🤫 K Street-Ukraine alliance

Plus: Swing views on Putin | Thursday, March 03, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Facebook   Axios Sneak Peek By the Axios Politics team ·Mar 03, 2022 Welcome back to Sneak. 🚨 Breaking: "Russian forces shelling Europe's largest nuclear power station." 🎧 "How it Happened: Putin's Invasion" will be available for download on Saturday. Axios World editor Dave Lawler uses our latest podcast to curate the best of Axios' reporting and analysis about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Smart Brevity™ count: 786 words ... 3 minutes. Edited by Glen Johnson.     1 big thing: K Street's Ukraine rush Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   Washington lobbying and public relation firms are offering their skills to Ukraine as Americans rally to its side amid Russia's brutal and relentless invasion, Axios' Lachlan Markay has learned. Driving the news: The latest entrant is the powerhouse firm SKDKnickerbocker, which is doing pro-bono work for the Ukrainian government, records show. The firm told the Justice Department this week that managing director Stephen Krupin, a former speechwriter for President Obama and John Kerry, would help Ukraine craft remarks to the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly. SKDK has close ties to the Biden administration. The firm did extensive work on the president's 2020 campaign. And managing director Anita Dunn was a senior White House aide during his first year in office. The big picture: Russia's brutal invasion of its democratic neighbor has galvanized Washington, and sources tell Axios that K Street is eager to lend its services. The more cynical view, expressed by some close to Ukraine's representatives in Washington: messaging experts see an excellent P.R. opportunity. Axios was unable to obtain comment from Krupin. What they're saying: A source familiar with Ukraine's U.S. lobby told Axios there's been a heavy influx of D.C. consultants offering pro-bono services. President Volodymyr Zelensky's U.S. allies are appreciative but wary, according to Daniel Vajdich. "Ukraine doesn't need hacks right now," said the lobbyist who represents a Ukrainian energy trade group, as well as a Kyiv NGO aligned with the Zelensky government. Keep reading.     2. Focus groups: Putin's "off the deep end" Demonstrators hold signs of Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden. Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images   Some swing voters say President Biden is taking the right stance by ratcheting up sanctions on Russia and keeping U.S. troops off the table — but some aren't sure Russian President Vladimir Putin would have invaded Ukraine at all if Donald Trump were still in office. Driving the news: These were among the key takeaways from our latest Axios Engagious/Schlesinger swing voter focus groups, held Wednesday, and analyzed by Axios' Sarah Mucha and Margaret Talev. The two panels were comprised of 13 men and women who voted for Trump in 2016, then Biden in 2020, and who live in the most competitive 2020 swing states. While a focus group is not a statistically significant sample like a poll, the responses show how some voters in crucial states are thinking and talking about current events. Why it matters: Former President Trump and some other Republicans have speculated either that Russia's president felt emboldened to invade Ukraine because he saw Biden as weak, or that Putin wouldn't have invaded if Trump were still in office. While the Russian president's true mindset is unknowable, if U.S. voters buy into such speculation, Biden's standing could erode — weakening Democrats' position in the midterm elections. The intrigue: All of the voters were able to identify a photo of Putin — no big surprise. But 12 of the 13 also were able to identify Zelensky — an unexpectedly high share. It may reflect the Ukrainian president's folk-hero status and mastery of social media, as much as Americans' concern about the conflict. Keep reading.     3. Exclusive poll: Red vs. blue on SOTU Data: Momentive   Americans who watched the State of the Union this week generally thought the president gave the Russian invasion the right amount of attention — but they wanted to hear more about the economy, according to a new Axios-Momentive poll. The big picture: Democrats and Republicans expressed diametrically opposed reactions in the survey (2,762 U.S. adults, March 1-2), Margaret also writes. "Excellent," "hopeful" and "strong" were the words Democrats used most to describe his remarks. "Lies," "poor" and "weak" were Republicans' top words. "Hopeful" and "lies" reflected independents' divisions. Keep reading.     A message from Facebook We're making investments in safety and security — and seeing results     Facebook has invested $13 billion over the last 5 years to help keep you safe. Over the last several months, we've taken action on: 62 million pieces of explicit adult content 51.7 million pieces of violent and graphic content See how we're working to help you connect safely.     4. Worthy of your time Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson had an ominous backdrop as she met with Sen. Ben Sasse. Photo: Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images   🐘 Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey is forgoing a bid for U.S. Senate, a blow to Senate Republican leaders who tried to recruit him to run, and see him as the most viable option to take out Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Axios' Andrew Solender writes in tonight's Sneak roundup. 🖊 Build Back Better has a "formal" replacement name, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters: "Building a Better America" — the same as the tagline of Biden's State of the Union address. 🗣️ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took aim at Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) for heckling the president during his speech on Tuesday. She told reporters, "I agree with what Sen. Lindsey Graham said. 'Shut up.' That's what he said to them. I think they should just shut up." 🦠 The Senate voted 48-47, along party lines, to pass a GOP resolution canceling the COVID-19 national emergency, owing to three Democrats and two Republicans being absent from the 50-50 chamber.     5. Pic du jour Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images   Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) left a committee meeting during his first day back in Congress. His recovery from a stroke can boost Democratic efforts to confirm Jackson, and pass a continuing resolution.     A message from Facebook We're making investments in safety and security — and seeing results     Facebook has invested $13 billion over the last 5 years to help keep you safe. Over the last several months, we've taken action on: 62 million pieces of explicit adult content 51.7 million pieces of violent and graphic content See how we're working to help you connect safely.   🙏 Thanks for reading throughout an historic week. We'll be back Sunday evening. Subscribe to Sneak or any of Axios' other free local and national newsletters through this link. Like this email style and format? It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 200 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. 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