The Lincoln Project Isn't Fooling Anyone
Progressive voters know good and well that they can't defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box alone. It's why the Democratic Party establishment circled around Joe Biden rather than more progressive choices like Bernie Sanders or a box of free tampons. So it might be reassuring then to anyone hoping and praying for Trump's removal that a contingent of prominent Conservatives has started their own organization with the same goal in mind. It's called The Lincoln Project, and they're here to save the day by dunking on Trump and dunking on him hard.
This feels like a huge win, right? It has to be bad news for Trump if members of his own party are breaking away and trying to convince voters to go along with them, but then why does something about this seem so icky and ... off?
Maybe it's because we're so clearly being pandered to. "Look, kids, we're not the stuffy GOP that your grandparents love! We're hip Conservatives, and you can tell because sometimes we use memes and call people 'Karens!'" The Lincoln Project is basically one step away from flipping around their chair like the Vice Principal at an assembly and trying to rap for us.
Damn, they're already there. Again, for a progressive against Trump, it's nice to have everyone on the same team. But it's also hard to not feel like we're being sold something rotten when an organization founded by a guy like Rick Wilson, a staunch supporter of the war in Iraq and all around douchenozzle, is part of that team.
I'm not saying The Lincoln Project is outright lying. I think they do want to get rid of Trump and that they'll even work to revert some of his policies. Said co-founder of The Lincoln Project, John Weaver, to the Washington Post about their role if and after Biden wins:
"He will have a mandate to clean up the mess that Trump has created with the help of his enablers. That shouldn't be held up. We intend to do all we can to make sure that doesn't happen."
But I also think it's fair to wonder: then what?
Is it, as many believe to be, a Trojan Horse to influence Biden and push the Democratic Party towards the right, thereby essentially recreating the GOP as we know it? Or maybe, as we could hope, this collective group of individuals just spent millions of dollars because meme-ing is just so damn fun. Who knows?
Meanwhile, enjoy this random Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell clip I've chosen to drop here for no particular reason whatsoever:
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Top Image: Wiki Commons
