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The Top Issue Is Very Clear

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In the first FiveThirtyEight/Ipsos poll, 52% of Americans said the most important issue facing the country was inflation. We asked Americans this question in a variety of ways, but regardless of how we asked it, the top answer was always the same: inflation.

“It’s true that a larger percentage of Republicans than Democrats or independents in our poll said they were concerned about inflation. But inflation still led the way regardless of party identification: About two-thirds of Republicans selected it as a top issue, as did about half of all independents and slightly more than 40 percent of Democrats. Inflation was the top issue for respondents of all age groups and for both men and women, too.”

FBI Records Reveal Matt Gaetz in Chaos Mode

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“Fifteen minutes before Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was due to go on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show on March 30, 2021—hours after a bombshell report that he was under investigation for allegedly sex trafficking a minor—Gaetz was shouting, repeatedly, at FBI agents in his family home,” the Daily Beast reports.

“This scene and others are detailed in previously unreported documents that shine new light on the sting operation, which Gaetz helped orchestrate in the frenzied days before The New York Times published the explosive report that changed the Panhandle congressman’s public and political life.”

Fox News Suddenly Quiet on ‘Great Replacement’ Theory

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The Guardian: “Over at Fox News, however, there was barely any mention of the white gunman’s alleged reasoning for opening fire at a supermarket, killing 10 people and wounding three more, in a predominantly Black area.”

“The absence of coverage of the motive was revealing, given Fox News’s most popular host, Tucker Carlson, has pushed the concept of replacement theory in more than 400 of his shows – and has arguably done more than anyone in the US to popularize the racist conspiracy.”

The Biggest Global Risk of All

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Ian Bremmer writes in his new book, The Power of Crisis, that the globe’s three great threats are the next pandemic, the climate emergency and the unexpected impact of disruptive technologies, Axios reports.

Writes Bremmer: “The speed of technological change is the biggest risk of all. Companies are now using artificial intelligence to figure out the most efficient ways to change human behavior in ways that profit them.”

He adds: “New technologies are already changing what it means to be human — and we have no idea where that might lead.”

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January 6 Committee Still Grappling with Focus on Trump

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Washington Post: “The tense discussion — which played out in a conference room tucked inside the world’s largest library, where members posed for pictures with historic texts such as the Gettysburg Address — reflected just one among numerous weighty questions the committee must resolve before nationally televised hearings kick off next month.”

“With only weeks to go, panel members are grappling with how to synthesize a complex investigation into a cohesive narrative — and how best to tell the story of what went wrong on Jan. 6 in a way that captivates and moves a hyper-polarized American public.”

Liz Cheney has been significantly more aggressive than Democrats on the committee — highlighting a problem that also plagued the two Trump impeachments.
Taegan

Barnette Won’t Commit to Supporting Her Rivals

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Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate Kathy Barnette (R) hinted to Breitbart that she might not support her GOP rivals if she loses today’s primary.

Said Barnette: “I have no intentions of supporting globalists. I believe we have ran out of room on this runway for this spaceship. I believe we have very little rope left to just roll the dice and we’ll see how it all works out on the other end. I believe our country is in trouble. I don’t believe we have much longer and I believe what I have done is I have made it possible where Pennsylvanians do not have to hold their nose and vote for the lesser of two evils this time.”

She added: “I don’t think we have room to just vote for any old warm body with an R next to their name. I think we can do better than that.”

Bezos and White House Battle Over Taxes and Inflation

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“The White House and Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos squared off on Monday over the Biden administration’s handling of U.S. inflation and its plans to tax the rich,” Reuters reports.

“Starting over the weekend, Bezos has been slamming President Joe Biden, accusing him of misleading the public on inflation by arguing that hiking taxes on corporations and the rich would lower consumer costs.”

“The administration responded with an unusually personal jab that suggested Bezos was trying to protect his wealth and undermine unions.”

Said Bezos, on Twitter: “Look, a squirrel! This is the White House’s statement about my recent tweets. They understandably want to muddy the topic.”

Elon Musk Says He’ll Vote Republican This Election

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Elon Musk said he plans to vote Republican in the upcoming election cycle after voting “overwhelmingly” for Democrats in the past, Insider reports.

Said Musk: “I have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats, historically. Like I’m not sure, I might never have voted for a Republican, just to be clear.”

He added: “Now this election I will.”

North Korea Has ‘Explosive’ Covid Outbreak

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“North Korea officially claimed zero Covid-19 cases until last Thursday. Now, Pyongyang says 1.2 million people have feverish, Covid-like symptoms, 50 people have died and the entire country is under lockdown,” Axios reports.

“North Korea has a 0% vaccination rate and meager health facilities, and it was already struggling to feed its population.”

Nikkei Asia: “After more than two years of insisting it was Covid-free, North Korea is now battling a massive surge of infections and is reaching out for help to its closest ally and main economic benefactor: China.”

It’s Midterm Super Tuesday

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“Of the 20 separate dates on the 2022 midterm primary calendar, none is more important — and potentially dramatic — than this Tuesday,” Politico reports.

“Polls close in Kentucky at 6 p.m./7 p.m. ET, North Carolina at 7:30 p.m., Pennsylvania at 8 p.m., Idaho at 10 p.m./11 p.m. and Oregon at 11 p.m. (Kentucky and Idaho are split across multiple time zones.)”

Vox: Tuesday’s primaries could say a lot about the future of both parties.

McConnell Takes On Isolationist Wing of GOP

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“Hours after meeting in Kyiv with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Senator Mitch McConnell issued a forceful counterargument to the isolationists in his party who have questioned whether the United States should be sending another $40 billion in aid to Ukraine,” the New York Times reports.

The Hill: “McConnell is framing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a clear threat to U.S. national security interests, espousing the muscular foreign policy worldview that Republicans were known for before Trump took office in 2017.”

Ukraine Gives Up Fighting at Mariupol Steel Plant

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“Ukrainian fighters have ended their weeks-long defense of a besieged steel plant in the strategic port city of Mariupol, as hundreds of combatants — dozens of them seriously wounded — were evacuated from the complex Monday,” the Washington Post reports.

New York Times: “The steel plant had been the final pocket of resistance to Russia’s bid to create a land bridge between the Crimean Peninsula and areas it controls in the east. Mariupol and its residents had sustained some of the worst and most brutal attacks since it was surrounded in early March because the city stood squarely in the way.”

About Political Wire

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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