DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Mitch McConnell says Trump's 2022 endorsements limited the GOP's 'ability to control a primary outcome' which led to 'candidate quality' issues
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell blamed Trump for the GOP's poor showing in this year's Senate races. He reiterated previous comments on Tuesday about "candidate quality" issues with Senate candidates. "Hopefully in the next cycle, we'll have quality candidates everywhere and a better outcome," he added. McConnell also reiterated previous comments he's made about the party's roster of Senate candidates, including that he "never said there was a red wave." "I do think we had an opportunity to relearn, one more time: you have to have quality candidates to win competitive Senate races," he added.

☆ Kellyanne Conway slams GOP senators who didn't stump for Herschel Walker ahead of the Senate runoff: 'Why weren't you in Georgia?'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kellyanne Conway last week criticized GOP senators who didn't stump for Republican Herschel Walker. "Where were the other senators to say, 'I want Herschel Walker, not Raphael Warnock in the Senate with me?'" In last month's general election, Warnock edged out Walker 49.4%-48.5% statewide, which triggered a runoff as neither candidate hit the requisite 50% of the vote to declare victory. Warnock on Tuesday won the runoff over Walker 51.4%-48.6%. I don't like it because it's not Election Day, it's election season, election trimester.

☆ Florida Sen. Rick Scott says defeated Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker will 'continue to be a leader' in the GOP 'for years to come'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sen. Rick Scott said Herschel Walker would "continue to be a leader" in the GOP "for years to come." Scott made the comments following Walker's runoff defeat to Sen. Raphael Warnock in Georgia. The Florida lawmaker was a visible presence at many Walker rallies throughout the campaign. But throughout the course of the campaign, Walker's campaign suffered from a series of scandals. After the runoff loss, Republicans are continuing to do a lot of soul-searching, as every statewide GOP candidate besides Walker was victorious at the ballot box in Georgia this year.

☆ Meet the megadonors backing the Trump super PAC as some top donors opt out of supporting 2024 candidacy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Yet, the latest disclosure, which shows fundraising for the super PAC from Oct. 20 through Nov. 28, also lists nine other individual contributions totaling over $900,000. Wealthy businessman Timothy Mellon contributed $1.5 million to the super PAC on Oct. 5, according to the records. This small group of megadonors arrived in support of the super PAC just prior to other influential financiers deciding they will not back Trump's 2024 candidacy for president. During Trump's first run for the White House in 2016, Pate financed the anti-Trump super PAC We The People Foundation. Anthony Lomangino, a recycling mogul, donated $100,000 to the super PAC on Nov. 4.

☆ Before Herschel Walker announced his Georgia Senate bid, a law firm hired by GOP consultants compiled a 500-page dossier on him with potentially damaging information: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

GOP consultants hired a law firm to conduct research on Walker before his Senate run, per NBC News. The firm compiled a 500-page dossier on Walker, which contained potentially problematic issues. Walker and his wife believed that his goodwill among Georgians would blunt negative attacks on him. But Walker and his current wife, Julie Blanchard Walker, weren't discouraged by the report. The result made Walker the only statewide Republican candidate to lose their race in Georgia this year.

On Tuesday, for example, Fox News host Sean Hannity said Republicans “have been unwilling for whatever reason” to vote early and by mail. Ahead of the general election, registered Democrats held an 8-point edge over registered Republicans in Georgia in early voting. Now about to enter his seventh term, Schweikert said that Republicans in his state used to enjoy a robust early voting edge. Kirk, who had raised concerns about mail-in voting, changed his tune after the November midterms, tweeting that Republicans must recognize the “power of early voting.” But Johnson has called for a ban on mail-in voting. At the forefront of GOP concerns over early voting is Pennsylvania, where Democrats enjoyed an edge so substantial that Republicans did not come close to overcoming it.

