The Lincoln Project is Trolling Trump

I will confess that I am a huge fan of the Lincoln Project's anti-Trump ads.  They are exceptionally well done and as an added bonus, they are enraging Trump and have the potential to drive him to do something stupid that will boomerang and bite him in the ass.  Indeed, I have donated to the Lincoln Project and would encourage others who despise Trump to do so as well (you can make a donation here).  A piece in Politico looks at the Lincoln Project - whose members to me represent what the GOP once was - and its success in driving Trump to distraction.  Whether it can change votes  remains to be seen, but the hard hitting and all to accurate ads certainly cannot hurt in the effort to send Trump into a much needed forced retirement.  Here are article excerpts:

The moment President Donald Trump started tweeting at 12:46 a.m. about the “RINO Republicans” at the Lincoln Project who’d just run an ad attacking his response to the pandemic, Reed Galen knew his hunch was right: you can trigger a Trump freakout with a little bit of planning and pop psychology.

Galen had co-founded the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump PAC run by Republicans, with the goal of convincing Americans to vote against him in November. In May, the group thought Trump’s response to the pandemic had created the perfect opportunity to both make their case. Off of a brainwave that cofounder George Conway had during a conversation with his wife, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, Galen and his small team guessed Trump would be particularly enraged by an in-the-moment ad that portrayed the president as making Americans “weaker, sicker and poorer” than ever before. And they figured the best bet to get to [Trump] the president would be to target Trump where he was, Washington, D.C., on the channel he watches, Fox News, when he was most likely to be watching, at night.

What they hadn’t expected, though, was that Trump would single out nearly every person involved in the Lincoln Project by name — Kellyane Conway’s “deranged loser of a husband, Moonface” Conway, “Crazed” Rick Wilson, “LOSERS” who had consulted for “loser” candidates. 

To Galen, it was a sign that the Lincoln Project — the first phase, at least — was working.

“It's not just pissing off Donald Trump. Anybody could do that,” Galen said in an interview, though he admitted to “a modicum of enjoyment” from being the topic of midnight tweetstorm. “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.”

In the past few months, the Lincoln Project — a PAC with not much funding, as far as PACs go — has successfully established itself as a squatter in Trump’s mental space, thanks to several factors: members each boasting hundreds of thousands of social media followers, rapidly cut ads that respond to current events and a single-minded focus on buying airtime wherever Trump is most likely to be binging cable news that day, whether it’s the D.C. market or his golf courses across the country. And every time Trump freaks out — or every time the media covers his freakout — the Lincoln Project scores an incalculable amount of earned media, and millions of views online to boot.

But though the PAC has successfully caught Trump’s attention — The Daily Beast reported the campaign spent $400,000 on ads in the D.C. market in part so Trump would feel less threatened by Lincoln Project ads — Trump’s critics worry that the ads, as well cut and as troll-effective as they are, may not actually work to “prosecute the case” against his re-election, as the group vowed to do back in December.

With the pandemic, however, Trump has made the case against himself, Galen argued. From his early dismissals of the burgeoning outbreak to his suggestion that injecting “disinfectant” into the lungs might help fight coronavirus, and his flat-out insistence that he wanted to slow testing down in order to suppress the number of COVID-19 cases, the president has generated his own attack ad copy.

“We already had a plan in place which was prosecute him, prosecute him, prosecute him,” Galen said. “The difference is that he became a much weaker defendant, all on his own, because of his own faults.”

Two-thirds of its TV spending is focused on the presidential race, according to the ad-tracking firm Advertising Analytics. The spots both boost Biden and eviscerate Trump. Notably, though, the group’s most recent ad — which is currently pinned to the top of its Twitter account — lionizes Biden’s leadership qualities.

The group's mission to troll [Trump] the president is evident in its ad buys. Its longest sustained presence on TV is a series of ads that have played nearly non-stop 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.

It also placed a minute-long ad in Tulsa, Okla., to coincide with the president's campaign rally there last weekend, splicing together side-by-side clips of segregationist George Wallace, the former governor of Alabama, and Trump.

