As The Lincoln Project (TLP) begins to come apart at what appears to be its many seams, it’s an interesting lesson in how effective messaging is disconnected from the basic moral fundamentals of an organization. Amanda Becker of The 19th has the story:
Like tabloid TV journalism. Or a Simpsons exposé as done on The Simpsons.
The organization is facing a rapidly escalating controversy over allegations that another of its co-founders, John Weaver, sexually harassed more than a dozen young men, including some working for the project, and over what other members of senior management knew about the claims and when they knew it.
The accusations have roiled the organization, and as its current and former employees and contractors began coming forward to discuss them, they described a workplace where women in key positions were sidelined and where sexist and homophobic language was used by those in leadership posts.
In reporting a story over the past several weeks about the Lincoln Project’s management, culture, finances and handling of the Weaver allegations, The 19th interviewed nearly two dozen individuals currently or formerly associated with the group or familiar with its operations.
Nearly all of them said they feared speaking publicly about their experiences with the Lincoln Project and its remaining co-founders. Many cited their tendency to “go nuclear,” as several put it, when faced with internal dynamics that could undermine the public image they cultivated with their liberal fans.
The interviews depict an organization that grew quickly, with little planning at its inception, and then began to spiral out of control as its founders quarreled over the organization’s direction, finances, tactics and even who would own the donor data that the project would eventually amass. Some of the co-founders had an informal management agreement that excluded the others, without their knowledge. Several had private firms to which the Lincoln Project channeled tens of millions of dollars that are then not subject to disclosure, while others were paid relatively modest amounts directly or nothing at all. There were clashes over ego and resentments over podcasts and television contracts.
Their superb messaging belied the general nature of those who lead the organization, who were Republicans, and not necessarily of the old, moderate variety, as I think a lot of people – myself included – had thought.
The Lincoln Project’s founders were some of the highest-profile players in Republican politics before they rejected Trump and became apostates within their own party. There was George Conway, a high-profile conservative lawyer who is married to Kellyanne Conway, who was a top adviser to Trump. Weaver worked on Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaigns, as did Galen and Schmidt. Mike Madrid is a strategist specializing in Latinx voting trends. Jennifer Horn is a former GOP chair in New Hampshire. Wilson worked on Rudy Giuliani’s mayoral and Senate campaigns. Ron Steslow started his own consulting firm after working at the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
They grew up, politically, in the Republican culture which eventually came to see in the failed man, Donald J. Trump, a champion and force for good. These were not old Richard Lugar staffers, but instead people who had worked for long periods of time for a Republican Party for which Trump wasn’t an anachronism, but instead a predictable product. He’s the savior they needed for continued Party survival, because, without him, the Party had little more than an highly effective marketing machine, and a couple of effective Governors (Hogan, DeWine, Sununu, and one I cannot remember), all of whom might end up leaving the Party. Rubio, Cruz, Hawley? Ineffective trophy winners who don’t realize there’s more to politics than winning a seat.
Do you know what we saw in the clash between TLP and President Trump?
A gang rumble.
The Republican leadership of TLP wasn’t bringing light to a dark Republican cave, although, at least for independents, that was the effect. They were waging war against a hated rival. Trump had absconded with the Party machinery and membership, introduced atavistic notions, and generally discredited them. A war was inevitable, even if Trump didn’t see it coming.
But the TLP leadership is also a product of decades of Party corruption. The use of dishonorable tactics, even against comrades during primaries, the distrust of cooperation in gaining electoral objectives, and the misogyny we’ve seen in the actions of Trump and, later, the Party faithful (see how hard-line conservative former Rep Martha Roby (R-AL) was treated once she demonstrated her loyalty to Trump was not total in the wake of the “grab them by the pussy” scandal), these notions are all demonstrated in the struggle for control, power, and wealth at TLP, as Becker depicts.
The Lincoln Project, despite the excellence of their messaging – perhaps as a result of the competence of their more liberal staffers – was not a saviour of the right from itself. It was a comeback effort by the corrupt right against the shocking, for them, interloper.
When Trump’s inevitable exit from the American stage occurs, whether through death or disgrace, don’t look for TLP leadership veterans to take a leading position in reform efforts. They are not demonstrating effective leadership skills. Oh, they may try, but I expect that the voids in their moral makeup, which inevitably reflects in the leadership they provide, will cripple and even destroy them. They’ll be struggling against both resentful Trump faithful and themselves, and I don’t see any of them achieving any positions of great influence, much less of titular importance.
They may try to descend upon any new conservative parties that form, but those will be wary, aware of the toxic culture and its effects.
I expect we’ll see little more out of TLP worth noting.
A pity.