☆ Marjorie Taylor Greene blames Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell for losing Georgia runoffs and says it's 'extremely insulting' she wasn't used more by Walker campaign
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Taylor Ardrey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene blamed GOP senators for Herschel Walker's runoff election loss. She also complained about how she wasn't invited to more of Walker's campaign events. During the interview, Greene complained to Bannon that she was only asked to speak at Walker's campaign events "a couple of times." "I was never asked by the Herschel Walker campaign to come to speak at any of his campaign events. They only asked me to come to maybe two or three in my own district," Greene said, adding, "which I find extremely insulting."

☆ Herschel Walker's wife had an 'obsessive focus' on her husband winning over more Black voters and felt he should have been receiving up to 50% of the Black vote: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Herschel Walker and his wife wanted to court Black voters in the Georgia Senate race, per Politico. Julie Blanchard Walker said Walker should've been getting robust Black support, per the report. An individual close to the campaign told Politico that her idea morphed into an "obsessive focus." The biggest complication in the efforts by the Walkers to engage with Black voters? And he campaigned extensively in those areas throughout the entire campaign, while Walker's overall campaign strategy targeted conservatives and the state's rural evangelical community.

☆ Strong midterm turnout in Georgia sparks new debate about a controversial election law
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Fredreka Schouten | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —The strong turnout in Georgia’s runoff election that cemented Democrats’ control of the US Senate is sparking fresh debate about the impact of the state’s controversial 2021 election law and could trigger a new round of election rule changes next year in the Republican-led state legislature. “There’s no truth to voter suppression,” Raffensperger said in an interview this week with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, a day after Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock secured reelection in the first federal election cycle since Georgia voting law took effect. State election officials had opposed casting ballots on that date, saying Georgia law prohibited voting on a Saturday if there is a state holiday on the Thursday or Friday before. In the CNN interview earlier this week, Raffensperger suggested that the Republican-controlled General Assembly might revisit some of the state’s election rules, including potentially lowering to 45% the threshold needed to win a general election outright. “There will be a push for this in the upcoming legislative session,” said Daniel Baggerman, president of Better Ballot Georgia, a group advocating for the instant runoff.

☆ Defeated Georgia GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker was 'absolutely shocked' he didn't win 100% of the vote in Johnson County, where he grew up: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Walker was "shocked" he didn't 100% of the vote in his home county last month, per The Daily Beast. The Republican carried Johnson County 74%-26% over Warnock, but was still taken aback by the result. While Walker received 2,484 votes to Warnock's 869 votes in Johnson County in November, Kemp earned 2,504 votes compared to Abrams' 867 votes. On Tuesday, Warnock defeated Walker in the runoff 51.4%-48.6%, earning a full six-year term in the Senate and denying Republicans a much-desired win. And Warnock gained ground in Johnson County in the runoff compared to the November election, winning 967 votes (29%) to Walker's 2,419 votes (71%).

☆ Mail-In Voting Fight Pits Donald Trump Against Ron DeSantis, Other GOP Leaders
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Alex Leary | Lindsay Wise | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The issue of mail-in voting has divided Republicans in the wake of disappointing midterm elections, with most key GOP leaders urging the party to embrace the practice and former President Donald Trump continuing to warn against it. Republicans including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis say the party has been hurt by relying more heavily on Election Day turnout while Democrats encourage supporters to vote early and by mail. Intraparty criticism intensified following Herschel Walker’s loss Tuesday in Georgia’s Senate runoff.

☆ Ronna McDaniel locked down votes for RNC chair despite the midterm debacle. Here's how she did it.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Jonathan-Allen-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Jonathan Allen | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

An ally, Richard Porter, an RNC member from Illinois, met with her in Washington to make sure she wanted to run for another two-year term. And the most ardent Trump critics among RNC members say McDaniel, Trump's pick for the post six years ago, is too close to him. Bill Palatucci, an RNC member from New Jersey, said he opposes McDaniel's re-election for that reason. For McDaniel to lose, an opponent would have to win the remaining undecided RNC members and swipe nearly two dozen avowed McDaniel backers. Lori Klein Corbin, an RNC member from Arizona who hasn’t committed to any candidate, said McDaniel hasn’t asked for her vote yet.

