Republicans (or former Rs) against Trump (1 Viewer)

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    MT15

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    This is gaining momentum, pretty fast, it might be good to keep track of this movement.

    This thread is from a thoughtful conservative that I follow on Twitter, and I generally enjoy seeing his takes:




    Its a whole thread, so you will have to click on it to see the rest of his posts. I don’t know how to post the entire thread.
     
    Lincoln Project widening their scope to some Senators.


    The Lincoln Project has been getting rich from donations while spending little on actual political activity. I guess that's not surprising when you have people like Rick Wilson, George Conway and Steve Schmidt as founders.

    The Lincoln Project reported spending nearly $1.4 million through March. Almost all of that money went to the group’s board members and firms run by them.... It spends relatively little on direct political activity.
     
    The Lincoln Project has been getting rich from donations while spending little on actual political activity. I guess that's not surprising when you have people like Rick Wilson, George Conway and Steve Schmidt as founders.

    The Lincoln Project reported spending nearly $1.4 million through March. Almost all of that money went to the group’s board members and firms run by them.... It spends relatively little on direct political activity.
    Have you looked into how other PAC's spend their money? How does this compare to how other PAC's operate?
     
    I know you didn’t actually read that entire article, did you? First of all it’s from May 7th. Second, there’s this: “Another firm, Howe Creative, appears to produce some of The Lincoln Project’s ads, but also isn’t listed as being paid by the super PAC. This suggests that Galen and Steslow’s companies are likely paying these firms as subcontractors. This process is also used by the Trump campaign to hide the specifics of its spending.“ Emphasis mine.

    Also this:
    “Roughly 59 percent of the Lincoln Project’s $2.5 million haul this cycle comes from small donors giving $200 or less. That significant small-dollar proportion could be partially due to the popularity of the group’s members on Twitter. The Lincoln Project’s most prominent voices on social media include Conway, along with former GOP strategists Steve Schmidt and Rick Wilson. Those anti-Trump Republicans have promoted the group on high-profile cable channels like MSNBC and have authored opinion pieces in major news outlets including the Washington Post and the Daily Beast.

    It’s rare that a super PAC gets more than half of its funds from small donors. Of groups raising over $1 million this cycle, only 29 have done so. At least a dozen of those are so-called scam PACsthat make their money by sending out automated robocalls to older Americans and spend next-to-nothing on actual political activity. Several other small-dollar super PACs are pro-Trump groups that have not received the president’s stamp of approval. Some of those groups have been accused of greatly inflating their political spending totals while funneling donor money to closely-tied vendors.” Emphasis mine.

    So, it appears The Lincoln Project is largely funded by small donations from individuals in the same vein as several pro-Trump PACS, except for the fact that they appear to get their donations from the high profiles of the founding members, rather than robocalls to elderly Fox viewers.

    Overall, it’s not surprising that they share similarities with the Trump campaign and some Trump PACS, since they are all Republicans.

    So, what does any of this prove, SFL? What point do you think you just made?
     
    The Lincoln Project has been getting rich from donations while spending little on actual political activity. I guess that's not surprising when you have people like Rick Wilson, George Conway and Steve Schmidt as founders.

    The Lincoln Project reported spending nearly $1.4 million through March. Almost all of that money went to the group’s board members and firms run by them.... It spends relatively little on direct political activity.

    Weird tone in that piece. It basically says:

    - The LP spends a lot on production (not surprising, its spots certainly seem more impactful than typical political spots);
    - It doesn’t participate in ‘direct political activity’ (apparently anti-Trump ads don’t count as direct activity - but the PAC seems to be centered precisely on the point of opposing Trump); and
    - Most of LP’s donors are small (so what’s bad about that? The analogy to other scam PACs that fleece old people and don’t actually do anything . . . when clearly the LP is making high-cost, impactful national spots and not simply fleecing donors).

    I’m not saying the piece is junk - but without comparisons to other legitimate PACs income and expenditures, it’s not persuasive. And some of the premises underlying the points just seem strange or off the mark.
     
    Weird tone in that piece. It basically says:

    - The LP spends a lot on production (not surprising, its spots certainly seem more impactful than typical political spots);
    - It doesn’t participate in ‘direct political activity’ (apparently anti-Trump ads don’t count as direct activity - but the PAC seems to be centered precisely on the point of opposing Trump); and
    - Most of LP’s donors are small (so what’s bad about that? The analogy to other scam PACs that fleece old people and don’t actually do anything . . . when clearly the LP is making high-cost, impactful national spots and not simply fleecing donors).

    I’m not saying the piece is junk - but without comparisons to other legitimate PACs income and expenditures, it’s not persuasive. And some of the premises underlying the points just seem strange or off the mark.
    The article does make some comparisons.

    That seven-figure spending, noted earlier by campaign finance expert Rob Pyers on Twitter, comes as the group spends relatively little on direct political activity. The super PAC shelled out $364,000 to Galen and Steslow’s companies to run independent expenditures opposing Trump and his Republican allies in Congress. But just 52 percent of that money went to buying and placing ads, with the rest spent on producing the ads themselves.

    That’s an unusually high rate for production costs compared to most super PACs. At least 2 percent of independent expenditures from pro-Trump super PAC America First Action this cycle were labeled as production costs, with the rest going to ad buying. And that group has come under fire from Republican operatives for spending donors’ money generously.

    It’s rare that a super PAC gets more than half of its funds from small donors. Of groups raising over $1 million this cycle, only 29 have done so. At least a dozen of those are so-called scam PACs that make their money by sending out automated robocalls to older Americans and spend next-to-nothing on actual political activity. Several other small-dollar super PACs are pro-Trump groups that have not received the president’s stamp of approval. Some of those groups have been accused of greatly inflating their political spending totals while funneling donor money to closely-tied vendors.


