Comments on the Lincoln Project

Below is something I found compelling from the “Lincoln Project” just now, a group whose purpose is to preserve democracy and remove Trumpism from the U.S. political scene. I’ve interspersed some of my comments along the way.

Craig, there are a few stories going around after Georgia and Pennsylvania I think are important to discuss. Spoiler alert: Yes I am still optimistic about Democrats’ chances this year if the pro-democracy coalition can get its act together. But there are a few myths I’ve heard too many times this past week. Let’s talk about them.

Myth 1: The Georgia primary demonstrates that the GOP electorate has moved on from Trump.

How many times over the past six years have people claimed that Trump lost his hold on the GOP? I have stopped counting. You should too. In every primary, you can assume Trump controls at least 30% of the electorate. That’s enough to win in a lot of races. It won Trump the Republican nomination in 2016.

This is an excellent point. My mom, a lifelong Republican, tells me that the GOP has divorced itself from Trump. I’m sure she’d like to believe this almost as much as I would, because she’s “nobody’s fool,” but it’s clearly untrue.

Myth 2: Some GOP candidates are simply too extreme to win.

Remember how I keep saying the GOP are going to nominate a crop of loons? They are. And it will hurt them this fall. But don’t think for a second that just because they’re crazy that they can’t win.

Look at Pennsylvania, it’s likely going to be ultra-MAGA Doug Mastriano and Mehmet Oz running statewide. Both of them won their primaries by going as MAGA as they could.

Again, spot-on. Personally, I don’t think Pennsylvania is going to go MAGA, but this is nonetheless something that needs to be taken seriously.

It’s especially relevant in the House, vs. the Senate, as most states have regions whose citizens are mostly extremely undereducated QAnoners. Witness Marjorie Taylor Greene, and ask yourself how she’d fare running for a Senate seat in Georgia, a state that does passably well in education (ranked 31st for pre-k to 12th grade and 25th for higher education).

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The Lincoln Project is the only group that is consistently doing the hard and focused work of going after these MAGA candidates. Make a donation today to help us continue it, Craig .