Morning Wire XX
[0] Democrats shake up their primary season, potentially booting out Iowa and New Hampshire in favor of South Carolina as the season starter.
[1] What's behind the calendar change?
[2] And what does it tell us about Democrats' strategy heading into 2024?
[3] It's an absolute joke.
[4] It's not based on anything to ensure that the voters in America will have a better first filter.
[5] It's just based on a personal preference of a candidate.
[6] I'm Georgia Howe.
[7] It's July 22nd, and this is a Saturday edition of Morty.
[8] wire.
[9] A new platform that caters specifically to conservative consumers is taking a big bet on Tucker Carlson and ultimately hopes to take on Amazon.
[10] We want to be more about what we're for than what we're against.
[11] We discussed the emergence of the new parallel values -based economy.
[12] And several states are considering a new tax on driving.
[13] How would the measure work and where is it already being tried?
[14] Thanks for waking up with more.
[15] Morning Wire.
[16] Stay tuned.
[17] We have the news you need to know.
[18] The Democratic National Committee has made a significant change to their 2024 primary schedule that ousts Iowa and New Hampshire from their coveted roles as the first in the nation caucus and primary, and instead kicks off the cycle with South Carolina.
[19] Here to discuss why this change has been made and how it could impact the outcome is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
[20] So David, what's the rationale behind this shakeup.
[21] Good morning.
[22] The rationale behind moving South Carolina to vote first has everything to do with the results of the 2020 Democratic primary.
[23] Joe Biden looked dead in the water after lackluster showings in Iowa and New Hampshire.
[24] It was a dominant performance in the Palmetto state with a lot of help from Congressman Jim Clyburn that turned the race around.
[25] Several candidates dropped out in March of 2020 setting up a virtual one -on -one race with Bernie Sanders that Biden cruised through, especially you may. recall when COVID hit about a week after the South Carolina primary.
[26] This time, Biden allies want to see a big performance from the president right off the bat, and that's why this change has come about.
[27] Now, progressives have long criticized the racial makeup of Iowa and New Hampshire as being too white and not as diverse as their base.
[28] Is that part of the argument for starting in a southern state like South Carolina?
[29] Absolutely.
[30] And you're right.
[31] It's not new, but it's also complicated.
[32] After all, it was a stunning performance in very white Iowa in 2008 that really launched Barack Obama's bid to overtake Hillary Clinton.
[33] Likewise, as mentioned, Biden, who isn't exactly a paragon of diversity, fail in the whiter contests and found more success with diverse, primarily black voters in South Carolina.
[34] So the diversity argument probably helps those in favor of the change, but it would be somewhat naive to believe that the fortunes of the current Democrat president aren't, as the White House might put it, top of mind in all this.
[35] So we know that President Biden underperformed in those early 2020 primaries, and his support currently among Democrats is historically quite low.
[36] Does that play into this calendar shift at all?
[37] Most likely, yes.
[38] And it's important to remember that when this was first floated, nobody knew if a Gavin Newsom or Jared Paulus might challenge Biden.
[39] It turns out to be RFK Jr. thus far, but whoever winds up on the final ballots, a strong first showing in South Carolina would be a big boost to Biden.
[40] And there's also a potential of a third party challenger in the general.
[41] The group No Labels has talked about it, and specifically about moderate Democrat West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin as a candidate.
[42] Obviously, Biden does not want another Democrat, even one as seemingly out of step with the party as Manchin, taking votes from him, getting out of the gate strong and dominating the primary could make such a challenge less likely or less likely to have a meaningful impact.
[43] Now, speaking of the general election, voters in Iowa and New Hampshire are very proud of their historic role as the first to caucus and primary.
[44] Is there any chance that they could punish Biden in the polls later if they perceive that he pushed for this new primary that takes that role away from them?
[45] It's possibility, sure.
[46] I mean, Iowa is pretty solidly red.
[47] And while New Hampshire is a swing state, its four electoral votes aren't exactly a game changer.
