Republican operatives pushing GOP turnout for Biden with new super PAC
Republican operatives are reportedly launching a super PAC to help encourage GOP voters to head for the ballot box in support of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden.
Axios reported Wednesday that Right Side PAC will include former officials from the Trump and George W. Bush administrations, including Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served as President Trump’s communications director.
Scaramucci, who was fired after 10 days in the White House, said he’s “very confident that we can convince a large group of Republican voters that Biden is the right person to vote for if they want to stay true to their principles and to the legacy of the Republican Party.”
Founder Matt Borges, the former Ohio GOP chair, told the news outlet that the PAC aims to identify former Trump supporters across the country who are displeased with the president’s performance in office.
The plan is to lay out the former vice president’s record on free trade, states’ rights, federal spending and respecting U.S. diplomatic and military alliances, as well as his stance as a devout Catholic, according to Axios.
The GOP operatives will seek to identify disaffected Republicans who could be persuaded to vote for Biden in November, noting that this group never would have formed if Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) or Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) had secured the Democratic nomination.
“We’re not trying to become Democrats,” Borges told Axios. “I intend to vote for every other Republican on the ballot. And I expect that there are others like me who aren’t looking to leave the party.”
The group will reportedly target voters in the battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, North Carolina and Florida through digital, mail and telephone outreach. They will also encourage absentee voting, Borges told Axios.
The Right Way will focus on data and voter turnout, Borges said, while other prominent anti-Trump groups such as George Conway’s The Lincoln Project concentrate more on TV ads and broader messaging.
Borges publicly clashed with Trump during the 2016 election cycle.
The GOP state leader, who supported former Ohio Gov. John Kasich in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, was open about his hesitance to vote for Trump following the release of the controversial “Access Hollywood” tape of the real estate mogul and “Apprentice” star talking about grabbing women by the genitals. However, Borges ultimately said he would vote for Trump.
The Trump campaign denounced Borges, accusing him of using his position to advance his own campaign to become the next Republican National Committee chairman.
Trump then celebrated when Borges was replaced as chair of the Ohio Republican Party.
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