Stuart Stevens: Republicans Are Desperate

Stuart Stevens, a former Republican media strategist who worked on five presidential campaigns and co-founded the Lincoln Project, returned to The Bulwark Daily to offer a grim diagnosis of his former party. He argued that the GOP is not merely losing elections but has been morally and structurally compromised by Trumpism, Russian influence, and a collapse of institutional integrity. The conversation ranged from specific Senate races to the war in Ukraine, with Stevens pushing Democrats to adopt a far more aggressive, simple, and patriotic message than they have been willing to use.

The Corruption of the Old Guard

Stevens was blunt about figures like Senator Susan Collins, whom he described as a politician who "has a great future behind her." He pointed to a detailed report showing Collins helped steer federal contracts to a defense firm whose CEO then illegally funneled money to her campaign through a fake nonprofit called the Society of Young Women Scientists and Engineers. When the scheme was uncovered, Cleta Mitchell—a lawyer involved in Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election—allegedly helped fabricate a cover story. Stevens called Mitchell "a force of anti-democracy evil" who now travels the country teaching local election officials how to "curate the vote." He argued that an aggressive attorney general could seek a restraining order against her for teaching