And, of course, going viral online is essentially free, given the Lincoln Project’s million-plus Twitter followers, and the combined millions who all follow Conway, Wilson, Schmidt and the rest.

Galen said that a single video can get a million views in three hours, and two million by the end of the day.

“Look, Twitter's not the real world,” he conceded. “But you generate enough heat and enough energy there, it starts to spin stuff off into the real world.”

With less than 130 days before the election, and a pandemic making traditional campaigning near-impossible, it’s still unclear how — and if — the Lincoln Project can deploy the assets that it is building into something that can flip votes. After all, as Galen himself admitted, it’s not that hard to infuriate Trump with something like an ad showing him simply shuffling down a ramp and struggling to sip water.

But while the group plots that second phase, their non-traditional strategy of playing mind games with the president shall continue, Wilson declared.

“Other groups do what they do, we're here to do what we do,” he said. “And never the twain shall meet.”

Ken Cuccinelli's Gas Royalties Scandal

While there are growing calls for Bob McDonnell to resign from office due to the growing "Gift Gate" scandal - McDonnell's defense basically sounds like Sergeant Schultz  in Hogans Heroes: he heard nothing, he saw nothing and knew nothing about his wife's raking in loot and receiving loans for Jonnie R. Williams, Sr. - to date, Ken Cuccinelli has continued to refuse to return any of the loot that he received from Williams.  But perhaps the biggest scandal that has yet to fully unfold surrounding Cuccinelli is his office's improper provision of legal assistance to  the subsidiary of one of Cuccinelli's $100,000 plus donors in a civil lawsuit against Virginians.  

Cuccinelli has tried to claim that the subordinate in the Attorney General's office gave legal advice to his donor's subsidiary as part of her representation of the Virginia Oil and Gas Board.  Pardon my French, but this story line is BULLSHIT.   Why do I say this?  First, I am well familiar with the Virginia's Oil and Gas regulatory scheme.  In fact, when Virginia's statutes were enacted in 1982, one of my fellow attorneys at the oil company I worked for at the time was on the advisory committee working on the legislation (Union Texas Petroleum was at the time the largest holder of oil and gas leases in Virginia).  Since I was a member of the Virginia State Bar, I was involved in reviewing proposed legislation that implemented the current regulatory scheme.   I suspect I know more about oil and gas law in Virginia and elsewhere than anyone on the current Attorney General's staff.  There was NO NEED for the Oil and Gas Board to be involved in this lawsuit.

In addition, in private practice, I have been involved in litigation with leaseholders from the lessee/oil company perspective.  NEVER, EVER in such litigation did the state oil and gas board or the state attorney general's office provide legal assistance to my law firm or our oil company clients.  NEVER, EVER.   In short, there is no legitimate way to explain why an Assistant Attorney General was giving legal advise and assistance to oil company litigants in a civil lawsuit.  A $100,000 contribution to Cuccinelli's gubernatorial campaign is seemingly the only explanation.  Cuccinelli sold out Virginia landowners and taxpayers in exchange for cold cash.  Democrat Attorney General Candidate Mark Herring explains it all well:

“At a time when Virginians deserve the truth, Ken Cuccinelli and his office continue to fight to keep the public in the dark about the help they gave to out-of-state gas companies trying to deny Virginians millions in mining royalties," Herring said. “It’s shameful that Ken Cuccinelli aligned with the gas companies to keep their emails out of the public view. And it’s shameful that Cuccinelli would think it’s acceptable for his office to offer legal advice to an out of state company, instead of working on behalf of Virginians.

“It seems every day we have more proof that Ken Cuccinelli is more concerned with sweeping his scandals – whether it’s Star Scientific or this mining royalties scandal – under the rug instead of revealing the truth. It’s shocking that his ticketmate Mark Obenshain sits quietly on the sidelines while Ken Cuccinelli puts the interest of a company that donates to his campaign over the interests of Virginia taxpayers. This is why Virginians are ready for a change in the Office of Attorney General,”

Oh, and did I mention that Cuccinelli's office fought to block the release of the e-mails that revealed the extent of the Attorney General's office was in this civil litigation?  Cuccinelli is a lying douche bag in my opinion.  Like most of the far right faction that likes to wear their religiosity on their sleeve, Cuccinelli makes a tawdry whore look virtuous.

