WEBVTT 00:02.366 --> 00:04.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Last night's Democratic Convention featured Republicans who will vote for Joe 00:04.900 --> 00:09.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Biden in the election, including John Kasich, the former governor of Ohio, and 2016 Republican 00:12.233 --> 00:14.333 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% presidential candidate. 00:14.333 --> 00:18.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Some Republican groups are going further, supporting a Democratic candidate in ways 00:19.200 --> 00:20.166 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% never seen before. 00:20.166 --> 00:22.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Our John Yang has the story. 00:22.266 --> 00:24.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: We want to get our schools open. 00:24.366 --> 00:27.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JOHN YANG: With slick ads, viral tweets and op-ed columns... 00:27.900 --> 00:30.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% MARCHERS: Jews will not replace us! 00:30.133 --> 00:32.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% NARRATOR: America is better than Donald Trump. 00:32.733 --> 00:37.733 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% JOHN YANG: New conservative groups are organizing to support an unlikely candidate, former Vice 00:38.800 --> 00:41.633 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% President Joe Biden. 00:41.633 --> 00:46.566 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% Rosario Marin was U.S. treasurer in the George W. Bush administration. Now she's a member 00:46.566 --> 00:51.533 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% of the group 43 Alumni for Biden. She says backing a Democrat over a sitting Republican 00:53.366 --> 00:55.433 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% president was difficult. 00:55.433 --> 00:59.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ROSARIO MARIN, 43 Alumni for Biden: Prior to him, I had been to five Republican Conventions 01:01.500 --> 01:06.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% as a delegate. I have been a spokesperson to five Republican presidential candidates. 01:08.466 --> 01:12.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But I couldn't do it for him, and I certainly couldn't do it now. To then go that other 01:15.233 --> 01:19.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% step, to go out and vote for a Democrat, it is painful. 01:19.500 --> 01:24.500 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% JOHN YANG: Another group, The Lincoln Project, is known for its ads targeting President Trump. 01:26.366 --> 01:29.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% NARRATOR: What does it say that he won't condemn the flag of hate? 01:29.166 --> 01:31.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JOHN YANG: Political consultant Reed Galen is a co-founder. 01:31.866 --> 01:35.933 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% REED GALEN, Co-Founder, The Lincoln Project: When we put out the "Trump is not well" advertisement 01:35.933 --> 01:40.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% about his shuffle down the ramp at West Point, it clearly pierced his bubble of unreality 01:40.966 --> 01:43.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% that he continually lives in. 01:43.533 --> 01:47.766 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And I think that's been our greatest contribution, is pushing him back on his heels, keeping 01:47.766 --> 01:49.766 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% him back on his heels. 01:49.766 --> 01:52.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: On Twitter, President Trump called them "a group of Republicans in name only 01:52.966 --> 01:57.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% who failed badly 12 years ago, then again eight years ago, and then got badly beaten 01:59.233 --> 02:02.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% by me, a political first-timer, four years ago." 02:02.800 --> 02:05.366 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% NARRATOR: They chose Trump. 02:05.366 --> 02:09.566 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% JOHN YANG: But Galen says the group's goals are wider than just getting under the president's 02:10.033 --> 02:11.233 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% skin. 02:11.233 --> 02:12.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% NARRATOR: Remember their actions. 02:12.933 --> 02:16.233 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% JOHN YANG: They are also challenging senators who support the president. 02:16.233 --> 02:20.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% REED GALEN: These folks have violated their oaths. They have abdicated their responsibilities 02:20.533 --> 02:25.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% as an Article 1 body in the United States Senate. And they have really forsaken any 02:26.733 --> 02:28.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% conservative values to support Donald Trump. 02:28.833 --> 02:33.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: The group plans to organize in the battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan, 02:33.233 --> 02:36.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Ohio, Arizona, North Carolina, and Florida. 02:36.600 --> 02:38.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% MAN: I'm tired of being embarrassed. 02:38.400 --> 02:40.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% WOMAN: I have been riddled with guilt. 02:40.400 --> 02:43.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% WOMAN: I am ashamed to this day of voting for him. 02:43.133 --> 02:48.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: Another group, Republican Voters Against Trump, is also targeting battleground 02:49.966 --> 02:53.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% states, collecting testimonials from GOP voters disenchanted with the president. 02:55.066 --> 02:57.533 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Conservative activist Sarah Longwell is one of the co-founders. 02:57.533 --> 02:59.600 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% SARAH LONGWELL, Co-Founder, Republican Voters Against Trump: People really don't like political 02:59.600 --> 03:04.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ads. But what they're -- really find persuasive are actually real stories. 03:06.066 --> 03:09.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I have been conducting focus groups for the last three years with what I would call reluctant 03:09.000 --> 03:14.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Trump voters. Those people now are very, very clearly have seen that Donald Trump is not 03:16.033 --> 03:19.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% fit for the moment, that he is not the right person to steward the country through compounding 03:21.233 --> 03:23.700 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% crises, a health crisis, an economic crisis, a racial crisis. 03:23.700 --> 03:28.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: But will these Republican-led efforts actually win Biden any votes? 03:29.866 --> 03:31.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Republican pollster Jon McHenry is skeptical. 03:31.900 --> 03:33.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JON MCHENRY, Republican Pollster: We have already seen a lot of those folks who would 03:33.966 --> 03:38.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% have been inclined to go away from Republicans, go away from this president have already done 03:38.366 --> 03:40.800 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% so. So I don't know that there's a lot to work with there for them. 03:40.800 --> 03:45.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: McHenry also points to Mr. Trump's strong approval rating among Republican voters, 03:47.766 --> 03:50.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% hovering around 90 percent even during the pandemic. The president says there's more 03:51.966 --> 03:54.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% enthusiasm for him than there was in 2016. 03:54.100 --> 03:58.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DONALD TRUMP: I think we're doing very well in the polls. And I think you have a silent 04:00.666 --> 04:05.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% majority, the likes of which this country has never seen before. This is a very important 04:06.633 --> 04:08.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% election. We have done a great job. 04:08.666 --> 04:12.200 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% JOHN YANG: But all three anti-Trump groups say the Democratic nominee presents a unique 04:12.800 --> 04:14.900 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% opportunity. 04:14.900 --> 04:17.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% SARAH LONGWELL: One of the most common responses I get in the focus groups to why did you vote 04:17.633 --> 04:22.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% for Donald Trump in 2016 is, people say: I didn't vote for Donald Trump. I voted against 04:22.433 --> 04:24.466 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Hillary Clinton. 04:24.466 --> 04:28.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And so it's hard to overstate how much of a difference it makes having Joe Biden as 04:29.833 --> 04:31.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% the nominee, as opposed to Hillary Clinton. 04:31.833 --> 04:35.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ROSARIO MARIN: I'm going to vote for Joe Biden because whatever I may disagree with him in 04:38.000 --> 04:43.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% his policies, I know he knows government. He has been there a long time. He knows how 04:44.433 --> 04:48.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% to govern. He knows what he can do and what he cannot do. 04:48.000 --> 04:50.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JOHN YANG: And you still consider yourself a Republican? 04:50.933 --> 04:55.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ROSARIO MARIN: Yes, a true Republican, a true Republican. I don't know what this guy is. 04:57.366 --> 04:59.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JOHN YANG: For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm John Yang.