More: Kemp "evokes a small-town banker cheerfully foreclosing your home or a smarmy, overgrown frat boy engaged in strip-mall development. But like him or not, the man’s political performance in 2022 was simply dazzling."
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Kenneth Baer
@KennethBaer
Founder Crosscut Strategies, LLC and , former Associate Director at WH OMB, author of Reinventing Democrats, reformed speechwriter.
crosscutstrategies.comJoined June 2011
Kenneth Baer’s Tweets
CW says Trump or DeSantis will be the GOP nominee. But, the best place to be at this point is under-the-radar & also in the public eye. When others wilt, wobble or whiff, this person looks like an attractive alternative. Gov. Brian Kemp fits that bill.
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This makes no sense. If it's a "lawless border," who seized all that fentanyl?
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Under Biden's lawless border policy, fentanyl seizures increased by 241% between the months of October and December.
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Come for the astute analysis of two Dem rising stars, stay for the 1980s New Dem cameos and the Tom McMillen kicker!
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NEW: I went to Harrisburg and Annapolis last week for the inaugurations of @JoshShapiroPA + @iamwesmoore and found…2028 well under way
Put aside that pining for Michelle Obama, Dems, you have a bench
My column:
politico.com/news/magazine/
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I've continued see commentary that the tech giants are over-staffed. Chronically. And that may be so. But it's also true that too few staffers is almost always a worse place to be than too many, as long as your cashflow can sustain it. And really ALL these companies ...
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Seems worrying that fewer than one in five Democratic primary voters support the incumbent Democratic President.
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As DNC's RBC meets, University of New Hampshire polling today shows President Biden doubling his 8% support in state from 2020 primary result:
Buttigieg 23%
Biden 18%
Warren 18%
Sanders 15%
(Jan 19 to Jan 23, 2023, 346 likely Dems)
bit.ly/3HwZtBO
Yet again, uses the inflammatory & false "apartheid" allegation against Israel. As we've said before, this rhetoric only hinders constructive conversation. One can be critical of Israel without resorting to incendiary language & misinformation. adl.org/resources/glos
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If Dem leaders want to reclaim the mantle as the party of patriotism, they should like to leaders like & . The latest from & : thehill.com/opinion/campai
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.@iamwesmoore's messaging on patriotism is some of the best I've heard from a Dem elected official. Time stamp 4:26 on @TheView last week: youtube.com/watch?v=Iv8vWO
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good news but fairly incriminating indictment that no major US outlet has a strong media column/critic.
NYT killed public editor
WP eliminated ombudsman
CNN cancelled media show
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Inbox; @sulliview joins The Guardian to be a weekly columnist on media, politics and culture.
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1. Not everyone can be an outlier. By the time we reach 75, creativity, originality, & productivity are beginning to wane for the majority of us. There are exceptions to the rule, but too many ‘American immortals’ assume that they’ll be the anomaly.
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3. U.S. life expectancy has slightly dropped in recent years, and there are significant disparities in life expectancy in the US. We should focus on these problems not on extending lifespans with no regard to quality of life.
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2. Death is a loss but living too long is also a loss. It leaves most of us debilitated and unable to contribute to society. We are no longer remembered as being vibrant and engaged, but instead as feeble and ineffectual.
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Great talking with about my 2014 piece. Here are 3 key points I find often get lost in the discussion 🧵...
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Don't know how this plays out but message clarity and discipline tend to cut through. No one is firing at yet in the Chicago mayoral primary but he is undoubtedly gaining ground by focusing monomanicaly on the runaway top issue: crime and public safety.
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I’m running for Mayor to make Chicago safer for every resident. Having the support of people throughout our great city is what will make that possible.
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at some point it will sink in that:
1. classification laws exist for a reason and should be followed
2. too many documents, many insignificant, are classified
3. mistakes in handling are inevitable
4. world of difference btwn good-faith mistakes and purposefully defying the law
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NEWS: A lawyer for former Vice President Mike Pence discovered about a dozen documents marked as classified at Pence's Indiana home last week, and he has turned those classified records over to the FBI, w/ @jamiegangel @evanperez cnn.com/2023/01/24/pol
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BIG NEWS: Germany sends heavy Leopard tanks to Ukraine, approves Polish request, forms new tank alliance with other partners. with exclusive details of what could be military turning point
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I don’t think it’s a huge deal honestly but the difference between Trump and Biden/Pence is that when the documents were identified, Trump didn’t just say “oops” and return them the way I normal person would.
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No one likes us we don’t care.