 

Major Gay Donor Cuts off Democrats Over Immigration Bill Betrayal

In 2009 it seemed that Barack Obama and the Congressional Democrats went out of their way to piss off members of the Democrat base and to give the impression that nothing was being accomplished legislatively.  The consequence here in Virginia was that the Democrat base stayed home on election day in November, 2009 and Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell and Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli were swept into office.  Fast forward to 2013 and we are again witnessing Obama and national level Democrats doing a reprise of what they did in 2009.  Except here in Virginia the GOP statewide slate is even more insane than the one in 2009.  Will Obama and the Congressional Democrats give the Virginia governorship to a far right Republican yet again?

Some in the LGBT community are over this batshitery and indifference from Obama and his Democrat cohorts in Congress.  And they are showing their displeasure where it most elicits national Democrats' attention: they are cutting off donations.  After the Democrat betrayal of the LGBT community in the U. S. Senate, I have already stated on this blog that Congressional Democrats will not get a penny from me in donations and I have begun asking that my name be removed from donor lists.   That's not to say I won't be supporting state level candidates, but Congressional Democrats can kiss my ass.  I'm not the only one pissed off and, in fact, I am in good company.  Today, gay Democratic Party donor Jonathan Lewis (pictured above) - he's the son of the founder of Progressive Insurance - announced that he is cutting off the money spigot to the Democrats.  Hopefully, other big donors will join suit and a clear message will be sent and hopefully understood.  Namely, Democrats take us for granted at their own risk.  Terry McAuliffe needs to call Obama and some of his U. S. Senate friends and ask them "WTF are you doing?"  The Washington Blade looks at Lewis' action and the rumblings coming from other donors.  Here are highlights:

Prominent gay Democratic Party donor Jonathan Lewis is pledging to cut off funds to the party over his disappointment that bi-national same-sex couples were excluded from the immigration reform bill.

In a statement provided to the Washington Blade on Tuesday, the Miami-based philanthropist said he’s turning off the tap for Democrats and urging others to do the same over the immigration issue and President Obama’s reluctance to issue an executive order barring LGBT workplace discrimination.

“During the immigration reform debate Senate Democrats had the opportunity to reverse some of the harm caused by DOMA and they buckled under pressure, essentially taking LGBT families for granted,” Lewis said. “With the president failing to deliver on his promised federal contractor executive order and with Senate Democrats caving to Republican threats, now is the time to stop investing in Democratic cowardice and stand proud by withholding donations until we see our friends’ actions and deeds align with their rhetoric — I will be withholding my donation and asking all of my friends and family members to do the same until such time

Lewis, who provided money to fund LGBT groups such as Freedom to Work and GetEQUAL, provided the maximum amount of $30,800 to the Democratic National Committee and the maximum amount of $2,500 to President Obama’s re-election campaign in the last election cycle. His fortune comes from his family, founders of Progressive Insurance.

Neither the White House nor the DNC responded to a request for comment on Lewis’ statement.

[O]ne LGBT advocacy group that worked to include UAFA is saying Lewis’ sentiment is shared by others who’ve supported the Democratic Party.

Steve Ralls, a spokesperson for Immigration Equality, said he’s heard from Democratic donors that they’re “rethinking the political contributions and priorities” following the exclusion of the amendment for gay couples from immigration reform, although he wasn’t immediately able to provide names.

“I can assure you that in private conversations, significant Democratic donors have had with our executive director and with other people working on this said they were very disappointed in what happened last week, and they’re looking at where they invest their donations moving forward,” Ralls said.

“There is palpable anger among the LGBT community in social media, in conversations that we’ve had with supporters,” Ralls said. “I do think there will be a political price for senators to pay.”

