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Lincoln Project
| Lincoln Project | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Washington, D.C. |
| Type: | Super PAC |
| Founder(s): | George Conway, Steve Schmidt, John Weaver, and Rick Wilson |
| Year founded: | 2019 |
| Website: | Official website |
Lincoln Project is a super PAC founded by several anti-Donald Trump Republicans in 2019.[1][2] According to the organization's website, its purpose is to hold "accountable those who would violate their oaths to the Constitution and would put others before Americans."[1]
As of August 2020, the group had spent more than $15 million on ads in the 2020 presidential election targeting Trump on his response to the coronavirus pandemic, questioning his capacity to serve, and criticizing his record. The Lincoln Project also aired ads in key 2020 U.S. Senate races against Republican incumbents.[3]
This page includes the following information about the Lincoln Project:
Mission
As of June 2020, the Lincoln Project's website featured the following mission:[1]
| “ |
Defeat President Trump and Trumpism at the ballot box. We do not undertake this task lightly nor from ideological preference. Our many policy differences with national Democrats remain. However, the priority for all patriotic Americans must be a shared fidelity to the Constitution and a commitment to defeat those candidates who have abandoned their constitutional oaths, regardless of party. Electing Democrats who support the Constitution over Republicans who do not is a worthy effort. [4] |
” |
Background
Lincoln Project was formed in 2019 by a group of current and former Republicans opposed to President Donald Trump (R). Four of the founders—George Conway, Steve Schmidt, John Weaver, and Rick Wilson—announced the group's formation on December 17, 2019, in an op-ed published by The New York Times.[2] They wrote:
| “ |
Patriotism and the survival of our nation in the face of the crimes, corruption and corrosive nature of Donald Trump are a higher calling than mere politics. As Americans, we must stem the damage he and his followers are doing to the rule of law, the Constitution and the American character. That’s why we are announcing the Lincoln Project, an effort to highlight our country’s story and values, and its people’s sacrifices and obligations. This effort transcends partisanship and is dedicated to nothing less than preservation of the principles that so many have fought for, on battlefields far from home and within their own communities.[4] |
” |
| —George Conway, Steve Schmidt, John Weaver, and Rick Wilson (December 17, 2019) | ||
Mike Madrid, the former political director of the California Republican Party and a member of the Lincoln Project's advisory board, said the group wanted to chip away at Trump's Republican support. "A marginal decline in Republican support, as little as 3-5%, will create a tectonic electoral shift away from Republicans,” Madrid said. “That’s not just possible—it’s probable.”[5]
Leadership
The following individuals were listed on the Lincoln Project's website as founders:[6]
- George Conway, attorney and cofounder of Checks & Balances
- Reed Galen, independent political strategist
- Jennifer Horn, former chairwoman of the New Hampshire Republican Party
- Mike Madrid, former political director of the California Republican Party
- Steve Schmidt, national political strategist
- Ron Steslow, brand and marketing strategist
- John Weaver, national political strategist
- Rick Wilson, author of Everything Trump Touches Dies
The following strategists and analysts were listed as senior advisers:[6]
- Rachel Bitecofer, election forecaster and senior fellow at the Niskanen Center
- Molly Jong-Fast, editor-at-large at The Daily Beast
- Windsor Mann, member of USA Today's board of contributors
- Tom Nichols, professor at the U.S. Naval War College
- Chris Vance, Washington state political operative
- Sally Canfield, former deputy chief of staff to Sen. Marco Rubio
- Sarah Lenti, campaign adviser
- Tara Setmayer, political commentator
- Fred Wellman, veterans outreach adviser
- Stuart Stevens, political operative
- Jeff Timmer, political and public affairs consultant
- Susan Del Percio, political strategist
Strategy
Co-founder Reed Galen said many of the organization's ads were targeting President Donald Trump (R) directly. "We have what we call ‘an audience of one’ strategy, which is clearly aimed at the president," Galen said.[7] He said in an interview, "It's not just pissing off Donald Trump. Anybody could do that. It's, to what effect? Like, why are you doing it? And the point is to take him off his game and take his campaign off their game, strategically and tactically, so that the Biden campaign and Joe Biden can have the freedom of movement and the green air to do the things that they need to do.”[8]
