(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: An eventful week on the way to America's recovery [1] ['Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags', 'Showtags Popular_Tags'] Date: 2023-02-25 POLITICO: “They come for an hour or so, and they leave,” said Nora Wright, an assistant director for area nursing facilities, describing the “publicity stunts” by visiting politicians. “They don’t find out how we feel.” And people living in East Palestine said they were unsure about many things — whether the water was safe to drink, whether to remain in their homes, how to explain their headaches and bloody noses. And what to think about the VIPs making appearances in their hometown. Former President Donald Trump had visited the day before, offering pallets of self-branded “Trump Water” and seeking to energize his 2024 campaign. A producer for Sean Hannity was in town later Thursday, buttonholing locals during happy hour at The Original Roadhouse. Rudy Giuliani was in town too, for some reason. 👀 @FoxNews : "Regulations regarding train safety were changed during the Trump administration. This particular railroad and others lobbied President Trump to dismantle an Obama-era rule that would have required railroads to update their braking systems." pic.twitter.com/g5AfGeGfle William Saletan/The Bulwark: But halfway through the segment, when Hegseth asks what America is getting for “the billions we’re spending” in Ukraine, Mace turns serious. She points out that in 1994, we guaranteed Ukraine’s sovereignty in exchange for its agreement to surrender its nuclear weapons. And she says we can shorten the war by accelerating aid to hasten Ukraine’s victory. By the end of the interview, Hegseth is still grumbling, but he’s talking about clarifying the U.S. commitment rather than ending it. Hegseth, sitting in for Sean Hannity, begins the interview by complaining that Biden is spending more time in Ukraine than on the border or the train disaster in Ohio. He asks: “If you’re the American people, are you confident in this endless endeavor this administration is undertaking?” Tina Nguyen/Puck: DeSantis Donor Fears & Haley’s MAGA Turn A candid conversation about the political fundraising questions percolating in the pre-’24 landscape: Will DeSantis eventually alienate the Silicon Valley bigwigs? Will MAGA buy Haley’s act? What’s behind the Larry Ellison-Tim Scott bromance? And can George Santos keep from imploding? TEDDY SCHLEIFER: I bet plenty of DeSantis’s major supporters on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley actually disagree with him on abortion or gay-rights issues. But DeSantis, as a matter of rhetoric, has skillfully made his presumptive candidacy about the general feeling that the left’s social-justice warriors have gone too far—something that many in high finance privately do agree with, as long as it remains a generic notion and isn’t really tied to policy specifics. Take Ken Griffin, a moderate Republican and a DeSantis supporter, who is slamming “woke ideology” in schools. So that’s the donor point of view. But Tina, what’s your best guess for how activist diehards split? If there were an Ames Straw Poll held today, how do you think the vote would go down across candidates? Exact percentages, please! TINA NGUYEN: If you’re asking for numbers, the polls from last week are sort of all over the place—but there were a few interesting tells about the base’s inclinations. A Quinnipiac poll of “very conservative Republicans” found that Trump continues to beat the daylights out of DeSantis, 53-36. In a Harvard-CAPS/Harris poll, DeSantis actually dropped five points vs. Trump, commensurate with a 5-point surge for Nikki Haley (46-23-10), suggesting that she’ll peel off more votes from DeSantis than from Trump. That’s not particularly surprising, but it does highlight the challenge for DeSantis as more moderates enter the field. There’s a theory in certain Republican circles that DeSantis can only beat Trump if he’s the sole alternative candidate. Will his new culture war ploys, like pushing to ban diversity training at state colleges or browbeating the College Board into purging Black Lives Matter and slavery reparations from its curricula, turn off moderates? Maybe. But if you look at the rules of MAGA physics, there’s no question that the Trump brand still has a powerful grip on the base. That same Quinnipiac poll also found that 26 percent of voters still don’t know enough about DeSantis to form a decision about whether they like or dislike him. Trump may be polarizing, but he’s certainly not an unknown quantity—only 3 percent of respondents weren’t sure how they felt about him. That’s a blessing and a curse. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/25/2154836/-Abbreviated-Pundit-Roundup-An-eventful-week-on-the-way-to-America-s-recovery Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/