The Platform

MAKE YOUR VOICES HEARD!

If Donald Trump loses next month, it will be in large part due to efforts by The Lincoln Project.

If you are active on Twitter or watch cable news, you’ve seen The Lincoln Project’s anti-Trump videos. They are unavoidable. They are amusing. And most importantly, unlike Donald Trump’s many claims, they are factual.

The Lincoln Project was founded in December of 2019. It is a political action committee created by mostly Republicans to help influence voters not to cast their ballots for Donald Trump in November. Their goal after November is the destruction of Trumpism.

The all-star cast running The Lincoln Project is George Conway, the husband of former longtime Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway, Steve Schmidt, John McCain’s 2008 campaign manager, John Weaver, John McCain’s 2000 campaign advisor, and Rick Wilson, a well-known GOP media consultant. George Conway has since announced that he’s stepped away from The Lincoln Project for personal reasons.

According to Federal Election Commission records, The Lincoln Project has raised more than $41 million within the past year to create advertisements to promote President Trump’s flaws. The Lincoln Project has spent 86% of its fundraising totals to campaign against Trump and other like-minded Republicans. The Lincoln Project spent an additional $3.5 million towards promoting Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The Lincoln Project currently ranks in eighth place among political action committees for the most money raised during this election cycle.

With a large bank account and tons of flexibility in the modern-day digital environment, The Lincoln Project can attract different age and political demographics by using ad space on popular social media websites, such as Twitter and Facebook. These advertisements will influence moderate and undecided voters.

I am a first-time voter and see informational commercials from The Lincoln Project that are at times, serious, comical, or both. It’s not just me that finds these 30 to 60-second videos interesting – so does The Lincoln Project’s 2.5 million Twitter followers.

Following the final presidential debate on October 22, The Lincoln Project posted an informational video on Twitter that pointed out how President Trump has failed to deliver on his promise to create a healthcare plan that replaces Obamacare. Within four hours of the video going viral, more than 24,000 people had retweeted the clip.

The popularity behind The Lincoln Project is a prime example of current Republicans who are uncomfortable supporting an unpopular incumbent president with serious flaws. Now that we are days away from the election, expect to hear more from Republicans who are not voting or supporting Donald Trump. Where are all the Democrats who are turning their backs on Biden and not voting for him?

The Lincoln Project has made it clear to lifelong conservatives around the country that not supporting Donald Trump next month is the moral thing to do.

Benjamin Schiller is a graduating high school senior in Boca Raton, Florida. Benjamin plans to attend Syracuse University in the fall with a major in broadcast and digital journalism.