[48] But on the other hand, the last two presidential elections have been very close, and those four votes could certainly matter.
[49] The sense you get from Democrats who support the change is that if it leads to a blowout victory for Biden nationwide in the primary, it will be worth having to soothe some wounded feelings in the granted state.
[50] Now, New Hampshire is not really giving up without a fight, though.
[51] Some Democrats in the state are saying now that they're going to move up their primary so it remains first.
[52] Is that likely?
[53] I mean, we could see that and that could be very awkward.
[54] If they move it up, Biden's going to have to campaign there, whether he wants South Carolina first or not.
[55] So there's a wait and see game here.
[56] And look, anyone who's been to New Hampshire for a presidential primary knows that people there aren't going to give up that spotlight very easily.
[57] We've been saying four years and we will continue to say New Hampshire will have the first nation primary.
[58] Got to love to live for your die attitude.
[59] David, thanks for a reporting.
[60] Thanks for having me. Public Square, a shopping app that promises to connect consumers to non -woke businesses just cut a deal to be the first advertiser on Tucker Carlson's new Twitter show.
[61] The company, which will pay Carlson, a reported seven figures, is part of a growing trend of conservative branded businesses.
[62] Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham is here to tell us more about Public Square and companies like it.
[63] So, Megan, as much as we see news stories these days about consumers who are frustrated with companies pushing more progressive views, it seems like there would be an obvious market for something like this.
[64] Yeah, and you know, both Public Square and Tucker kind of represent a trend of conservatives going, what you might call, independent from the established corporate world.
[65] To give you an illustration of what this looks like as far as business culture goes, last year when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a lot of major corporations like Wells Fargo, Alta Beauty, and Facebook, well, they said that they were.
[66] would pay for their employees to travel to get abortions.
[67] Public Square CEO Michael Seifert, on the other hand, announced that he would offer employees a $5 ,000 baby bonus.
[68] He said he believes that strong families make a strong nation, and he's also said that his company hates ESG, hates diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, and he wants to connect consumers to similar businesses.
[69] This was Seifert on Donald Trump Jr.'s podcast.
[70] Instead of just showing a blacklist of companies you should stay away from, we promote the largest repository the world's ever seen of businesses that you should go to because if we can shift our dollars to these businesses, in turn, power structures of society will shift back toward the values that we share.
[71] Now, Seifert and his investors say they want to see Public Square become a serious competitor to Amazon.
[72] They say they are out to build a parallel economy.
[73] Now, competing with Amazon, though, seems like a pretty big goal.
[74] It does, though, I will say, according to U .S. securities and exchange commission filings, Public Square doubled its user base to around a million people immediately after that big bud light debacle.
[75] And the company's not alone.
[76] We are starting to see a trend of businesses with a conservative or which you might call traditional religious worldview, trying to carve out an alternative space in the marketplace.
[77] As I've been looking around, I've seen coffee companies, dog food companies, banks.
[78] Then you have Angel Studios, which is owned by Latter -day Saints.
[79] It has two very successful properties with The Chosen and Sound of Freedom, of course.
[80] And it's not just products, but there's also jobs.
[81] Red Balloon is a public square partner whose business connecting job seekers to, quote -unquote, non -woke employers is booming.
[82] It's only a couple of years old and says it represents 3 ,000 employers and attracts around 15 to 20 ,000 job seekers a month.
[83] CEO Andrew Crapuchess says that just as people want to buy products from companies that respect their values.
[84] They also want to work for people who respect their values.
[85] He was recently on the show, Man Rampant, and said that a woman told him his company saved her from divorce.
[86] This one lady wrote me and said, I just wanted you to know, you saved my marriage.
[87] I'm like, no, I created a job board.
[88] But she's like, you saved my marriage because my husband's worked for a company for 10 years that hated his worldview.
[89] And you can't help but bring that stuff home, right?
[90] And conservatives are like, oh, I'm not bringing it home.
