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Pelosi Appears To Have Picked Their Candidate For President In 2028
Politicszerohedge6d ago

Pelosi Appears To Have Picked Their Candidate For President In 2028

Pelosi Appears To Have Picked Their Candidate For President In 2028 Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) may be retiring from Congress at the end of this term, but she's not done trying to shape presidential races. The 85-year-old former House speaker has turned into what one former aide calls "a Gavin fan-girl," deploying her legendary donor network and political capital to boost California Gov. Gavin Newsom as a 2028 White House contender. The move lands as a calculated slight to Kamala Harris, who polls ahead of Newsom nationally but appears to have lost Pelosi's confidence after the 2024 debacle. According to a report from Axios, Pelosi has spent months publicly and privately vouching for Newsom.  "From the standpoint of leadership, vision, and values, knowledge of the issues, strategic thinking about how to get things done, he's masterful," she told The New Yorker. She told Vogue earlier this month, “I’ve seen him grow politically, I've also seen him have this beautiful family, and for all of us who love him, seeing him evolve has been wonderful to behold.” She’s even trying to help Newsom shed the perception of coming from privilege, telling The Atlantic, "Everybody thinks of Gavin and a silver spoon. But that isn't right. He was a very hard worker in everything that he did, whether it was personally, professionally, and then civically." This week, Pelosi told Politico that Newsom "would make a great president," though she added Democrats have many strong potential candidates.  The hedge shouldn’t fool anyone.  Pelosi isn’t likely to gush unless she's decided. Former aides say she's been eager to publicly vouch for Newsom whenever asked and has privately admired how he's navigated Trump "with a combination of defiance and charm." One former staffer said Pelosi "doesn't crush on many people" and added, "She's hardly ever wrong. When she says she sees something, it's a real thing." Of course, Pelosi’s connection to Newsom isn’t limited to politics. Her brother-in-law was married to Newsom's aunt, and Pelosi frequently says she knew Newsom before he was born. Politically, they’ve been connected for years, as she's mentored him since his days as San Francisco mayor, watching him rise through California politics like a puppet master or a kingmaker. While Pelosi is reportedly focused on helping Democrats retake the House in November and making Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaker, she’s clearly looking to the future and sees Newsom as the next leader of the party who will bring Democrats to the White House. This may be a significant vote of confidence for Newsom, but it’s also an undeniable betrayal of another California Democrat, Kamala Harris.  Pelosi endorsed Harris quickly after Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race, reportedly frustrating Barack Obama, who wanted a more open process. “The Obamas were not happy,” a Pelosi confidant told ABC’s Jonathan Karl for his book Retribution. 'This person summed up Obama's message to Pelosi as, essentially, "What the f*** did you just do?"'  Harris lost badly to Trump, spending more than a billion dollars in the process, leaving many major donors deeply disillusioned with her. Pelosi’s support would have gone a long way to repair the damage, but Pelosi appears to have moved on.  Harris leads the 2028 field with a 27.5 percent national polling average, according to Race to the White House, while Newsom trails at 22.7%. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sits at 9%, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at 8.7%, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro at 4.9%, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker at 3.4%. Neither Newsom nor Harris has publicly announced their intent to seek the presidency, but both are reportedly considering, which makes Pelosi's public courtship of Newsom a calculated snub. Pelosi's endorsements carry weight with the donor class and party elites who decide primaries long before voters cast ballots. By elevating Newsom now, she's signaling to those constituencies where the smart money should flow. Whether Pelosi's bet pays off depends on factors beyond her control. Newsom has baggage from California's struggles with homelessness, crime, and out-migration on his watch. Harris, meanwhile, carries the weight of a failed campaign but has name recognition and institutional support, and isn’t a white male — a huge plus for a party that has gone all in on identity politics.  Tyler Durden Mon, 02/16/2026 - 19:30

Palantir's Florida move is more than just a change of address
BusinessBusiness Insider4d ago

Palantir's Florida move is more than just a change of address

Palantir cofounder and CEO Alex Karp Francois Mori/AP Palantir made an announcement Tuesday, saying it relocated its headquarters to Florida from Colorado. The software company, which generates much revenue from defense contracts, did not give a reason for the move. When founder-led firms change headquarters, it often reflects "worldview as much as strategy," said one expert. When a company moves its headquarters, it's making a statement — whether leadership spells it out or not. That's the case with Palantir's surprise announcement Tuesday that it has relocated its home base to Florida from Colorado. The defense-tech contractor disclosed the change in a one-sentence press release citing a new address just outside Miami. Palantir, led by cofounder and CEO Alex Karp, didn't provide a reason or say what it means for employees. The lack of details has left many observers speculating on the motive. "This seems like a pretty obvious attempt to put both Karp and Palantir in friendlier territory," said Jo-Ellen Pozner, a management and entrepreneurship professor at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business. Though Karp backed Kamala Harris' 2024 campaign, he has more recently praised the Trump administration's immigration and national security policies. On a November earnings call, Karp called for tougher border policies and highlighted Palantir's work with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Israel. Palantir, which relies heavily on government contracts, has also faced protests in Colorado in recent years. Colorado is a blue state, Florida is red. "Not only will the company receive a more welcoming reception and more eager labor pool in Florida, but Karp and his top deputies will probably be more comfortable spending time there than they do in Colorado," said Pozner. Palantir didn't respond to a request for comment from Business Insider about the reason for the headquarters shake-up or the move's impact on employees. Palantir was founded in California's Silicon Valley region in 2003 and moved to Colorado in 2020. At the time, Karp cited an "increasing intolerance and monoculture" in Silicon Valley. Karp owns property in Colorado. Some leadership experts point to Florida's more tax-friendly policies as a reason why Palantir has a new ZIP code. "To me, this is dollars and cents," said Zack Kass, a former OpenAI executive who now advises companies and governments on leading in today's AI-centric business world. "If building a better company meant Karp moving the business to Alaska, he'd probably do it." A number of finance and tech heavyweights have planted flags in Florida in recent years, including Citadel, Thiel Capital, and Thoma Bravo. In January, venture capitalist David Sacks proclaimed that Miami will soon replace New York City as America's financial capital. "I'm grateful for the leadership of the state of Florida," said Citadel's Ken Griffin at the America Business Forum in Miami in November. "This is a great place to call home." Not everyone agrees, though, as others have noted that Miami's social scene hollows out in the summer and the city lacks a major university to pipe in tech talent. Whatever the incentives are behind Palantir's change of address, headquarters moves in general are rarely about real estate, said Jeff LeBlanc, a management professor at Bentley University. Instead, they often speak to the kind of identity leaders want for their companies. "In a world where so much work is hybrid or distributed, the HQ is often more symbolic than operational," he said. "Geography communicates. It says something about who you want to attract, who you align with, and what kind of company you believe you are." LeBlanc pointed Elon Musk's decision to move some of his companies' headquarters from California to Texas for political reasons as an example. In 2024, the billionaire lashed out at California for being the first state to outlaw schools from having to notify parents if a child changes their name, pronouns, or gender identity at school, calling the move the "final straw." "Particularly in founder-led companies, those moves often reflect worldview as much as strategy," LeBlanc said. "Geography has become part of executive messaging." Read the original article on Business Insider