This screenshot from an ad by The Lincoln Project shows President Donald Trump speaking as a narrator discusses COVID-19 deaths under the president’s watch.
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WILKES-BARRE — If you aren’t familiar with the work of The Lincoln Project, you may well be after this week.
Founded by current and former Republicans, the political action group, which opposes President Donald Trump’s reelection efforts, plans to launch a significant TV ad campaign in key swing states, including Pennsylvania.
Reed Galen, one of the co-founders of the Lincoln Project, took time Friday to talk about the ad blitz. As part of a $4 million ad buy across eight swing states, the Lincoln Project is airing three ads: “Mourning in America,” “Memories,” and “Decency.”
Two of the spots seek to spotlight the Trump Administration’s failings on containing the spread of COVID-19. The third shows the contrast between Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
“Mourning in America” is a take on Ronald Regan’s famous “Morning in America” ad. This ad highlights Trump’s failures to manage the COVID-19 pandemic — it highlights the number of lives lost and the economic fallout (jobs, etc.).
“Memories” — This spot highlights all of the memories that could have been during these last six months — birthdays, weddings, etc. The goal of this ad is to spotlight how the Trump Administration’s failure to manage the virus has cost Americans in countless ways, one of which being making memories with the ones they love.
The ads began airing Monday and are running through the rest of this week. These ads are showing on cable and broadcast in the Harrisburg market and Pittsburgh market), with some permeation into the northeast part of the state.
The two ads, “Mourning in America” and “Memories,” as well as several others, are running statewide digitally.
Galen talked most about the “Decency” ad and how it shows the difference in the character of Biden and Trump.
“The ad shows that decency natters,” Galen said. “It’s not about scaring people or dividing people. Joe Biden is a decent man. Trump is a fundamentally indecent man.”
Galen said his group can not underestimate the effect of Trump, FOX News and Facebook have on the voting public.
Galen said he and the other co-founders established The Lincoln Project in December 2019. The other founders are: Rick Wilson; Steve Schmidt, George Conway, Mike Madrid, Jennifer Horn, and John Weaver.
“Many of us had known each other from politics over the years,” Galen said.
He said after writing several op-ed columns, the group decided to take it a step further.
“We decided it was time to really figure out how to take the fight to the President — to really move the needle,” Galen said. “we knew we couldn’t fight Trump in a conventional manner.”
So far, Galen said, the strategy has worked and they have been able to “move the needle.”
Galen said The Lincoln Project has thousands of volunteers in many key states.
“This is an incredible consequential election,” Galen said. “The President has failed on COVID, but this is not just about COVID. It’s about where the country goes over the next four years.”
Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.