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| Presented By Walmart |
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| Axios AM |
| By Mike Allen ·Feb 18, 2022 |
| Happy Friday! Smart Brevity™ count: 1,477 words ... 5½ minutes. Edited by Zachary Basu. |
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| 1 big thing: Squad politics backfire |
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| David Thompson (left) poses for a selfie with his son Lucas Tamayo-Thompson and friend Leanna Louie at a pro-recall party Tuesday in San Francisco. Photo: Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images |
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| The hard-left politics of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and the so-called "Squad," once a dominant theme for vast numbers of elected Democrats, is backfiring big-time on the party in power, top Democrats tell us. - Why it matters: The push to defund the police, rename schools and tear down statues has created a significant obstacle to Democrats keeping control of the House, the Senate and the party's overall image.
"It's what we've been screaming about for a year," said Matt Bennett, c0-founder of center-left Third Way, which launched Shield PAC to defend moderate Democrats. The latest sign of the backlash was the landslide (70%+) recall this week of three San Francisco school board members, who were criticized for prioritizing issues like the renaming of 44 public schools — including ones honoring George Washington and Abraham Lincoln — over a return to in-person classes. - Other factors like an abrupt admissions change to a prestigious high school were at play (all politics is local).
- But the most liberal city in the most liberal state decided that liberal activists had gone too far.
It's part of a barrage of evidence that the progressive activism of the Squad pushed the party's image way left of where most voters are — even most Democratic voters. This is a seismic shift from just a year ago. The signs have built steadily throughout President Biden's 13 months in office that Squad politics are problematic when you control everything: - 30 House Democrats — the most in decades — have announced they'll retire instead of running in November's midterms. They see little hope of keeping the majority in this environment.
- Democrats lose poll after poll of generic House matchups, which ask voters if they'd prefer an R or a D if the election were held today.
Republicans' decisive sweep of statewide offices in Virginia was powered in part by Democrats' failure to appreciate parents' skepticism about public schools' mask mandates, policies on transgender rights and approach to teaching about race. - Also in November, voters in liberal Minneapolis rejected a proposal designed to radically constrain police.
Zoom out: House Democrats' own polling and focus groups show many swing voters think the party is too "preachy," "judgmental" and "focused on culture wars," according to documents obtained by Politico. - An Axios-Ipsos Latino Poll found crime and gun violence are leading worries for Hispanics, whose once-reliable support for Democrats has cooled in part because of "fears of Democrats embracing socialist policies," The New York Times reported.
- Already in midterm races, Democrats in swing districts are scrambling to distance themselves from far-left movements to "defund the police" and "abolish ICE," The Washington Post found.
Former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota says her fellow Democrats are hurting themselves by not speaking out more forcefully against liberal positions that alienate rural America. - Heitkamp — who heads the One Country Project, dedicated to energizing rural voters — told AP: "Now, the brand is so toxic that people who are Democrats, the ones left, aren't fighting for the party."
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| 2. America's pandemic offramp |
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| Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios |
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| America is accelerating a return to pre-pandemic life — though millions aren't yet comfortable abandoning pandemic precautions, or feel downright threatened by the rapid reversal, Axios' Caitlin Owens writes. Businesses and governments nationwide are removing mask and vaccine mandates, loosening COVID protocols and setting return-to-work dates. - Governors — including in many blue states — are lifting mask mandates, as are many school districts. D.C. will dial back its indoor mask requirements on March 1.
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom yesterday became the first governor to announce an "endemic" COVID policy, emphasizing quick reaction to outbreaks over mandated masking and business shutdowns.
The CDC hinted this week that it'll soon revise its guidance. - "We'll soon put guidance in place that is relevant," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said. "We want to give people a break from things like mask-wearing when these metrics are better, and then have the ability to reach for them again should things worsen."
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| 3. Durham distances himself from right-wing furor |
From the Durham filing that ignited the right. John Durham, the special counsel looking into the government's investigation of Russian election interference, distanced himself from reports in conservative media that a motion he filed last week implied Hillary Clinton's campaign paid to spy on Trump White House servers, the N.Y. Times' Charlie Savage reports (subscription). - In a filing yesterday, Durham disavowed responsibility for how the filing was interpreted: "If third parties or members of the media have overstated, understated or otherwise misinterpreted facts contained in the government's motion, that does not in any way undermine the valid reasons for the government's inclusion of this information."
