Four prominent Republicans, Never Trump attorney George Conway among them, penned an op-ed in the New York Times on Tuesday explaining why they started a political action committee (PAC) called the Lincoln Project. In short, the mission is to “defeat” President Donald Trump and “Trumpism at the ballot box,” even if that means supporting some Democrats.
Conway, already a prominent member of a conservative-libertarian lawyers coalition called Checks and Balances, headlines a number of advisors with long histories supporting Republican candidates (e.g. Bush, McCain, Schwarzenegger, Kasich) and causes. John Weaver, Steve Schmidt, Rick Wilson, Jennifer Horn, Mike Madrid, and Reed Galen are the other advisors listed on the website.
Conway, Schmidt, Weaver, and Wilson wrote in the Times that “Patriotism and the survival of our nation in the face of the crimes, corruption and corrosive nature of Donald Trump are a higher calling than mere politics.”
“As Americans, we must stem the damage he and his followers are doing to the rule of law, the Constitution and the American character,” they said.
They warn on their website of “sectionalism in the country and factionalism in government,” and hope that this new group will help stem the tide.
“President Donald Trump and those who sign onto Trumpism are a clear and present danger to the Constitution and our Republic. Only defeating so polarizing a character as Trump will allow the country to heal its political and psychological wounds and allow for a new, better path forward for all Americans,” they argue.
The Lincoln Project website also says the threat of vicious polarization trumps ideological differences with Democrats. In other words, this group will support Constitution-supporting Democrats over Republicans who have, as they put it, “embraced and copied Mr. Trump’s cruelty and defended and even adopted his corruption.”
“We do not undertake this task lightly nor from ideological preference. Our many policy differences with national Democrats remain. However, the priority for all patriotic Americans must be a shared fidelity to the Constitution and a commitment to defeat those candidates who have abandoned their constitutional oaths, regardless of party,” they say. “Electing Democrats who support the Constitution over Republicans who do not is a worthy effort.”
[Images via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]
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