🤫 Biden's money chase

Plus: Top inflation talkers | Monday, April 18, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Facebook   Axios Sneak Peek By the Axios Politics team · Apr 18, 2022 Welcome back to Sneak. Congress' recess continues. ⚡Situational awareness: There's a reason a high-level U.S. delegation is headed to the Solomon Islands: the small South Pacific archipelago has unexpectedly become ground zero for U.S.-China competition, Axios' Dave Lawler, Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian and Zachary Basu report. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,022 words ... 4 minutes. Edited by Margaret Talev.     1 big thing: Biden to hit fundraisers on West Coast swing Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   Joe Biden is about to start raising money on the road for the first time in his presidency, headlining fundraisers on Thursday in Portland, Ore., and Seattle for the Democratic National Committee, Axios' Jonathan Swan and Hans Nichols report. Why it matters: The pandemic has severely constricted Biden's in-person ability to raise money, thank donors and motivate them to give more. Vaccinations, declining rates of severe illness and relaxations on gatherings make the turn possible. Rising inflation and tanking poll numbers make it necessary. The big picture: This week's events will give select Democratic donors their first opportunity to see Biden outside of Washington. Last month, he attended his first in-person fundraiser in Washington since becoming president. But there are hundreds of big- and small-dollar donors that are eager to interact with the president in person. Details: The fundraising events this week will support the Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund, a joint fundraising account benefitting the DNC and all 50 state Democratic parties. Biden is traveling out west to promote the bipartisan infrastructure bill that he signed into law last year. A White House spokesman declined to comment. How we got here: As a candidate, Biden promised to defeat COVID-19 and return America to some sense of normalcy. The persistence of the virus has complicated his task and been a consistent drag on his approval rating. After the pandemic hit, Biden ceased in-person fundraisers and switched to Zoom events, offering donors a pixelated picture from a "virtual photo line." Along the way, he became the first presidential candidate to raise more than $1 billion. Between the lines: Biden is a tactile politician and has missed the regular contact with voters — and donors — that were a mainstay of his 36 years in the Senate and eight as vice president. Last December, at a DNC holiday party, he expressed regret that he wasn't able to open up the White House to his most ardent supporters. "It's a genuine regret we haven't had a chance to personally thank so many of you who broke your neck for us — broke your neck for us when things didn't look good at all," he said. By the numbers: The DNC brought in more than $172 million from January 2021 through February of this year, Axios' Lachlan Markay found. But tens of millions came via transfers from a Biden campaign joint fundraising account, which ended 2020 with nearly $45 million in the bank, according to Federal Election Commission filings. The Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund raised another $14.5 million in that time and passed along most of it to the state and national parties.     2. Asian Americans fear anti-China rhetoric Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   Some lawmakers and advocates worry anti-China rhetoric on the campaign trail will be weaponized against Asian Americans, write Axios' Shawna Chen and Sophia Cai. Why it matters: In manufacturing-heavy, battleground states like Pennsylvania and Ohio, both with primaries next month, blaming China is a tried-and-true way to appeal to workers who've seen jobs shipped overseas. Congressional debate over the COMPETES Act, which addresses semiconductor production and competitiveness with China, also is driving much of the conversation. Driving the news: "It's us-vs.-them," Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), a U.S. Senate candidate, says in one ad driving concern on the Democratic side. "China's winning. Workers are losing," Ryan says in the ad, framing the fight as "capitalism versus communism. I'm not backing down. Are you?" In Texas, Republican House candidate Shelley Luther tweeted that Chinese students, whom she called the "next generation of CCP leaders," should be banned from all Texas universities, per NBC News. In Pennsylvania, Republican House contender Jim Bognet ran an ad saying, "We'll make China pay for the lies they told, the jobs they stole and the lives we've lost." In Wisconsin, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee took a more tepid tack. It ran an ad accusing Republican incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson of "rewarding companies that outsource to China." Keep reading.     3. Charted: GOP's talking point – Part II Data: Quorum; Chart: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), chair of the House GOP conference, talks about inflation more than any other member of Congress — more than once a day, according to new data compiled by Quorum and reviewed by Axios' Alayna Treene. Why it matters: Since Jan. 1, 2022, Republican lawmakers have mentioned inflation six times more than their Democratic counterparts, as Axios reported Sunday. They're focusing on it as President Biden gets hammered in the polls — and vulnerable Democrats fear getting sunk in the November midterms. Driving the news: While digging through the data, Axios learned Republican lawmakers are using the historically high price hikes to attack Biden specifically, rather than Democrats as a whole. The top hashtag used by Republicans is #bidenflation. Meanwhile, much of the Democratic dialogue is geared toward calling out corporations who are blaming inflation for price increases — despite increased profits. Progressives like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) are leading that charge. Keep reading.     A message from Facebook Facebook has invested $16 billion to keep you safe on our platform     Facebook invested $16B in safety and security over 6 years. The impact? Quadrupled safety and security teams. Developed industry-leading AI that detects harmful content and reacts as it evolves. Addressed millions of harmful posts and removed 1.7B fake accounts in the last few months. Learn what's next.     4. Worthy of your time U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) waves goodbye to poll workers after early voting in the state's primary. Photo: Dustin Franz/Getty Images   😷 The city of Philadelphia reinstated its mask mandate on Monday, the first major U.S. city to do so post-Omicron, just as a group of businesses and residents are suing the city to overturn the rule, Axios' Sarah Mucha writes in tonight's Sneak roundup. 💰 Wall Street veteran Nelson Peltz hosted a fundraiser for Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) at his Florida estate last month, according to CNBC. Several big-name Republican donors were in attendance, including Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman. 🌎 Migrants attempted U.S.-Mexico border crossings at the highest level in two decades, the Associated Press reports — that's before the expected lifting of a pandemic-era order that turned away asylum-seekers. 🔎 Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.'s fiancée and a former official on the Trump presidential campaign, met Monday with investigators on the House Jan. 6 select committee, according to CNN, NBC and other outlets. 📱More from Vice President Kamala Harris' interview with The Ringer about her love of Wordle: She starts with the word "N-O-T-E-S" and said she averages about four guesses to solve the puzzle. She said her online gaming habits also include The New York Times' Daily Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee.     5. Pic du jour Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images   White House press secretary Jen Psaki shared the briefing room podium Monday with the Easter Bunny.     A message from Facebook We build tools that give you control and help keep you safe     Real connection can only happen on safe platforms. So we build tools to protect our communities. Privacy Checkup, where you can manage your privacy settings and control who sees what you share. Industry-leading AI that detects and reacts to harmful content faster than ever. Learn about our efforts.   📬 Thanks for reading tonight! Please tell your family, friends and colleagues they can 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. 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