In an analysis of the Lincoln Project's efforts, Politico reported on June 27, 2020, "The group's mission to troll the president is evident in its ad buys. Its longest sustained presence on TV is a series of ads that have played nearly nonstop since early March on cable stations in Washington, D.C., aimed at its audience of one. The group has spent just under $380,000 on TV ads there, airing on MSNBC, Fox News and C-SPAN."[8]
In August 2020, the PAC expanded its operations, announcing a $1 million social media, direct email, and search engine campaign in eight battleground states: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, and Georgia.[9] The group also targeted Republican incumbent senators across the country and aired ads in support of Democratic Senate candidate Steve Bullock (Mont.) and independent Senate candidate Al Gross (Alaska).[10]
Activity
2020 presidential election
The Lincoln Project released its first ad in January 2020 in a clip targeting evangelical Trump supporters.[5] In April 2020, the group began to release ads focused on Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic.[11] Other ads have questioned the state of Trump's health, criticized Trump's policy on China, and praised Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.[12]
In August 2020, the Lincoln Project ran a $4 million ad campaign in seven battleground states—Arizona, Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania—during the 2020 Republican National Convention. The PAC also launched a partnership with Vote Common Good to court white evangelicals and Catholics. The initiative was focused on North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Florida.[13][14]
2020 U.S. Senate elections
The Lincoln Project spent more than $1.3 million in ads opposing incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), as of August 2020.[10] It also targeted the following incumbent Republican senators:
- Cory Gardner (Colo.)
- Martha McSally (Ariz.)
- Lindsey Graham (S.C.)
- Thom Tillis (N.C)
- Joni Ernst (Iowa)
- John Cornyn (Texas)
- Mitch McConnell (Ky.)
- Steve Daines (Mont.)
- Dan Sullivan (Alaska)
The group's co-founder, Reed Galen, said, "The stated goal from the beginning was to defeat Trump and Trumpism at the ballot box and to call out his enablers. These senators we’ve gone after are not conservative Republicans in any classical sense of those words ... they should have T's behind their names, not R's."[10]
Finances
This section includes financial data from the Lincoln Project's quarterly filings with the Federal Election Commission.[15]
| Lincoln Project: Quarterly financial reports, December 2019-July 2020 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reporting period | Total receipts | Total disbursements | Cash on hand | |||
| July Quarterly 2020 | $16,820,868 | $7,178,616 | $10,845,710 | |||
| April Quarterly 2020 | $1,902,815 | $1,284,077 | $1,203,458 | |||
| Year-End 2019 | $685,071 | $100,350 | $584,720 | |||
Media
The following videos are samples of media produced by the Lincoln Project:
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See also
- Donald Trump
- Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2020
- Presidential candidates, 2020
- Joe Biden presidential campaign, 2020
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lincoln Project, "Home," accessed June 22, 2020
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The New York Times, "We Are Republicans, and We Want Trump Defeated," December 17, 2019
- ↑ OpenSecrets, Lincoln Project Independent Expenditures," accessed September 8, 2020
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 ABC News, "Anti-Trump Republican group targets evangelical voters with new ad," January 10, 2020
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lincoln Project, "Team," accessed September 8, 2020
- ↑ Vox, "The Lincoln Project, the rogue former Republicans trying to take down Trump, explained," July 17, 2020
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Politico, "The Lincoln Project is trolling Trump. But can it sway voters?" June 27, 2020
- ↑ Yahoo! News, "The Lincoln Project is launching a million-dollar digital ad blitz against Trump," August 13, 2020
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 The Hill, "Lincoln Project expands GOP target list, winning Trump ire," August 11, 2020
- ↑ The Hill, "George Conway group rejects Trump claim of impeachment distraction in coronavirus response," April 9, 2020
- ↑ YouTube, "Lincoln Project," accessed June 23, 2020
- ↑ CNBC, "Anti-Trump super PAC Lincoln Project runs $4 million ad blitz during week of Republican National Convention," August 24, 2020
- ↑ Politico, "'Never Trump' Republicans team with progressives to convert the president's religious base," August 4, 2020
- ↑ FEC, "Lincoln Project," accessed September 8, 2020
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