Hillary Clinton tweeted that Trump, who called the filing " bigger than Watergate," is "spinning up a fake scandal to distract from his real one." |
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| A message from Walmart |
| Walmart invests in the future of fresh produce with Plenty |
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| Walmart is the first large U.S. retailer to significantly invest in vertical farming — collaborating with Plenty to use technology to bring fresh produce to Walmart's California stores. The goal: Accelerate agricultural innovation, delivering fresh, pesticide-free produce to shoppers. |
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| 4. Century-old golf cathedral burns |
| Photo: Ryan Garza/Detroit Free Press via USA Today Network "One of Michigan's most eminent buildings — the white wooden clubhouse of the famed Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township — burned to the ground, ... taking with it a century of golf history," the Detroit Free Press reports. - The 750-member club has "many rules and traditions — proper attire is required, shirttails must be tucked and, if in doubt, dress up, not down."
The cause isn't yet known. Oakland Hills has hosted six U.S. Opens. - The clubhouse, which The Detroit News calls "one of golf's great cathedrals," was modeled on Mount Vernon.
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| 5. Putin paints self into corner |
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| Cover: Justin Metz/The Economist |
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| Even if Vladimir Putin holds off on invading Ukraine, he has made himself the center of global attention, "proving that Russia matters once more," The Economist writes in this cover story. - He has destabilized Ukraine "and impressed on everyone that its future is his business. ... And at home he has ... distracted from economic hardship and the repression of opposition figures."
But The Economist contends that "in a longer-lasting and more strategic sense he has lost ground" by galvanizing his opponents: - "Led by Joe Biden, who ... surely loathes the man who tried to deny him the presidency, the West has agreed on a tougher package of threatened sanctions than in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea."
- "NATO, dismissed in 2019 by the French president as suffering 'brain death,' has found renewed purpose."
And if he were to invade, the West would be more galvanized "and more determined to turn its back on Russian gas," The Economist concludes: - "Ukraine would become a running sore, bleeding Russia of money and men; and Mr. Putin would be a pariah. Russia itself would be blighted, in the short run by sanctions and later by still deeper [economic isolation] and repression."
🗞️ 2-column lead headline of print N.Y. Times (subscription): "FEAR OF WAR RISES AS SHELLING PELTS EASTERN UKRAINE." 🛰️ Go deeper: "Satellite photos give a bird's-eye view of Ukraine crisis." |
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| 6. Amid turbulence, Senate Dems hail Klain |
| Ron Klain speaks briefly with reporters at the U.S. Capitol yesterday after his lunch meeting with Senate Democrats. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images White House chief of staff Ron Klain, sometimes blamed for President Biden's problems, got applause and lavish praise from Senate Democrats yesterday at a luncheon meeting at the Capitol. - The conversation, which included other top West Wing officials, ranged from salvaging Build Back Better to the State of the Union on March 1 to the upcoming Supreme Court confirmation fight.
Overheard, via a source in the meeting: - Sen. Jon Tester of Montana: "I think the access that we've had in the White House and the agencies has been incredible. Like I've never had before."
- Senate President Pro Tem Patrick Leahy of Vermont: "[N]o chief of staff has been more available, more responsive than Ron. [I've] never called without getting an answer right away. And I've also enjoyed talking about some of our memories in the early days."
- Sen. Patty Murray of Washington: "[W]e are in a better place. COVID ... makes the most impact on all the things we're talking about. We were able to get through this in a better way because of the work of the people in this room and the White House that passed the American Rescue Plan."
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| 7. Mars rover: Now watch this drive |
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| Perseverance's tracks on Mars. Photo: NASA/JPL |
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| Today is the one-year anniversary of NASA's Perseverance Rover landing on Mars, Axios managing editor Alison Snyder writes. - Why it matters: The self-driving rover hints at future space exploration that doesn't require astronauts.
The rover didn't land exactly where it was supposed to. But for the past year, it has been exploring and making discoveries about Mars' history. - It spotted big boulders that scientists think were deposited by floods, suggesting the crater had filled up with water in multiple stages.
Now, it's about to head off on a roughly three-month trip to its original destination, in search of signs of ancient life. - Earlier this month, the rover set a record by traveling more than 800 feet in one Martian day.
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| 8. 📷 Parting shot |
| Photo: Rob Schumacher/USA Today Sports USA's Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier in today's figure skating mixed pairs short program. |
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| A message from Walmart |
| Walmart advances innovative sustainable food solutions |
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| Walmart and Plenty are working collaboratively to increase access to fresh food through vertical farming — supplementing traditional farming practices to ease system challenges. Walmart will source Plenty's leafy greens for its California stores from Plenty's Compton farm later this year. |
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