Democracy and Basic Rights Won. Bad Polls Lost.
Last night, all the anxiety and fear-mongering about recent polls collided with the American electorate. The results confirmed what we’ve always believed here at The Lincoln Project.
There’s a winning coalition of voters who hate it when MAGA extremists come after their rights. They reject the GOP’s descent into anti-democratic authoritarianism. And they’re ready to turn out to the polls and defeat them.
Let’s call it a not-so-silent majority. If you watch the mainstream media and buy the doomsday discourse about recent polls or the state of the economy, the existence of this majority might surprise you.
But it didn’t come as any surprise to us. We’ve been tracking these voters in our own internal data and targeting them with the messages you’re helping support every day. These voters are out there, waiting to hear a strong message for democracy, individual liberty, and their rights… and they vote. (You’re probably one of them!)
So last night, democracy won, our rights won, and we got another great indicator that we will win again in 2024.
Do you know who lost? Glenn Youngkin and anyone who thought his sweater vest would sniff the Oval Office. We’re lapping up some grade-A schadenfreude here at The Lincoln Project, but his loss does bring up another challenge.
A whole flock of prominent GOP donors were holding out on Trump. They wanted Youngkin to enter the race, and now that his political fortunes are going the way of the dodo, they’ll line up to bend the knee at Mar-a-Lago. (Where we’re serving ads driving Trump nuts right now, by the way…)
We’ve been prepared for this all along. Rick outlined how it would go in his “life-cycle of the GOP-mega donor” nearly two years ago. So yes, Trump will be lining his pockets with more billionaire cash. But Trump is still Trump—the guy who unleashed MAGA hell on America. And the revulsion voters feel at the ballot box is still real.
If you take away anything from last night’s midterms, let it be this.
Don’t be fooled by the polls. The 2024 election is Biden versus Trump. When the votes are cast, Joe Biden can win. Last night just proved it again: there’s a winning coalition out there that will go to the polls, re-elect President Biden, and send MAGA into the trash bin of authoritarian history.
-Rick, Reed, Stuart, and Joe