The Lincoln Project’s response to Trump’s threat to sue was…not subtle.
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Well, yes, this is what the Lincoln Project does: troll the Abominable Orange, probably in the hope that he’ll blow a fuse and keel over dead. I wish them success.
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Do people respond well to this kind of ad? I don’t really disagree with their description of what Trump did, but the hectoring, condescending tone makes even my skin crawl. If I were a Trump-loving conservative who was already primed to reject anything that contradicts my world view, this kind of “ha ha, you’re stupid” sneering would just bring out my rejection reaction in full force. I can’t imagine this changing anyone’s mind. They’re just making it easy for their supposed target demographic to ignore it.
I used to get phone calls from people fundraising for police benevolent unions. Without exception, the calls came from gravelly-voiced older (white) males. Call them “authority voices”. It was never stated that the callers were actual cops (they probably weren’t), but the people running the fundraising campaigns knew that the people who like cops enough to give money to the PBUs respond well to that voice and style of speech: gruff, plainspoken, mature. And I’d argue that the MAGA-fringe people who could be swayed by attack ads will be keyed to respond to the same kind of presentation. A white male authority figure – soldier, cop, firefighter – going “I’m a patriot, and what Donald Trump has done disgusts me”: that is how you push their buttons.
So are the Lincoln Project just horribly ill-advised, or are they not even trying?
I was wondering the same thing, but maybe the ads are doing exactly what they’re really designed to do: get a bunch of viral media coverage, give a chuckle to Trump-hating folks of various stripes (including us) and attracting donations to the Lincoln Project from people who enjoy the ads. Won’t necessarily persuade any Trumpers to change their minds but it will keep the media profile for the Lincoln Project elevated, and pay the salaries of the folks who are putting out these ads.
I guess as long as this is what some “never-Trumper Republicans” enjoy spending their money on then it’s not really doing much harm, and Trump certainly deserves to be trolled. But I would never even consider giving them any of my money.
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Bingo!
I have no doubt that that’s their target audience.
The Lincoln Project looks like little more than another batch of grifters, chugging along in a first-class coach on the Trump Derangement Train.
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Naw, I disagree. There’s no promise that these chumps won’t join a DeSantis train and lead us right into fascism. They love a lot of what Trump does and stands for, they mostly just don’t like him. Sometimes the enemy of your enemy is still your enemy and there’s no reason to give them your money.
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I’ve never been able to find reliable information on exactly where their ads are airing, but it sure seems like more liberals are seeing them than conservatives. For a non-profit fundraising group they seem to be extremely closed door which makes me feel that unless we are provided proof that these are really being pushed into markets of swing voters there’s no promise it isn’t entirely a grift to take money from liberals that could be donated to other political causes.
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From what I’ve read their ad buys are very small and targeted, often aiming specifically at where the exact Trump will personally see them. Then they usually get shared online and sometimes go viral, just like this one did.
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Oh that’s right- I had forgotten about those. I guess the ads department is sufficiently separate from News that they don’t care.
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I’ve seen this before, and it would make it appear they are more interested in getting a rise out of Trump & promoting themselves by doing so than actually targeting swing voters? However, I can’t find any information on if they push into other markets. Without additional information I don’t want to say they don’t, but…
I’d much rather see a bunch of disgruntled Republicans taking money from other disgruntled Republicans to do this hatchet job work for the Democrats. Dem leadership has to be laughing up up their sleeves daily about it.
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“Trump pitches over in a fit” would be a good headline.
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It’s grifters all the way down!
Yes, I think you may have nailed it. Your explanation is not only politically/economically plausible, but it does seem to fit with what we can see going on.
There is one other possibility, which is that their focus on riling up Trump specifically is an attempt to get him to commit some unforced error that will hurt him in future. But that’s more complex to execute than a simple grift, as it depends on Trump who, while predictable in some ways, is also unpredictable in others.
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I sometimes let YouTube videos play while I do my little scribbles to pay the bills. One popped up a couple of days ago where some news channel (CNN?) interviewer had a half-dozen angry, deluded Trumpers in a room and was asking them about all things Trump. At one point, he asked “if Trump doesn’t run again, is there someone else out there that you like?” and they all named DeSantis. God help us all.
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I’m fine with anything that drains GOP coffers. I’m not so fine with a complacent and lazy Dem leadership whose own paid-for ads are never as creative or vicious as TLP ones.
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This sounds right to me too.
The Lincoln Project is definitely a grift, but I can’t figure out exactly how or against whom. It’s a siren song because we all love the messages of course, but I get a bad feeling. These people are not on my side so it feels like snuggling with a sleeping tiger because it is soft. So far so good, but someday…
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Their target audience probably isn’t the die hard Trump supporters but rather people who lean conservative and may feel the need to vote for Trump only because he’s the Republican candidate. The ads are basically reminding them that Trump doesn’t represent traditional GOP values and that they shouldn’t enable him.
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In other “Trump Is A Loser” News
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They’re neoCon and moneyCons who once called the shots in the Republican party and want to again. The entire GOP has been a grift on the American people going back to Reagan at the very least.
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IMHO the Democrats should prioritize spending on ads that are likely to actually persuade voters. There are many different ways to do that, including ads targeting your own base to motivate them to turn out, ads that make swing voters mad or dissatisfied with the GOP, etc. But I have to imagine that ads explicitly targeting Trump’s most loyal supporters saying “Ha ha! You guys sure are suckers for giving that guy your money!!” aren’t likely to change many minds. And isn’t spending limited resources on ads that don’t change minds kinda a bad idea? Let other entities do the driving trollies. The DNC would never be as good at it as Last Week Tonight anyway.
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