☆ White House says it has 'every reason to expect' Kyrsten Sinema will keep working with Biden as she leaves the Democratic party
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Kayla Gallagher | Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Arizona Sen. Krysten Sinema announced Friday that she's leaving the Democratic Party to be an independent. The White House said that even with Sinema's party change, it expects to keep working closely with her. A White House spokesperson did not respond when asked whether the White House received advance warning about her decision and whether Biden has spoken with her. As Vice President, Biden was credited with playing an outsized role in persuading then-Sen. Arlen Specter to switch parties from Republican to Democrat in 2009. Sinema told Politico that her departure from the Democratic Party stems from her feeling like she "never really fit into a box of any political party.

☆ After failure in Georgia Senate runoff, Republicans could bring in more voting changes next year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Republicans lost the state's Senate runoff election, which was held under the new rules. Some Republicans are now pointing fingers at those laws as they reflect on the runoff loss, The New York Times reported. But there is disagreement in the party over the approach it should take with voting laws, according to the Times. The current laws typically expand in-person early voting in many areas in normal elections, but NBC News reported that they reduce the number of early voting days in runoff elections because they cut the amount of time between general elections and runoff elections. A composite image showing Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who won the state’s runoff election, and his Republican challenger Herschel Walker.

☆ Kyrsten Sinema ditches Democrats to become an independent, undermining party's narrow Senate majority
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has announced that she is leaving the Democratic Party. Her move comes days after the Democrats won a narrow majority in the Senate. "Becoming an Independent won't change my work in the Senate; my service to Arizona remains the same," she wrote. Her switch comes just days after the Democratic Party won a narrow majority in the Senate, after Georgia incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock's won a run-off election in the state, beating out retired football player Herschel Walker. Warnock's victory gave Democrats a razor-thin majority of 51-49 in the Senate, which has now been thrown into doubt.

☆ Asian Americans heavily favored Warnock in Georgia runoff, exit poll shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Kimmy Yam | Kimmy Yam Is A Reporter For Nbc Asian America. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Asian American voters in Georgia showed strong Democratic lean in the recent Senate runoff election, according to one exit poll. “I think there is a risk of losing folks if they take voters for granted.”For the exit poll, the organization surveyed 337 Asian American voters across DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties at five key, high-Asian American precincts. Nguyen emphasized that political opinions across the electorate are far from monolithic, pointing to the poll’s breakdown of Asian American voters by age. Polling occurred in areas with a higher-density Asian American voters, which tend to skew Democrat. Nguyen similarly noted that in the Atlanta area, voters heavily favored Warnock.

Biden had been hopeful that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be more apt to free Griner once America’s midterm elections were done, a calculation that proved correct. Still detained in Russia is Paul Whelan, a businessman whom the White House has also been working to free without success. In a 2012 interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” when he was vice president, Biden came out in favor of same-sex marriage, and he is expected to sign the measure into law. White House officials acknowledged the headwinds and worried that the midterm elections would be a repudiation of Biden’s record. “When I look at what the Biden White House has done, I think experience and patience really paid off,” said Jennifer Palmieri, who served as White House communications director during the Obama administration.

☆ Georgia runoff loss for Herschel Walker shows Trump is nothing by an eyeroll
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( John Hart | John Hart Is The Co-Founder Of Solutions | The Former Communications Director For U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn. He Tweets At | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

If Republicans decide they are tired of losing elections they should be winning, Herschel Walker’s loss to Raphael Warnock in Georgia’s Senate runoff election should mark the definitive and unequivocal end of the Trump era. Republicans have grown complacent and comfortable on a bed of final straws with Trump, but Walker’s loss should wake them up from their slumber. Walker’s loss showed once again that Trump is the GOP’s Bridge to Nowhere, continuing the poor performance of Trump-anointed candidates in the midterms. If Trump wants to start a new party with his dinner companion, white supremacist Nick Fuentes, he’d be doing the Republican Party (and the republic) a favor. Republicans have grown complacent and comfortable on a bed of final straws with Trump, but Walker’s loss should wake them up from their slumber.