As an aside, Lewis provided a significant part of the funding for the December 2008 LGBT Blogger Summit I attended in Washington, D.C., and for that I want to say "Thank you!"

McDonnell Gives Ultimatum to UVA Rector and Board of Visitors

For the better part of the nine months, Virginia Governor Bob "Taliban Bob" "Governor Ultrasound" McDonnell has been more busy trying to posture himself for a vice presidential nomination on Mitt "Let them Eat Cake" Romney's ticket than he has been minding Virginia's business.  Initially, McDonnell seemed to want to avoid any involvement with the disaster created by University of Virginia ("UVA") Rector Helen Dragas and her co-conspirators/henchmen on the UVA Board of Visitors.  There was even conjecture that McDonnell would simply slip out of town to head to a Romney event in Utah while leaving the Commonwealth's flagship university in complete chaos.  Apparently, the realization finally hit McDonnell that doing nothing of substance was about to bite him in the ass big time.  Hence his ultimatum the the UVA Board of Visitors: "fix the problem by Tuesday or resign."  

While the UVA disaster has its own unique characteristics, it is symptomatic of a larger problem in Virginia: state boards and other positions are typically awarded as political plums for supporters.  The bigger ones monetary contributions, the higher the profile of one's appointment.  Years ago I was appointed to the Virginia College Building Authority (which issues tax-exempt bonds for the Virginia's public colleges and universities) and I actually had bond law experience.  That's not often the case. Of course, I had really wanted a slot on the Virginia Board of Education.  But that went to a friend who gave much more money even though the individual had little background in educational issues compared to me since I had been an education activist for some years already.  

But I digress.  Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot on Taliban Bob's message to Ms. Dragas and company:

Gov. Bob McDonnell gave an ultimatum Friday to the University of Virginia Board of Visitors: Resolve the school's presidency crisis at your meeting Tuesday, or you'll be replaced the next day.

The governor delivered that message in a letter to the board, which has been embroiled in controversy since the June 10 decision to oust President Teresa Sullivan from her post after two years on the job.

The board is to meet Tuesday to consider reinstating Sullivan, whose removal sparked an outcry among students, faculty and alumni and has stained the reputation of one of Virginia's most prestigious schools.
"Let me be absolutely clear: I want final action by the Board on Tuesday," McDonnell wrote. "If you fail to do so, I will ask for the resignation of the entire Board on Wednesday."

He told board members that regardless of the outcome, he expects them "to make a clear, detailed and unified statement on the future leadership of the University."

The governor's letter followed a decision by the man tapped as interim president, Carl Zeithaml, to step aside while Sullivan's fate remains unclear.

The governor's latest message drew praise on Twitter from university political science professor Larry Sabato, who said it put the board "on notice to clean up its mess."  The only way forward is to reinstate Sullivan, wrote Sabato, who later advised fellow Wahoos not to gloat or seek reprisal after the fact, but to work to "reunify quickly & repair damage."

McDonnell's letter can be viewed at the Virginian Pilot link.

 

Gay "Mafia" Is Redefining Politics

No doubt the Christianists will be shrieking and all a twitter over the new Time article that looks at the efforts of a group of extremely wealthy gays who are putting it where it can do the most good to help defeat gay hating and gay-baiting politicians. The loonies of the far right have no qualms about trying to inflict their religious views on all citizens and making huge monetary donations - e.g., the money flowing into California to support "Yes on 8" - but God forbid that gays act similarly. Personally, I applaud the efforts of the "Cabinet" as they are called in the article. Would that more LGBT citizens would do more in the struggle for full legal equality . As one gay blogger noted about the battle to defeat Proposition 8 in California:

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Memo to the gays: wake up. The most depressing aspect in the gay community has been the apathy of so many, as well as the energy and determination of so few. So many straight people seem to be doing more for this issue than many gay people. That's unacceptable. It's perfectly legitimate to expose the LDS campaign against civil rights; but the Mormons are working the system. The right response is to work it back. Donate here. But better still: call your family and friends in California and tell them why this matters. If you live there, get organized. Canvass; campaign; volunteer; spread the word on the web. This is our Gettysburg. And we're losing it.

