INSIDE D.C. WITH JOHN GIZZI NEWSMAX WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT
John Kerry Bypassed • When World Bank President David Malpass resigned in February, speculation skyrocketed that his successor would be John Kerry. I’m told the former secretary of state and 2004 Democrat presidential nominee had accepted the seemingly minor position of U.S. climate envoy as a “waiting room” until the World Bank presidency became vacant. But no sooner was Malpass’ resignation made public than President Joe Biden turned instead to an unexpected choice to replace him, ex-Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga. Kerry watchers say he was disappointed with Banga’s selection, and that he is likely to leave the administration before his 80th birthday in December.
State Parties Decline • The new trend of populist nationalists taking over state Republican organizations will lead to the creation of more separate repositories of cash from big GOP donors. The election of Kristina Karamo — an election denier, anti-vaxxer, and foe of public education — as Michigan’s state GOP chair spells donors deploying their cash for candidates through super PACs or C4s (amorphous organizations that can accept unlimited
42 NEWSMAX | APRIL 2023
amounts and not report them — hence the term dark money). With new chairpersons in the mold of Karamo likely to take over other state parties this year, it’s a foregone conclusion that “parallel parties” will be on the rise and traditional state parties will continue to decline.
Shapiro Eyes White House • Although Josh Shapiro has only been governor of Pennsylvania since January and dismisses any talk of White House ambitions, Keystone State sources tell Newsmax he is eyeing a bid for the Democrat nomination if Joe Biden retires. Like Woodrow Wilson after barely two years as governor of New Jersey in 1912 and Barack Obama after less than four years in the Senate in 2008, Shapiro feels he is ready and is intrigued by the idea of becoming the fi rst Jewish president. Should he take the plunge, his campaign will be commanded by longtime campaign manager and chief of staff Dana Fritz and deputy chief of staff Larry Hailsham Jr.
Youngkin No-Run? • Pundits who predicted Glenn Youngkin would seek the Republican nomination for president in ’24 are having second thoughts about the fi rst-
term governor of Virginia. Although the former private equity fi rm CEO is fast becoming a favorite of cultural conservatives for his championship of parental rights in schools, advisers feel that, unlike his counterpart in Pennsylvania, he is not ready for a national
run. A strong sign that he will forgo a presidential bid next year is that Jeff Roe, who managed the campaign that got him into the governor’s mansion 16 months ago, wants to head up the super PAC of a GOP presidential likely, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
RISING STAR Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is being tipped to give the keynote speech at the GOP’s 2024 national convention.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ Key Speech
• With the fl ood of praise from Republicans and the conservative press for Sarah Sanders’ televised rebuttal to the State of the Union, there is a growing movement among Republicans to make the newly minted Arkansas governor keynote speaker at the party’s 2024 national convention. Keynote addresses, which traditionally open party conclaves, can be big career boosters. Barack Obama, then the Democrat nominee for the U.S. Senate from Illinois, delivered a much-praised address at the 2004 convention that played a factor in his own nomination for president four years later. In 2020, the speech of Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., at the GOP convention fueled early talk of him as a presidential hopeful in ’24. At 40, Sanders is already a well- known fi gure as the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and press secretary to Donald Trump during his presidency.
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