☆ Inside the turbulent, doomed campaign of Herschel Walker
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +14 min

Republican candidate Herschel Walker's campaign was starved for cash as it faced Sen. Raphael Warnock and his deep-pocketed Democratic allies. Beyond highlighting an intense clash in a nationally watched political campaign’s crucible, the blowup underscored the core problem of Walker’s campaign: Walker. The so-called “oppo” book, however, didn’t have information about the abortion story, which rocked Walker’s campaign. And despite the damaging information that could come out in a campaign, Walker decided to run anyway. By Election Day, Walker campaign staffers knew they were likely to lose.

☆ Georgia Runoff Warnings for Both Parties
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Karl Rove | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The 2022 midterms ended Tuesday when Sen. Raphael Warnock defeated Herschel Walker in Georgia. They gained governorships and a Senate seat and kept their House losses to single digits, despite expectations of a red wave. But there’s a danger that Mr. Warnock’s runoff victory will strengthen President Biden’s misinterpretation of Democrats’ better-than-expected showing. The president seems to believe that the GOP’s awful midterm performance was the result of improved Democratic messaging about his administration’s record. “The more they know about what we’re doing, the more support there is.”

☆ Dollar tries to find footing as recession worries simmer
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Kevin Buckland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

With Japan's own long-term yields pegged near zero by the central bank, the yen slid as long-term U.S. Treasury yields clambored off three-month lows. Meanwhile, the yuan hovered close to an almost three-month high after China revealed a loosening of stifling COVID restrictions. Fed policy makers will have the benefit of seeing the latest consumer inflation data a day before the decision. "The FOMC may step down the pace of its rate hikes to 50bp next week, but unless inflation decelerates consistently, upside risks to FOMC policy remain." Long-term Treasury yields plunged to an almost three-month low of 3.402% overnight, but bounced back to around 3.46% in Tokyo.

☆ Dollar struggles as recession worries simmer
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Kevin Buckland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

TOKYO, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar remained weak on Thursday after sliding against major peers overnight for the first time this week as investors fretted about the potential for recession in the United States. The yuan hovered near an almost three-month high after China revealed a loosening of stifling COVID restrictions. Fed policy makers will have the benefit of seeing the latest consumer inflation data a day before the decision. "The FOMC may step down the pace of its rate hikes to 50bp next week, but unless inflation decelerates consistently, upside risks to FOMC policy remain." Long-term Treasury yields plunged to an almost three-month low overnight, and remained depressed in Tokyo trading at around 3.45%.

☆ Young voters propelled Raphael Warnock to victory in the Georgia Senate runoff, but the work to boost their political engagement continues: 'We're not stopping here'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Sen. Raphael Warnock's runoff victory was driven in large part by his support among young voters. But young voters — with Gen Z and younger millennials flexing their political power — emerged as a critical demographic in the Georgia Senate race. Looking at the Georgia Senate runoff results, what actually happened to get more young voters to the polls? Heightened voter engagementVoters of Tomorrow, a Gen Z-led voter-engagement nonprofit organization, sent 2.5 million calls and texts to young Georgia voters urging them to participate. But it will take continued engagement with young voters to ensure robust participation in the future, especially in non-presidential election cycles.

☆ Herschel Walker's son says his dad wasn't a 'quality candidate' and often sounded like he was doing a book report on a book he hadn't read
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Herschel Walker's influencer son castigated his father's Senate campaign following his Tuesday loss. Christian Walker told Buzzfeed on Wednesday that his father ran a "dumb" campaign. "There is no quality as a candidate," Christian Walker said of his father. A spokesperson for his Senate campaign did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. We all already knew all of the scandals," Christian Walker said.

☆ Trump's former White House economic adviser says he doesn't understand what his old boss is doing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Larry Kudlow said former President Donald Trump was damaging his own support levels. He highlighted Trump calling for the "termination" of the Constitution and controversial meetings. "I don't understand what our former boss is doing," Kudlow said, speaking with Trump's former counselor Kellyanne Conway. Kudlow also said that Trump was too focused on claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. "His meddling and insistence that the 2020 election was stolen will deliver more losses," Bolton added.

Search resuls for: "HERSCHEL WALKER"

25 mentions found