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Pressure Grows in Frankfurt for Cancellation of Roger Waters Concert Over Rock Singer’s ‘Antisemitism’
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The Beatles- Help! (1965)
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“Philly is a much better team than the San Francisco 49ers”
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I just got pitched by a company that only allows meetings from 12 to 3. Made me sad for all the youngsters being trained to think that a profession is about isolation. Collaboration isn't a punishment. Solo time is important but collaboration makes a lot of work more meaningful.
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"The idea that Democrats can just turn up the volume on economic issues and ignore sociocultural issues when they are viewed as out of the mainstream is absurd."
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Look it's politics, I get it. You may disagree with Youngkin on this or that, or all of it. Whatever, that's fine. But the idea that there is a serious problem/crisis around achievement in VA - especially for marginalized kids - is not a jump ball.
governor.virginia.gov/media/governor
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For better or worse, part of the deal with public schools is that they are public and it’s not sustainable to try to have them operate as ideological vanguard institutions.
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If the Biden Admin wants a vibrant national capital, it must follow the President's call to "get back to work and fill our great downtowns again with people.”
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The federal government accounts for one in four jobs in DC. wsj.com/articles/washi
Smart analysis of where we are re 2024 from but I still think neither Biden nor Trump will be nominated and I don’t agree that no one will challenge Biden for the nomination. Someone will if he’s way down vs. DeSantis in many polls.
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Great piece by . We find you'd have to cut spending 𝟐𝟔 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 to balance the budget.
The spending cut rises to 𝟴𝟱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 if you exempt Social Security, Medicare, defense, and veterans.
crfb.org/blogs/what-wou (via )
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Republicans say they want to balance the budget — but meanwhile they have ruled out every mathematical path for doing so (cuts to defense, cuts to entitlements, wiping out nondefense discretionary spending, or raising taxes). washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/
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The GOP predictably finds fiscal discipline once there's a Dem in the WH. But it doesn't alter the fact that the trust funds need shoring up. It'd lead to better policy if Dems, w/unified govt, did the shoring. But I also get that the politics of that are difficult.
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NEW: House GOP eyes a series of legislative proposals targeting Social Security/ Medicare as spending and debt fights get under way.
But the politics are hard, and prospects dim, for some of their ideas -- including raising retirement age for young ppl
washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2023
DARPA remains underrated as a driver of innovation
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At tonight’s Philadelphia Sports Writers Association dinner, Rob Thomson said a coach from one of the teams the Phillies played in the playoffs told him playing at Citizens Bank Park was “four hours of hell.”
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Apart from fact of ongoing major US-Israel military exercise, see tucked away in this Israeli Air Force thread. Included in the exercise "American KC-46 refueling tankers, which will refuel fighter aircraft and bombers." First time KC-46 refuel Israeli aircraft. Message to Iran.
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Today (Monday) marked the beginning of the Juniper Oak joint exercise held with U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). The exercise tests collective U.S.-Israeli readiness and improves the interoperability of both militaries.
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In the mailbox today: dueling letters from and about how if you use both (as I do), you'll be out of luck because they can't make a deal.
This is no way to run a health care system. #dothedeal
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Mid Atlantic “winters” are becoming this weird chilly/wet but not really proper winter season that I don’t fully understand
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This announcement is deeply patriotic and optimistic about America, reflecting a similar approach as the "kid from Hope" and a "skinny kid with a funny name."
This is very different than the argument from the massively online, vocal left in recent years.
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Growing up poor, all I had was the American dream. It kept me going: as a kid sleeping on the floor, a student scrubbing toilets, a Marine losing brothers in Iraq.
Today, too many Arizonans see their dream slipping away. I’m running for the U.S. Senate to win it back for you!
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🍷 & 🧀? With 🏈?? 🤦🏻♂️
and his 49ers are about to learn why the Linc is the greatest home field advantage in football, playing in front of the loudest, most passionate fans in sports. Wager accepted. #FlyEaglesFly
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That’s a bald(eagle)-faced lie! The @49ers plan to ring Philly’s bell next week.
Say @RepBrendanBoyle, are you so confident that you’re willing to put up enough cheesesteaks to feed my staff against my California wine and cheese to treat yours?
#CryEaglesCry twitter.com/repbrendanboyl…
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Thank you to the 49ers for performing a great public service: beating the Cowboys.
But the Niners season ends next week at the Linc. Eagles are going to the Super Bowl. #FlyEaglesFly
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The inadequacies of the defense industrial base is an issue that gets a lot of attention on the center-right, but little on the center-left.