    I don't see the article as criticizing them getting so many small donors. They just stated it was rare.

    Do you really think those adds they produce cost as much as they are spending? Honesty they look like something anyone with the right programs can make easily. I think its more likely that they are inflating the costs of production and pocketing the money. Wouldn't they want to spend more money on placing the ads if their goal is to defeat Trump.

    I don't know how you can claim that they clearly aren't fleecing their donors when that appears to be the case. When you also consider how Rick Wilson lied and enriched himself it certainly seems plausible.
     
    I know you didn’t actually read that entire article, did you? First of all it’s from May 7th. Second, there’s this: “Another firm, Howe Creative, appears to produce some of The Lincoln Project’s ads, but also isn’t listed as being paid by the super PAC. This suggests that Galen and Steslow’s companies are likely paying these firms as subcontractors. This process is also used by the Trump campaign to hide the specifics of its spending.“ Emphasis mine.

    Also this:
    “Roughly 59 percent of the Lincoln Project’s $2.5 million haul this cycle comes from small donors giving $200 or less. That significant small-dollar proportion could be partially due to the popularity of the group’s members on Twitter. The Lincoln Project’s most prominent voices on social media include Conway, along with former GOP strategists Steve Schmidt and Rick Wilson. Those anti-Trump Republicans have promoted the group on high-profile cable channels like MSNBC and have authored opinion pieces in major news outlets including the Washington Post and the Daily Beast.

    It’s rare that a super PAC gets more than half of its funds from small donors. Of groups raising over $1 million this cycle, only 29 have done so. At least a dozen of those are so-called scam PACsthat make their money by sending out automated robocalls to older Americans and spend next-to-nothing on actual political activity. Several other small-dollar super PACs are pro-Trump groups that have not received the president’s stamp of approval. Some of those groups have been accused of greatly inflating their political spending totals while funneling donor money to closely-tied vendors.” Emphasis mine.

    So, it appears The Lincoln Project is largely funded by small donations from individuals in the same vein as several pro-Trump PACS, except for the fact that they appear to get their donations from the high profiles of the founding members, rather than robocalls to elderly Fox viewers.

    Overall, it’s not surprising that they share similarities with the Trump campaign and some Trump PACS, since they are all Republicans.

    So, what does any of this prove, SFL? What point do you think you just made?
    Why do you keep asking me if I read the articles I posted? Because the last 2 also criticize Trump?

    I think the article shows that the Lincoln Project is most likely fleecing it's donors by inflating the production costs of their videos and spending little on add buys.
     
    didn't want to start a new thread and it can kind of here. Now here is something you don't see every day

     
    didn't want to start a new thread and it can kind of here. Now here is something you don't see every day



    I kind of thought it would start earlier than this, but I thought the Republican party would start fracturing. The RINO stuff from the outside seems to be getting really stringent.
     
    So, does Coulter want McGrath to win? I’m honestly confused.
     
    Why do you keep asking me if I read the articles I posted? Because the last 2 also criticize Trump?

    I think the article shows that the Lincoln Project is most likely fleecing it's donors by inflating the production costs of their videos and spending little on add buys.

    no, because your sweeping summaries of what an article says are often not supported by reading the entire article. And you have just proved it. The article does not “show” that the Lincoln Project is fleecing their donors, nor that it is inflating production costs. It suggests that other PACS have done so, and that TLP “might” be following that road. You have a preconceived notion and you are practicing confirmation bias, as I see it.

    The article is from May, since then they have put out a lot of content. They are not making huge ad buys, just modest ones, rather they are counting on internet exposure and exposure from friendly media outlets, like MSNBC. Therefore, their expenses will be almost all “production”. As the election season goes on, we can judge whether they are on the up and up or not, but relying on this simple piece done the first week in May is really weak sauce to assert what you are asserting.
     
    I kind of thought it would start earlier than this, but I thought the Republican party would start fracturing. The RINO stuff from the outside seems to be getting really stringent.

    Honestly me too. I thought it would started at mid terms. But many are feed up.
     
    Why is she calling McConnell a RINO?

    outside of getting judges confirmed Cocaine Mitch is completely useless

    So, does Coulter want McGrath to win? I’m honestly confused.

    I look at it as she wants Mitch to lose more then McGrath to win. But then again there is another woman who screams and yells about how much of a conservative she is (she does loathe Trump) yet gives money to "far" left candidates constantly.
     
    no, because your sweeping summaries of what an article says are often not supported by reading the entire article. And you have just proved it. The article does not “show” that the Lincoln Project is fleecing their donors, nor that it is inflating production costs. It suggests that other PACS have done so, and that TLP “might” be following that road. You have a preconceived notion and you are practicing confirmation bias, as I see it.

    The article is from May, since then they have put out a lot of content. They are not making huge ad buys, just modest ones, rather they are counting on internet exposure and exposure from friendly media outlets, like MSNBC. Therefore, their expenses will be almost all “production”. As the election season goes on, we can judge whether they are on the up and up or not, but relying on this simple piece done the first week in May is really weak sauce to assert what you are asserting.
    Did you miss the part where I said most likely? That's not a definitive statement right? I didn't claim that they are the only PAC that's possibly doing that.
     
    ”Most likely“ is a bit strong for the evidence, which is essentially nothing, though. May be splitting hairs, but I would have said “possibly” for that article. Then we could have a discussion.

    In other words, don’t overplay your hand, it’s a lesson I am still struggling to learn. 😁
     

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