The Lincoln Project is defending a multimillion-dollar campaign to deliver Senate control to the Democrats, arguing that rebuilding the Republican Party is impossible without ditching President Trump’s “enablers” in Congress.
Installing a Democratic majority in the Senate, especially with Joe Biden in the White House, could lead to the elimination of the legislative filibuster, facilitating enactment of a litany of long-sought-after liberal priorities. But GOP insiders and former Republicans behind the Lincoln Project, a Never Trump group, say the rewards outweigh the risks, insisting that cleansing “Trumpism” from the party requires an unambiguous message that any affiliation with the president is a losing proposition.
“We’ve always been clear about our mission: Removing Trump, Trumpism and his enablers,” Lincoln Project spokesman Keith Edwards said Monday. “These people have violated every letter of their oaths, every iota of their consciences.”
But other Never Trump Republicans are critical of this effort. They describe the Lincoln Project’s strategy as a “burned to the ground” approach that appears disinterested in the Republican Party’s future. And they admonish the group for being cavalier about the ramifications of putting Democrats in charge of the House, White House, the Senate, and by extension, Supreme Court nominations.
“I sharply part with Lincoln going after GOP Senators,” said Rob Stutzman, a Republican strategist in California who opposes the president. “I applaud their opposition to Trump, I think they’re in his head. But they’re not really about trying to create a center-right GOP.”
The Lincoln Project is targeting at least six Republican Senate incumbents with attack ads and other campaign activities aiming to boost their Democratic challengers — more than enough to upend the GOP’s three-seat majority. Among them are Republicans such as Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado who, philosophically and temperamentally, are the antithesis of Trump and represent the sort of conservative politician that Lincoln Project operatives claim they want back in charge of the party.
One veteran Republican operative supportive of the Lincoln Project’s efforts acknowledged the “paradox” of seeking the ouster of GOP senators who have governed pragmatically and hewed to Reagan-era conservative principles. “But unless you have a resounding defeat and prove that others can be affected by being on the Trump train, then I’m not sure there’s going to be a true opportunity to rebuild the Republican Party,” this operative said.
A second Republican insider who backs the Lincoln Project’s bid to flip the Senate conceded Democrats might pass a laundry list of troubling legislation — nationalized healthcare, strict climate regulations, and tax increases, to name a few possibilities. But if Republicans in Congress are not punished for supporting Trump, this Republican insider worried, the 2024 GOP presidential primary might produce a slate of candidates who compete to be the next Trump.
“We can never again let candidates believe that taking the Trump path will get him or her the Republican nomination,” the Republican insider said.
The Lincoln Project was founded by a collection of prominent Republican operatives — some who have since left the party — including Rick Wilson, a GOP strategist in Florida; Steve Schmidt, the campaign manager for John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign; and George Conway, husband of Kellyanne Conway, a senior White House adviser.
The campaign to take down Senate Republicans launched after Trump was acquitted on two articles of impeachment approved by House Democrats.
Except for an “aye” vote from Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, every Republican sided with Trump, prompting the Lincoln Project to move against the GOP Senate. Only through the severe punishment of losing reelection, say the group and its supporters, will the consequences of supporting Trump through other myriad controversies deemed equally unforgivable hit home and change the behavior of other Republican lawmakers moving forward.
But Republicans occasionally critical of the president and otherwise sympathetic to the Never Trump movement say the effort has exposed the Lincoln Project as a fraud. “Some of these groups are actually real Republicans and conservatives who are worried about the direction of the party,” a GOP strategist said. “The Lincoln Project is just a phony storefront for Democrats.”
[OPINION: Republicans who try to defeat Senate Republicans aren’t really Republicans at all]
Jim Dornan, a veteran Republican operative, said there is a difference between opposing Trump and the “total capitulation” to the Democrats proposed by the Lincoln Project.
“It doesn’t square at all with being a conservative or a Republican at all,” he said. “It sounds like the haters are not only determined to beat Trump, but they have completely lost their political and moral compasses and gone full-out loony liberal.”
