Americans For Prosperity (AFP), the branch of the Americans For Prosperity network where the Koch brothers are actively involved in financing political candidates, issued a memorandum making it clear that Donald Trump is not the best Republican candidate for the next presidential elections in 2024. In the document, AFP Executive Director Emily Seidel claimed that it is time for a Republican challenger "who represents a new chapter in 2025" in the face of poor conservative choices and growing Democratic extremism.
In the document, Seidel makes it clear that the Super Political Action Committee (Super PAC) will allocate a good portion of its donations to finance the presidential campaign, starting with the primaries, of a Republican candidate of its choice. According to AFP, they are making this decision because "the Democrats have already chosen their path for the presidential – so there’s no opportunity to have a positive impact there."
"Bad candidates" and "increasingly extreme policies"
It’s time we turn the page on the current political era. Read more about AFP’s efforts to expand its engagement in primaries https://t.co/TIfWR71GOU
— Emily Seidel (@SeidelSays) February 5, 2023
According to AFP's analysis, "broken politics today are producing a toxic situation in Washington, DC making it impossible to see the kind of progress on public policy at the federal level that Americans need." Two factors have mainly contributed to this situation, one for each of the main national parties.
On the one hand, and in clear reference to Trump and MAGA, "the Republican Party is nominating bad candidates who are advocating for things that go against core American principles. And the American people are rejecting them." According to the memo, "The Democratic Party increasingly sees this as a political opportunity. And they’re responding with more and more extreme policies – policies that also go against our core American principles."
The solution involves making "a good choice in the primaries"
The result is that the country is in a downward spiral, with both parties reinforcing the bad behavior of the other." To make amends, AFP says it is clear to them that the key is to make a good choice in the primaries. "Very few voters participate in primaries – and that’s where these candidates are chosen. This makes it impossible to get good things done in Washington. And things are likely to get worse before they get better," they said, before pointing out that "fortunately" AFP can influence the primaries through donations to finance candidates and its activists.
In other words, and this is explicitly stated: Looking ahead to 2024, "AFP and AFP Action will get engaged in more primaries at every level of office." In the document they highlight their contributions from 2022: "Last year, AFP and AFP Action engaged in 22 primaries at the federal level and nearly 200 more in the states. This was more than in any previous year. We won more than 80% of those races – and when we engaged in the primary, our candidate was much more likely to win the general, than when we didn’t."
In addition, Seidel stressed that last November's midterms also taught them that "the loudest voice in each political party sets the tone for the entire election. In a presidential year, that’s the presidential candidate." The Super PAC indicated that "AFP Action is prepared to support a candidate in the Republican presidential primary who can lead our country forward, and who can win."
A Republican candidate who can win
According to the memorandum, the activity and political investments made by the Koch network allow them to boast their claims since they made them by following a concrete pattern and analyzing the data:
If we look back at the investments we have made over the last 20 years, this is a moment we have been building towards. The states with some of our strongest and most effective state chapters are the same ones that will play a crucial role in the nomination of the next Republican presidential candidate. In fact, key presidential states, key senatorial states, and states with strong AFP chapters match up almost one-to-one. No one better than us to involve and mobilize people in these states. And because our teams are already in those states right now, working to improve public policy, and talking to voters, we can get ahead of the curve.
In addition, Seidel announced that it will invest "the necessary resources" to achieve its objectives. "With thousands of committed supporters across the country, AFP and AFPA are prepared to invest the necessary resources to empower millions of citizen activists and voters to turn the page on the current political era and help the American people to write a new chapter for our country."
