Stooges

The first time I recall ever having heard of Jennifer Horn was in 2008 when she ran for Congress against Paul Hodes (D-NH). In 2011 the very conservative Horn was elected chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party. No fan of Trump, though, she was a founder of the Lincoln Project and serves as a communications stagey consultant for the group-- in other words therapy her to write anti-Trump hit pieces like the one that was published by USA Today, Why Trump's Republican Senate enablers must be ousted this fall: Former NH GOP chair, yesterday. It was about Trump Stooge, the ad (up top) that the Lincoln Project produced and is running in Maine, an ad that is extremely damaging to Susan Collins.

"The Lincoln Project," wrote Horn, "generated strong criticism within Republican circles last week for 'going after' a member of the Republican majority in the Senate. We had released an ad comparing Sen. Susan Collins unfavorably to past senators from her state of Maine, including Margaret Chase Smith-- best known for being one of the few Republicans to stand up to Joe McCarthy and McCarthyism. Chase Smith was fearless and will be forever remembered for her 'Declaration of Conscience' speech in which she called out national leadership and declared the rights to protest, criticize and hold independent thoughts as basic principles of 'Americanism.' It is hard for any serious student of history to deny the common themes of McCarthyism and Trumpism. Both are constructed on a foundation of 'us vs. them,' suspicion of those who were not born in America, attempts to silence protest and dissent, and demonizing those who hold independent or unpopular beliefs. Margaret Chase Smith was a heroine of freedom. Susan Collins is not. And neither is any other Republican currently serving in the Senate, with the exception of Utah's Mitt Romney."

Mitt Romney? A hero of freedom? I don't think so, but remember, these #NeverTrump conservatives are... conservatives. They don't like Trump because they find him odious in the way most Americans do, but also because they judge him to not be a conservative.

Living in fear of a mean Trump tweet

The Republican majority in the Senate has become nothing more than protection racket for a president who has repeatedly declared he would accept foreign assistance in his campaigns and was impeached for trying to get a foreign leader to help him win.

And the Republican Party is angry that some of us refuse to go along for the ride. That includes the Lincoln Project, which is dedicated to the electoral defeat of Trump and Trumpism.

Donald Trump’s three-and-a-half years in office have been a relentless assault on the foundational principles of American democracy. He has driven the divides within our communities, undermined our ability to stand as an example to other nations, and battered our Constitution to within an inch of its life.

The president has sought to isolate our nation from our allies, cozied up to tyrants and dictators and defended white nationalists. He has attacked the free press and our right to protest and fired a military colonel for telling the truth about Trump’s corruption.

Last year, in a shocking action during these times of confirmed, corrupt attempts by America’s enemies to influence the outcome of our presidential elections, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, blocked a requirement that political campaigns report offers of assistance from foreign nations to the FBI. Trump thanked her publicly.

Now he is so mismanaging our response to a global pandemic that we have lost over 155,000 American lives.

Rather than strengthening their resolve to preserve the great ideal of America, Republican senators have become progressively more anemic in their response to this wannabe strongman of a president. They have become puny and faint-hearted, spineless and weak-willed. They have proven they are not worthy of the constitutional responsibilities bestowed upon them by their election to the esteemed United States Senate.

Worst of all, for over a year, Trump has ignored U.S. intelligence assessments that Russian President Vladimir Putin may be paying bounties to the Taliban for killing our soldierson the battlefield. Every day, hundreds of thousands of America’s sons and daughters wake up prepared to give their lives in defense of our nation, in defense of you and me and our families, and Republican senators remain feeble and limp before this president, living in fear of a mean tweet.

No heroic senators running this year

Throughout our history, our leaders have been the most eloquent and persuasive voices for freedom in the world. From Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence to Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation to Martin Luther King’s “content of character” speech, they have woven together the story of independence and freedom, inspiring Americans to rise up together, to fight and sacrifice for together, in defense of what makes our nation unique among all others.

When freedom and Americanism fall under attack by our own president, it is incumbent upon our leaders, regardless of party, to become defenders of liberty and voices for freedom. Margaret Chase Smith was one such American leader, responding to the attacks on liberty from within our own country; her voice will be heard throughout history as a guardian of freedom and democracy.

There are no such heroic voices among the Republican senators up for reelection today.

They have been cowed by this president. They have been silent when the country needs them to speak, weak when our nation needs their strength. And every one of them should expect to be held accountable one way or another. The Susan Collins ad will not be the Lincoln Project's last one reminding voters of these Republican senators' fealty and weakness.

Voting against a bill that would have failed anyway, opposing a procedural motion and dismissing the president’s threatening tweets as “jokes” does not excuse their feebleness in face of the grave danger Trump poses.

Elections are about leadership and accountability. Republicans will pay a price for lacking both.

Yesterday, Kyle Kondik at Sabato's Crystal Ball listed the dozen most likely Senate seats to flip, in ranked order. My list is a little different-- and a bit less optimistic . Democrats are not going to beat Cornyn (TX) and Ossoff is too weak a candidate to seriously take on Perdue (GA). The other Georgia Senate race is a jungle ballot with the top 2 candidates facing off January 5 if no candidate gets 50%, which isn't possible. In fact, there's a chance-- albeit a slim one-- that the runoff will be between appointed, corrupt incumbent Kelly Loeffler (R) and crackpot wingnut Doug Collins (R) with Raphael Warnock (D) and the son of the odious Joe Lieberman splintering the Democratic vote. Anyway, here's my list of most endangered to least endangered (albeit still endangered):

• Martha McSally (R-AZ)
• Cory Gardner (R-CO)
• Doug Jones (D-AL)
• Susan Collins (R-ME)
• Thom Tillis (R-NC)
• Steve Daines (R-MT)
• Joni Ernst (R-IA)
• Dan Sullivan (R-AK)

And, if God intercedes to teach the Republicans a lesson: David Perdue (GA) and Lindsey Graham (SC).