[91] You are.
[92] If you're swimming in those waters for eight to ten hours a day.
[93] It will impact your worldview.
[94] It will impact your family.
[95] Now, the challenge with all of this is that while there may be a lot of conservative consumers out there, can these companies convince enough of them to change their buying habits?
[96] Especially when the right appears to have less interest in this sort of belief -driven buying than the left.
[97] The Edelman Institute did a study on the trend and found that the number of Democrats who want to buy products that align with their political beliefs went up 12 points to 74 % just between 2020 and 2022.
[98] For Republicans, in contrast, it only increased three points.
[99] But so far, these companies do appear to be growing fast.
[100] Yeah, I mean, I have definitely mixed feelings about this.
[101] Megan, thanks so much for reporting.
[102] Anytime.
[103] A new vehicle mileage tax is gaining attention as states begin considering programs that would change how drivers are taxed.
[104] Here to give us the details on the new proposal and the intention behind it is Daily Wire contributor Charlotte Penn's Bond.
[105] So Charlotte, what is a vehicle mileage tax?
[106] Hi, Georgia.
[107] So a vehicle mileage tax is also called a road usage charge.
[108] And it's a way for governments to tax citizens based on how many miles they drive, rather than just collecting a tax when they fill up at the pump.
[109] Drivers are given tools that record how many miles they drive.
[110] Now, is there anywhere in the U .S. that has already implemented something like this?
[111] So far, Oregon, Utah, and Virginia are all currently collecting money from this type of program.
[112] Hawaii recently passed a bill to start as well, but interest among other states is gaining momentum.
[113] On the national level, the Biden administration's 2021 infrastructure package included a pilot program where drivers can opt in to test the system out.
[114] So no one is getting taxed on this at the national level yet unless they volunteered.
[115] Here's Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg talking about a mileage tax on CNBC.
[116] So I think that shows a lot of promise.
[117] If we believe in that so -called user pays principle, the idea that part of how we pay for roads is you pay based on how much you drive, the gas tax used to be the obvious way to do it.
[118] It's not anymore.
[119] So a so -called vehicle miles travel tax or mileage tax, whatever you want to call it, could be a way to do it.
[120] So is this an additional tax or would this be in lieu of the gas tax?
[121] Well, it's not entirely clear if these programs would get rid of that gas tax or be an additional tax.
[122] The lack of clarity here has caused some concern, particularly among some environmentalists who say it could disincentivize people from even buying energy -efficient cars.
[123] For example, in Oregon, lawmakers are considering legislation that would charge people a road usage charge if they buy new cars that get 30 miles to the gallon or more.
[124] And remember, states are already taking steps to push energy -efficient cars.
[125] For example, by 2035, California is banning the sale of all new gas -powered vehicles.
[126] So if they created a similar mandatory program.
[127] That would have an effect on drivers.
[128] So why are we seeing this push for a road charge now?
[129] Well, it has to do with the rise in popularity of these efficient vehicles.
[130] Americans are starting to buy more electric or energy efficient cars, so they don't need to fill up their cars with gas as frequently as they used to.
[131] States get a lot of their revenue from gas taxes and use that to preserve their roads.
[132] So states are looking for ways to make money that won't depend so heavily on people paying at the pump.
[133] Some issues over this kind of tax include the obvious problem of privacy.
[134] A lot of people will likely not want the government tracking their every movement.
[135] And there's also the issue of disparate impact.
[136] People who live out in the country might end up paying way more in taxes than those who live in cities where they don't travel as far.
[137] Those in favor say that it could help raise funds the government needs for roads and bridges.
[138] And Congress hasn't raised the federal gas tax since 1993.
[139] So as the driving world changes, We might see our taxes changing too.
[140] All right.
[141] Well, Charlotte, thanks for reporting.
[142] Thanks for having me, Georgia.
[143] That was Daily Wire contributor, Charlotte Pence -Bahn.
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