Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 191
Blue Wave Update
“It was once an article of faith that alignment with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee brought political blessings. No longer,” Bloomberg reports.
“Across the country, ties between U.S. political candidates from both parties and AIPAC are fraying. The war in Gaza has transformed the organization into a lightning rod and litmus test, while perceptions that the group’s political operations are increasingly partisan soured its relationship with Democrats in particular.”
Vanity Fair: “One year after Charlie Kirk’s murder, the MAGA movement is fracturing and the future of Turning Point USA—the influential and lucrative conservative youth organization he founded at 18—is uncertain. His politically reluctant widow now finds herself both its leader and a victim of the conspiracy mentality Kirk fomented.”
“Backlash against the nationwide data center buildout is threatening to shape the 2026 midterm elections,” NBC News reports.
“But the lead strategists behind one of the biggest pro-AI groups believe the political and policy fights around AI and data centers are merely ‘in the early innings’ — and they’re eager to shape the next ones.”
“A group of Democrats, concerned their party is not moving quickly enough to address voter anxiety about artificial intelligence, has started a political action committee aimed at spurring a response to the issue,” the New York Times reports.
“The organization, called Tomorrow Together and led by Democratic campaign veterans spanning the ideological wings of the party, is starting with more than $10 million raised from party donors and A.I. safety advocates.”
“A coalition of more than 600 historic preservation groups, architectural associations, Tribal governments and other organizations is urging Congress to block President Donald Trump’s efforts to weaken or evade laws intended to protect historic sites,” the Washington Post reports.
“Members of the new coalition say they are seeking to safeguard sites in every congressional district — and that they intend to pursue legal action if Congress does not act.”
“A leader within the Democratic Socialists of America admitted he and his organization have a burning ‘hatred’ for the U.S. Constitution and view it as an ‘obstacle’ which must be overcome by a socialist revolution,” Mediaite reports.
Fast Company: “Former Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo launched Raise Us, an initiative to confront what she calls America’s missing piece: a people strategy to match its technology strategy. Raimondo explains how she built a $500 million war chest, secured bipartisan backing, and signed up launch partners from Bank of America to Anthropic before the ink was dry.”
“The problem of AI displacement is a serious one, and Raimondo’s solution is nothing short of a collective reinvention of how America trains, transitions, and values its workers. The window, she warns, is narrower than most people think.”
Semafor: Raimondo launches AI project with backing of tech giants.
The No Kings movement has announced a nationwide event on June 14, “directly counter-programming Donald Trump’s 80th birthday celebrations and a Ultimate Fighting Championship bout on the south lawn of the White House,” The Guardian reports.
Bloomberg: “The companies behind the sports gambling platforms FanDuel, DraftKings and Fanatics Sportsbook poured $41 million into a new super PAC to spend on state-level candidates across the country.”
USA Today: “The left-leaning protests with the Revolutionary-era call against President Donald Trump as a would-be monarch and authoritarian had the broadest geographic reach of any single-day protest in the United States in more than a half-century. They included not only familiar precincts in New York and Los Angeles and Austin but also communities in all 50 states and every congressional district, including rural and Republican territory.”
“While the mood was generally sunny and marches largely peaceful, the third No Kings protests were an unmistakable display of political force that could reverberate in the 2026 midterms and beyond.”
USA Today: “With more than 3,100 events planned nationwide to protest President Donald Trump’s actions and policies, organizers expect the No Kings protests to draw millions of Americans into the streets March 28.”
“Two earlier No Kings protests brought out huge crowds, and organizers hope this event will be among the largest days of protest in U.S. history.”
“The group behind the nationwide “No Kings” protests are planning their fourth demonstration of President Donald Trump’s second term — and are anticipating even greater turnout than their earlier rallies,” Politico reports.
Andrew Egger: “It seems impossible to state this strongly enough: Pretti left his house on Saturday to do what he could to push back on the federal occupation of his city. Then they gunned him down in the street. It felt like a demonstration of maximum state hubris—that the government’s masked and jackbooted thugs could do what they liked to Pretti or anybody else. But just three days later, the thugs aren’t winning. Pretti is.”
“For now, at least. All victories against this administration are temporary. It is still headed by a raging, vengeful narcissist and stuffed to bursting with nihilistic shitheels; it’s safe to say they’ll find creative new ways to punish the American people for their own complexes and insecurities before long. But all anyone can do at moments like this is push back, and push back, and push back again.”
“Some of Silicon Valley’s ultrawealthy have been in a financial frenzy in recent weeks over how to protect their assets from a proposed California ballot measure that would tax their billions,” the New York Times reports.
“Now comes the next, more muscular phase: trying to beat the proposal, which supporters are trying to place on the ballot in November.”
“The first seven-figure political donation that can be used to defeat the so-called billionaires tax became public on Friday: Peter Thiel, the venture capitalist and chairman of Palantir, donated $3 million to a committee opposing the proposed initiative, according to a new disclosure.”
From a Wall Street Journal editorial:
“Heritage once supported free trade; now it is protectionist. It once supported a robust American foreign policy; Heritage purged its defense hawks two years ago. Heritage was a supporter of the originalist judicial revolution and the rule of law; now it defends Mr. Trump’s expansion of executive power whether or not it has a constitutional basis…”
“Heritage abandoned its principles, it is losing its people, and soon there might not be much left to donate to.”
“Former Vice President Mike Pence’s political group is poaching top officials from the conservative Heritage Foundation amid growing ideological fights within the conservative movement and backlash at the prominent foundation,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Pence’s Washington-based group… is slated to hire about 15 of Heritage’s employees including several of its prominent leaders.”
Explained Pence: “Why these people are coming our way is that Heritage and some other voices and commentators have embraced big-government populism and have been willing to tolerate antisemitism.”
“Jeffrey Epstein apparently served as a behind-the-scenes adviser to the former Trump official and MAGA influencer Steve Bannon during an August 2018 media campaign to defend Trump and his agenda, and to promote Bannon’s media ventures,” The Guardian reports.
“Text messages released by the House oversight committee on Wednesday detail a six-day exchange between the men from August 17 to 23, and show Epstein coaching Bannon on television appearances and political messaging.”
“The Heritage Foundation is no ordinary think tank. Since the days of Ronald Reagan, it has been the conservative movement on the march, delivering ready-made policies and battle-hardened pundits to Republican presidents. Heritage spoke proudly with ‘one voice,’ insisting that its scholars take a unified stand on key issues,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Today, that almost military discipline has collapsed, and many current and former staffers blame Kevin Roberts, who took over as the foundation’s president in 2021. They joke that the group’s operating principle is now more of a “one man” policy, with Roberts moving aggressively to align the think tank with the Make America Great Again movement. As Democrats revel in their electoral success this week, the divisions at Heritage highlight growing fractures facing President Trump’s winning 2024 coalition.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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