“These are the best ads on television. They’re absolutely devastating,” said former presidential candidate and Vermont governor Howard Dean, who complimented the group’s founders on the “controlled rage” that fuels their spots.
...the Lincoln Project is willing to go places that Democratic groups haven’t.
“I am thrilled by the Lincoln Project’s impact, their substance and also their messaging, which is so compelling,” said Robert Zimmerman, a Democratic National Committee member and fund-raiser, who said he’s heard other Democrats say they’re donating to the group. “Quite frankly, Democrats, activists, and patriots should be grateful for their involvement and there shouldn’t be any competition.”
...
More recently, the group has bought ads that stalk Trump as he travels around the country. One that aired in Tulsa before his June rally compared Trump’s rhetoric to the segregationist George Wallace, splicing Trump’s image with that of Wallace and tiki torch-toting white supremacist protesters. Another airing in South Dakota, where Trump visited on Friday, features the somber words of the nation’s presidents who are carved into Mount Rushmore.
...
The group’s founders have their share of critics: Republican operatives who see them as traitors, the president who has ranted about them, and Democrats who question whether their trolling of Trump and thus-far limited budget will really influence voters in the handful of swing states that decide elections.
...
...the Lincoln Project’s relatively modest output so far, including some ads that seemed solely aimed at an audience of one, is racking up millions of views on social media, their reach amplified by the subsequent response from the president and related news coverage.
...
There’s also an aspect of psychological warfare at play, as the strategists hope the more the president engages with their ads, the less he has time to focus on a reelection message. Wilson has a running gag on Twitter that he and Conway are living “rent free” in Trump’s head.
“It throws him off the message that he should have been on … and it also shows how nuts he is,” Conway said on the podcast.
The Lincoln Project also constantly needles Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale, in what appears to be an attempt to destabilize his campaign operation. “Your campaign manager told you 1 million people” were going to show up to the rally in Tulsa, one ad mocks. “Is @bradparscale ok?” the Lincoln Project’s Twitter account asked after the rally, which drew only some 6,000 and left most of the arena empty. Another ad alleged Parscale got rich off of Trump’s 2016 campaign, showing images of fancy cars and a yacht filled with bikini-clad women.
The Trump campaign recently spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the solidly Democratic Washington, D.C., market to advertise, which some see as a response to the president’s anger at the Lincoln Project ads.
Sam Nunberg, a former top aide to Trump, said the GOP campaign’s recent $400,000 ad buy in D.C. was a “waste of money.”
...
...The Lincoln Project recently released a pro-Biden ad that will be airing in Midwestern swing states. It portrayed Biden speaking inspirationally along with clips of other presidents comforting the nation at times of crisis, juxtaposed with Trump’s comments showing a lack of empathy for people protesting racism and police brutality. Barack Obama’s former campaign manager David Plouffe called the ad “stirring.” Future spots will focus on persuading Republicans to abandon Trump, the strategists say.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/04/nation/theyre-absolutely-devastating-anti-trump-ads-by-republican-lincoln-project-catch-democrats-attention/
...the Lincoln Project is willing to go places that Democratic groups haven’t.
“I am thrilled by the Lincoln Project’s impact, their substance and also their messaging, which is so compelling,” said Robert Zimmerman, a Democratic National Committee member and fund-raiser, who said he’s heard other Democrats say they’re donating to the group. “Quite frankly, Democrats, activists, and patriots should be grateful for their involvement and there shouldn’t be any competition.”
...
More recently, the group has bought ads that stalk Trump as he travels around the country. One that aired in Tulsa before his June rally compared Trump’s rhetoric to the segregationist George Wallace, splicing Trump’s image with that of Wallace and tiki torch-toting white supremacist protesters. Another airing in South Dakota, where Trump visited on Friday, features the somber words of the nation’s presidents who are carved into Mount Rushmore.
...
The group’s founders have their share of critics: Republican operatives who see them as traitors, the president who has ranted about them, and Democrats who question whether their trolling of Trump and thus-far limited budget will really influence voters in the handful of swing states that decide elections.
...
...the Lincoln Project’s relatively modest output so far, including some ads that seemed solely aimed at an audience of one, is racking up millions of views on social media, their reach amplified by the subsequent response from the president and related news coverage.
...
There’s also an aspect of psychological warfare at play, as the strategists hope the more the president engages with their ads, the less he has time to focus on a reelection message. Wilson has a running gag on Twitter that he and Conway are living “rent free” in Trump’s head.
“It throws him off the message that he should have been on … and it also shows how nuts he is,” Conway said on the podcast.
The Lincoln Project also constantly needles Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale, in what appears to be an attempt to destabilize his campaign operation. “Your campaign manager told you 1 million people” were going to show up to the rally in Tulsa, one ad mocks. “Is @bradparscale ok?” the Lincoln Project’s Twitter account asked after the rally, which drew only some 6,000 and left most of the arena empty. Another ad alleged Parscale got rich off of Trump’s 2016 campaign, showing images of fancy cars and a yacht filled with bikini-clad women.
The Trump campaign recently spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the solidly Democratic Washington, D.C., market to advertise, which some see as a response to the president’s anger at the Lincoln Project ads.
Sam Nunberg, a former top aide to Trump, said the GOP campaign’s recent $400,000 ad buy in D.C. was a “waste of money.”
...
...The Lincoln Project recently released a pro-Biden ad that will be airing in Midwestern swing states. It portrayed Biden speaking inspirationally along with clips of other presidents comforting the nation at times of crisis, juxtaposed with Trump’s comments showing a lack of empathy for people protesting racism and police brutality. Barack Obama’s former campaign manager David Plouffe called the ad “stirring.” Future spots will focus on persuading Republicans to abandon Trump, the strategists say.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/04/nation/theyre-absolutely-devastating-anti-trump-ads-by-republican-lincoln-project-catch-democrats-attention/
