Right? It’s not like they add the tag line at the end of each of their videos with “Vote for Joe!”.
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Based just on listening to the New Abnormal podcast, Rick Wilson is definitely still Republican but rails against the newer tea party and pro-trump types. He wants to burn it all down and rebuild and voting out all the current Rs is the only way to get there.
He seems to have some evolving self-awareness that his previous work helped get us all here, but I haven’t heard the kind of mea culpa that would move him beyond the “enemy of my enemy” stage of alliance. I assume he’s just positioning himself to work for the next wave of Rs, but I think he is sincere in his hate for Trump and his lackeys.
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“Mr. Trump, you’re either a coward who can’t stand up to an ex-KGB goon, or you’re complicit – which is it?”
Why not both?
This in no way condones what Russia is accused of doing and our lack of response is appalling, but I seem to recall back in the 1980’s the CIA providing funding/arms to keep the Soviets out of Afghanistan…not quite the same as a “bounty” but…
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They came darn close with the ramp ad. They showed the contrast between Turnip shuffling unsteadily down the ramp and Joe running up it.
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Though they are also pushing out ads against Senate Republicans and for Democrats.
This whole video is interesting, but here is one of the founders talking about it in an interview on WGBH:
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Or possibly a tacit strategy?
As long as the Lincoln Project (and a few others) are going to brutalize ⊥rump and his disciples, the Democratic messaging can focus on affirmative, positive declarations of what they will do rather than slinging mud.
It’s just a thought, y’all have a nice day 
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A two party system where the two parties are centrists and leftists? I like the sound of that.
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The have said it though, this ad runs in swing states:
Biden is the clear choice when it comes to compassionate and decent leadership. In a battle of heart, mind, and character @JoeBiden wins by a landslide. We need to ensure that’s reflected in the vote this November. pic.twitter.com/338AECInep
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) June 25, 2020
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I hope these ads will galvanize my fellow loathers of Trump to get out and vote, and to help the cause in any way they can. I’m skeptical of them changing anybody’s mind. I think the people we’re hearing from are, like George Conway and me, people who didn’t like Trump to begin with.
It’s very much like the idea of offering someone cash to kill somebody they were already trying to kill. It’s a welcome message, but it doesn’t change anybody’s behavior, and it therefore can’t affect the course of history.
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Well, as @Mister44 says, Biden
What we have now is a GOP that is extreme right wing/authoritarian and leaning further right, and the Dems that are generally center right, leaning further right. We’re off center.
Having the Lincoln Democratic Party as a center right, and the Progressive Democratic Party as center left would make some sense.
ETA: names for my fantasy parties.
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They don’t just sling mud.
Yeah, I’ve enjoyed their ads enough that I’ve gone looking for more. There’s a new one today.
Technically you might say it slings a bit of mud. But it’s got some positive declarations too.
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Supposedly he’s lost 6% that voted for him in ‘16. Insanely, though, 2% who voted for Clinton in ‘16 say they’ll vote T in ‘20:
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"Mr. Trump, you're either a coward who can't stand up to an ex-KGB goon, or you're complicit -- which is it?"
He’s leaving out the third alternative:
"Or... you're so incompetent that you don't understand (or even read) the Presidential Daily Briefings."
A fourth has also been mentioned in the media:
"Or, do your appointees -keep- intelligence from you, especially involving Russia, because you will immediately blab the contents thereof to the affected parties?" And who can blame them, after Trump exposed an Israeli agent to the Russians? (Albeit, in this particular case, Bolton says he did brief Trump on the bounties.)
So, the final list is one of: cowardice, treason, incompetence, dereliction of NSA staff.
And, without the special circumstances of Putin/Russia, one has to go with the third choice on almost every issue.
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Like I used to say in the days of W., it’s not a good situation when the only explanations are either criminal incompetence, or incompetent criminality.
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Putin’s defence minister and Tramp’s UN secretary both declared in 2017 that Russia is waging war on the US. Bounties on US troops – act of war. Nazis, Klansmen, and Boogaloos are waging war on the US. Trampsters give aid and support to enemies waging war on the US. See the US Constitution Art.III Sec.3 for the definition of treason.
I will not suggest nooses but life imprisonment at hard labor seems appropriate.
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Um… many people join the military as a career of last resort… The military will pay for a college education, so many working class people take that option.
While it’s an “all volunteer” army, many people join because there are few other options for moving up the economic ladder in America anymore.
As someone who is always critical and skeptical of how we use our military, those are still human beings, many of whom joined because they were told they could improve their standard of living by doing so… They are human beings making human choices. 
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In some ways, they are right that progressives should be cautious. But I think they are bit off on their conclusions. They point to the bounty ad as proof of militarism. I think pander might be a better description. They know they audience they are talking to and use a spokesman who can speak directly to them with authenticity and anger. It’s aimed at cutting Trump’s self proclaimed love of the military off at the knees. Saying if he were who he says he is, he’d be stomping Russia.
As for trying to position for a seat at the table, there is a bit of truth. But not necessarily as some sort of savior hawks. These are political operatives, not politicians. No Democratic administration is going to bring them in.
However, by blowing up the Trump side of the Republican party, they are positioning themselves to be at the table as Republicans try to recover. That’s the sort of table where political operative live and breathe. And they would have more influence as a force directing a party (even a minority one) than they would in a Democrat administration. It’s called leveraging and I have no doubt they will use it.
So progressives can certainly remain skeptical of them. But there’s no point in attacking the people who are shooting at the same targets you are without something more concrete.
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Unlike their other ads I find this one iffy. Just weird militarism and macho posturing. “Stomping the shit out of Russians”? That’s just…ugh.
But it’s not aimed at me and if it works, even at the cost of perpetuating the weird American violence performance fetish, so be it.
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This is always the case, though, right? Republicans run savage ads like this all the time. Democrats run hippy-dippy vote-for-me-because-I-have-the-best-ideas ads. I love the ideas, and think those ads have a place. But politics is knife-fighting, and my side [the left] sucks at it.
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