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Here in the Hampton Roads area, there are many gays who could do far more for gay equality and lending support for the passage of legislation that would afford employment non-discrimination protections and other laws that would allow gays to have the full rights and protections of other citizens. Instead, they whine about being victims or are fearful of taking on any personal risk totally mindless of the fact that often bad things happen because good people allow them to. The excuses that "I don't want to get involved" or "I'm in the closet to my family" don't cut it at the end of the day. Positive change often requires some personal risk and discomfort. The "Cabinet" as the group in the article are called may be able to help in the financial battle to support gay friendly candidates, but foot soldiers are still needed. Moreover, the strongest testimony one can make is to live "out and proud" and dispel the lies disseminated about us by our enemies. Sorry, I digress. Here are some highlights from the Time story:

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A few weeks before Virginia's legislative elections in 2005, a researcher working on behalf of a clandestine group of wealthy, gay political donors telephoned a Virginia legislator named Adam Ebbin. Then, as now, Ebbin was the only openly gay member of the state's general assembly. The researcher wanted Ebbin's advice on how the men he represented could spend their considerable funds to help defeat anti-gay Virginia politicians.

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Using Ebbin's expertise, the gay donors — none of whom live in Virginia — began contributing to certain candidates in the state. There were five benefactors: David Bohnett of Beverly Hills, Calif., who in 1999 sold the company he had co-founded, Geo-Cities, to Yahoo! in a deal worth $5 billion on the day it was announced; Timothy Gill of Denver, another tech multimillionaire; James Hormel of San Francisco, grandson of George, who founded the famous meat company; Jon Stryker of Kalamazoo, Mich., the billionaire grandson of the founder of medical-technology giant Stryker Corp.; and Henry van Ameringen, whose father Arnold Louis van Ameringen started a Manhattan-based import company that later became the mammoth International Flavors & Fragrances. The five men spent $138,000 in Virginia that autumn, according to state records compiled by the nonprofit Virginia Public Access Project.

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On Election Day that year, the Virginia legislature stayed solidly in Republican hands; the Democratic Party netted just one seat. But that larger outcome masked an intriguing development: anti-gay conservatives had suffered considerably. . . . other candidates critical of gays were also defeated, including delegate Richard Black, who had long opposed gay equality in Richmond.

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The group that donated the money to use against Black and the others is known as the Cabinet, although you won't find that name on a letterhead or even on the Internet. Aside from Bohnett, 52; Gill, 55; Hormel, 75; Stryker, 50; and Van Ameringen, 78, the other members of the Cabinet are Jonathan Lewis (49-year-old grandson of Joseph, co-founder of Progressive Insurance) and Linda Ketner, 58, heiress to the Food Lion fortune, who is running for Congress against GOP Representative Henry Brown Jr. of South Carolina.

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Among gay activists, the Cabinet is revered as a kind of secret gay Super Friends, a homosexual justice league that can quietly swoop in wherever anti-gay candidates are threatening and finance victories for the good guys. Rumors abound in gay political circles about the group's recondite influence; some of the rumors are even true.

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Cabinet spending shows up in races all over the country where pro-gay candidates have a good shot. For instance, Bohnett, Gill and Van Ameringen have given $143,000 this year to New York Democrats, who are within two seats of controlling the state senate. A Democratic New York legislature would likely approve equal marriage rights. The Cabinet's Gill and Stryker have seen their money achieve remarkable results in their respective states, Colorado and Michigan.

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There's nothing illegal about the Cabinet's coordination of its members' giving, according to Lawrence Noble, campaign-finance expert with the Washington-based firm Skadden, Arps. . . . it's hard to argue that the left in general and gays in particular should sit on their hands while foes outspend them. . . . For its part, the Cabinet seems poised to prod the gay movement into being sleeker, faster, more tactical.