President Abraham Lincoln said in his first inaugural address: “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
The 16th president, the first Republican president, serves as a foundation for the GOP despite the many reincarnations the party has gone through since 1861. Today, Lincoln’s name and visage make up the logo for a new super PAC called the Lincoln Project. Created by a group of anti-Trump Republicans (and former Republicans), it launched with a New York Times op-ed titled “We are Republicans, and we want Trump defeated.” The piece says, “Over these next 11 months, our efforts will be dedicated to defeating President Trump and Trumpism at the ballot box and to electing those patriots who will hold the line.”
Several of those involved with the group are George Conway, Rick Wilson, Steve Schmidt, and John Weaver, a mixture of Republican operatives and former Republican administration employees. I know Wilson personally and consider him a friend. My interactions with Schmidt are limited, but his penchant for behaving “Trumpian” and for having thin skin didn’t go unnoticed when I criticized him on Twitter, and he responded by calling me a “third rate columnist.” Weaver blocked me on Twitter a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away when I dared to criticize John Kasich. George Conway, the husband of Kellyanne Conway, political counselor to Trump, I know more for his public excoriations of Trump than anything else.
I don’t have an issue with the group looking to defeat Trump. We live in the United States, and if the Lincoln Project wants to raise money for Trump’s defeat, that’s the prerogative of those involved. Where I do take issue with the Lincoln Project is what they believe constitutes “Trumpism.”
In an interview with Michael Graham, former New Hampshire GOP chairwoman Jennifer Horn made some interesting comments about congressional Republicans and the Lincoln Project’s intention of going after them as well as Trump.
For starters, she said, “Trump-supporting Republicans” have “abandoned their oath of office.” Horn doesn’t offer up any examples of how they violated their oaths. In the New York Times op-ed, the group wrote, “Congressional Republicans have embraced and copied Mr. Trump’s cruelty and defended and even adopted his corruption.”
Such language puzzled me when I learned which members of Congress the group plans to target, including Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado and Susan Collins of Maine. Had the group identified Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, or Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, I’d have more sympathy for its mission.
But Susan Collins? Cory Gardner? How exactly have they “embraced and copied Trump’s cruelty?” To go further, Horn said the group would target Collins if she refuses to vote to remove Trump from office:
Question: “And if she votes against removing President Trump from office, or casts a vote to end the impeachment process … ”
Horn: “She will be a target, yes.”
How does that square with the Lincoln Project lamenting the lack of a “fair trial” in the Senate? By claiming that Collins becomes a target unless she votes to convict, the Lincoln Project chiding Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans for failing to adhere to fairness rings somewhat hollow if the group demands a result before the start of a trial. It also doesn’t align with the admonition of abandoning their oath of office. Demanding that one adheres to the desired outcome is precisely the sort of abandonment they’re criticizing.
That also raises questions about the long game. The notion that either Collins or Gardner is emblematic of “Trumpism” is absurd. What is the point of seeking their defeat in 2020 — mainly since Trump is not a shoo-in for reelection? In my 25 years of covering and being involved in politics, nothing works better in Washington than a divided government. Having two Republican senators in Colorado and Maine with a Democrat in the White House paints a much better picture than having Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren operating with a majority in Congress for at least two years.
If defeating Trumpism is the goal, then the Lincoln Project should focus its efforts on Trump. Going after Republicans who’ve won in blue-leaning states will not ensure that we have fewer characters like Trump running for office. It will only encourage more of them to run. It’s similar to the hydra, a serpentine monster in Greek mythology with multiple heads. Cut off a head, and two would grow back. To defeat it required cutting off the immortal head.
Trumpism cannot exist without Trump. If the Lincoln Project focuses its attention on defeating Trump, the organization can make the difference it seeks. Defeating Cory Gardner and Susan Collins, however, is only doing a service to the Democratic Party. That’s an insult to Abraham Lincoln, not an homage.
