Defeat Trump, Save America

Stand In Line, Stand Together. Victory is In Sight.

The Lincoln Project team is gathered in Washington, D.C., for election night. Andrew and Becki brought Winnie along, my first granddaughter, nearly three months old, and she’s alert, happy, and beautiful, Winnie has been a constant thought in my mind these days—the future she faces, the world we’ll hand down to her if we stumble now.

As I held her this morning, I felt a confidence settle over me—a belief that she, too, will know what it means to be free, to live the American life with all its unpredictable twists and turns, victories and stumbles. Today’s vote isn’t just another election; it’s a safeguard for her future and for every little girl who’ll step into a world we can scarcely imagine but must secure.

This fight is personal for each of us, and it’s profoundly urgent.

As you stand in line today, think about how far we’ve come and what’s at stake.

Today is our Normandy. And yes, that’s a weighty analogy, but it fits: just as the Allied forces landing on that blood-stained beach marked the beginning of the end for Hitler, so, too, does today mark our stand against Trumpism. This election is not merely a contest of politics; it is a reckoning—a final call to push Trump’s twisted, malignant vision back into the darkness.

Victory, however, is not simply an end.

We owe ourselves an obligation to remember exactly what brought us here.

Recall the financiers and enablers who saw in Trump a vessel for their ambitions, who stood by him as his poison seeped into the bloodstream of American politics.

Remember the media voices who made light of his cruelty, who treated his grotesque whims as mere quips, as though his bigotry were just some punchline they could laugh off later. And don’t forget the Silicon Valley broligarchs who saw in him a route to their dystopian fantasies of a post-democracy America.

Consider the cost. Lives lost to COVID, faith shattered in our democracy. For Trump, these weren’t tragedies—they were inconveniences, numbers on a spreadsheet.

But those numbers were neighbors, friends, family members. And for every act of harm, every bout of corruption and scandal, our nation’s honor was tarnished further. Remember why almost no one from his own administration dares endorse him now, save for the cowardly remnants scrambling to protect their own futures.

Today, Americans across the nation—from the first votes cast in Dixville Notch to the polling lines snaking around high schools, fire stations, libraries—are standing up for the soul of this nation. These aren’t just votes for Kamala Harris over Donald Trump; they are declarations of who we are and who we refuse to become.

Enough is enough.

This is about character—not just the character of the person who will sit in the Oval Office but the character of America itself. This election forces us to decide what we want this nation to represent for the next fifty years: honor or shame, dignity or cruelty. As you stand in those lines, shoulder-to-shoulder with friends and strangers alike, understand that we are bound by an ancient obligation, written in the sacrifices of those who bled for democracy.

This is a nation built on courage and resilience, and though we have drifted off course in this past decade, tempted by a man who preaches revenge and conspiracy, our history demands we find our way back. Trump has invited us to abandon our better angels, to wallow with him in the darkness, to become something less than what America stands for.

For nearly a decade, I’ve fought this fight. It has cost me success, wealth, safety, and position. And I would do it all again. The stakes demand it. Many believed this battle was won in 2020, but January 6th showed us otherwise. Trumpism is a toxin in our politics, a dangerous mutation of American conservatism that will take years to overcome.

That’s why today, your vote is essential.

Kamala Harris must win tonight—not by a sliver but with a decisive mandate. Stand in line, stay in line, cast your vote with the conviction that this is America’s liberation. We’re not storming a beach or facing down police dogs and batons; we’re standing up, voting, and choosing freedom.

In politics, pain is the ultimate teacher, and today, our lesson to Trump and his enablers is clear. Deny them the power they have abused. Deny them not only the presidency but any semblance of legitimacy in our nation’s future. This is the beginning of the end for them.

All we have to do is vote.

Finish him.

And to those of you who’ve sent kind words and thanks over these last days—know that I am deeply grateful. This isn’t just my fight; it’s ours.

I am so grateful to be an American, to day, and every day,

Rick