‘Authoritarian movement is on the march’: Lincoln Project ad outlines 2022 election stakes

In 2022, Democracy itself is on the ballot. That’s the message from the Never Trumpers at the Lincoln Project, who have a new ad spotlighting their commitment to fight for voting rights.

The minute-long “Protect America” spot will air Thursday and Friday in the Palm Beach and Washington D.C. media markets. Lincoln Project co-founder Reed Galen frames the new ad in the group’s larger mission, which is to thwart “authoritarian” Republicans.

“In America’s two-party system, we have one party that believes in our nation’s founding democratic principles and another that seeks to threaten those principles in the pursuit of raw political power,” Galen said. “Their authoritarian movement is on the march.”

Galen cites Congress members’ votes regarding certification of the 2020 Presidential Election and state-level bills designed to restrict voting rights.

“Last January, 147 congressional Republicans voted to overturn the will of the American People in the last election — and that was just the beginning. In Republican-led states across the country, legislatures have passed bills to restrict voting rights in a blatant effort to suppress voters’ ability to make their voices heard. In 2022, democracy itself is on the ballot, and at The Lincoln Project, we’re committed to spending everyday between now and Election Day fighting to save it.”

The ad tracks the “long American journey” in the fight for the right to vote, linking images of the Boston Tea Party and the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-20th Century, before warning that Republicans want to roll back the clock and “steal what so many Americans died to protect.”

“This is how democracies die. There aren’t good people on both sides in this fight,” a gravel-voiced male narrator warns.

The Lincoln Project has been recalibrating for 2022 after setbacks related to the Virginia Governor’s race. They laid out a “roadmap” for Republican defeat in an ad released in late November.

See the new spot below.