By: Cynthia Shaffer
Reel Urban News Op-Ed
Predictably, the opposition to President Trump is constant and resounding. What seems to be different this time around are media-described high-ranking Republicans and their quest to join a bevy of groups that have all endorsed former Vice-President Biden. They are decidedly against President Trump’s re-election and tout their Republican credentials as if their opinions and standing should be taken more…seriously?
By far the most high-profile of the groups is The Lincoln Project, but I can’t rightly say I’m making that determination based on any substantive standard. How do these groups measure success? How do they know what they are doing is effective? Even a cursory Google check of the ever volatile news cycle shows tepid coverage of The Lincoln Project, let alone the other groups vying for credibility based on their REP registration.
The Lincoln Project, Republican Voters Against Trump (RVAT), 43 Alumni For Biden, Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform (REPAIR), Right Side PAC…I’m sure there are more groups, but these are the ones listed at the Wikipedia link for The Lincoln Project. Most certainly, they are all united in their disdain for President Trump’s personality, but also most certainly they are all united in their utter abandonment of Republican policy. Personality over policy. If not for policy, then on what foundation does one base their party affiliation?
Michael Steele, the newest member of The Lincoln Project and an advisor for REPAIR, said it best in his radio interview with Stacy Washington, radio host of Stacy on the Right: “Setting policy aside…” Why won’t Steele talk policy? He was the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) first Black chairman and is one of the better-known Republicans amongst this anti-Trump bevy. It’s unfortunate he won’t speak to the policies he has supported nearly all his political life.
Bill Kristol, perhaps the granddaddy of all the anti-Trump bevy, is the Founding Director of RVAT. He is best known as the founder of The Weekly Standard. For 23 years it circulated within Republican circles, but in 2018 the magazine folded. A kind of rather sad analogy of Kristol’s fall from grace as a once popular go-to Republican political analyst regarding Republican policy. Like Steele, he used to talk policy. Not anymore.
And then there’s Michael Brown who is part of the organizing committee for the group 43 Alumni for Biden. You know him, right? His bio at the website reads: 2000 Campaign, State, EPA. Joseph Duggan, with American Greatness, issued a retraction and an apology after writing an article confusing the Michael Brown of 43 Alumni for Biden with the Michael Brown who was director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) during Hurricane Katrina. Pretty sure most people don’t think of either Michael Brown when they hear that name.
Right Side PAC is the only organization that has the word PAC in its name, yet I cannot locate a website or social media handle. Where does one go to donate to this PAC? According to opensecrets.org, Right Side PAC has raised all of $124,932. Perhaps their claim to fame is Anthony Scaramucci’s involvement whose day job is investment banking.
Five organizations chock-full of establishment Republicans with the shared goal of electing former Vice-President Joe Biden, not because of his policy, but because of the President’s personality. Will they strike a chord with the electorate come election day with nary a mention of our cities literally being burned to the ground (policy)? Could it be these newly confederated Republicans are truth-tellers of their own personality, and policy is in absentia when it comes to their politics? Ergo they are just trainspotting…perpetually in wait to catch the next train that serves their personal ticket of relevance in a world where people politically live and die at the behest of others.
Or will the electorate strike a chord with them and once again deliver a jaw-dropping victory to the candidate who talks and walks policy?
