A review by claudiaswisher
Running Against the Devil: A Plot to Save America from Trump--And Democrats from Themselves by Rick Wilson
5.0
To call Rick Wilson an 'evil genius' does not give the man credit. I'm sure he's never done a thing in his life without calculating the pros and cons. He is brutally honest here, and it is frightening to see. He uses years of active work as a political GOP operative to work here, in devising a plan to take Trump down.
I'm actually glad I didn't read this earlier, because I can see, in hindsight, much strategy play out...
He is merciless about the same Dems my husband is...mealy-mouths who act above the fray. The ones who righteously vote third party, totally unaware they are voting for a GOP plant with the express intent of peeling Dem votes away from our own candidate. I did that against Carter, we saw it play out last election against Clinton, and the GOP got too ham-handed this year, with their blatant attempts to get Kanye West on the ballot in several states (mine included).
But this goes deeper...Wilson reminds us what we forgot (and still whine about) last time...the election is NOT a nation-wide race. It's state races. It's targeted state races...those few states where one or the other party can actually make a difference in the real game: Electoral College. Pyrrhic victories don't win the WH. Down and dirty state races do. We learned the hard way. He tells us to stop looking at national polls all together. Just stop.
He warns the Dems to nominate someone who can stay on message, and the message is Donald Trump and his vile leadership. This was written, as was Phouffe's, before Covid landed here and upended everything, but I think the Dems did a good job (I'm finally writing this election day...) of keeping the focus be on Trump's many failures. Failures of personality, of policies, of dispositions. Biden and the Dems seem to have run that disciplined race Wilson warned us to run. They have also, I believe, played the battleground states job much better than in 2016. Time will tell.
No one knew that Wilson and other GOP operatives, totally disgusted with what Trump has done to 'their' party would form the Lincoln Project. I see a lot of their tactics suggested in these pages. Wilson and the others knew exactly where and how to hit Trump.
He ends the book on election night, with the Dem nominee (obviously nameless...but often he uses 'she' when describing them) winning WI, PA, MI, MN, NC, NH, NV, with OH and FL in play. I'm keeping this list to see how close his predications were.
IF Trump wins a second term, it won't be because Rick Wilson held back any campaign secrets, or because he didn't work his ass off.
I'm actually glad I didn't read this earlier, because I can see, in hindsight, much strategy play out...
He is merciless about the same Dems my husband is...mealy-mouths who act above the fray. The ones who righteously vote third party, totally unaware they are voting for a GOP plant with the express intent of peeling Dem votes away from our own candidate. I did that against Carter, we saw it play out last election against Clinton, and the GOP got too ham-handed this year, with their blatant attempts to get Kanye West on the ballot in several states (mine included).
But this goes deeper...Wilson reminds us what we forgot (and still whine about) last time...the election is NOT a nation-wide race. It's state races. It's targeted state races...those few states where one or the other party can actually make a difference in the real game: Electoral College. Pyrrhic victories don't win the WH. Down and dirty state races do. We learned the hard way. He tells us to stop looking at national polls all together. Just stop.
He warns the Dems to nominate someone who can stay on message, and the message is Donald Trump and his vile leadership. This was written, as was Phouffe's, before Covid landed here and upended everything, but I think the Dems did a good job (I'm finally writing this election day...) of keeping the focus be on Trump's many failures. Failures of personality, of policies, of dispositions. Biden and the Dems seem to have run that disciplined race Wilson warned us to run. They have also, I believe, played the battleground states job much better than in 2016. Time will tell.
No one knew that Wilson and other GOP operatives, totally disgusted with what Trump has done to 'their' party would form the Lincoln Project. I see a lot of their tactics suggested in these pages. Wilson and the others knew exactly where and how to hit Trump.
He ends the book on election night, with the Dem nominee (obviously nameless...but often he uses 'she' when describing them) winning WI, PA, MI, MN, NC, NH, NV, with OH and FL in play. I'm keeping this list to see how close his predications were.
IF Trump wins a second term, it won't be because Rick Wilson held back any campaign secrets, or because he didn't work his ass off.