Ramasamy

• Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW), the Data Cloud company, announced today that Frank Slootman has decided to retire as Chief Executive Officer and Sridhar Ramaswamy has been named as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors effective immediately.
• Mr. Ramaswamy previously held the position of Senior Vice President of AI at Snowflake.
• View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240228398564/en/
  Sridhar Ramaswamy, Chief Executive Officer of Snowflake (Photo: Business Wire)
  Frank Slootman will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board.
• “There is no better person than Sridhar to lead Snowflake into this next phase of growth and deliver on the opportunity ahead in AI and machine learning.

• The state is home to the first-in-the-nation GOP nomination event, the Iowa caucus, which takes place on Jan. 15, 2024, at 7 pm.
• I’ve observed Iowa caucus campaigns over eight cycles, and my 2022 book, “Inside the Bubble,” offers a close-up of the 2020 Democratic contest.
• Today, it looks nothing like the scattershot campaign from 2016, the only other time Trump has waged a nomination battle in the state.

Car rides, phone calls

• Registered party members can participate in the caucuses, and attendees will signal their support by writing a candidate’s name on a piece of paper.
• In electoral politics across the U.S., campaigns organize by doling out responsibilities to field staff positioned across a state or electoral district.
• These volunteers engage in outreach to other potential supporters – sometimes in-person, via door-to-door canvassing or on the phone, and increasingly by sending text messages.
• They’ll make sure that known supporters get assistance they might need to get to the caucus, such as a car ride.
• Like primaries, caucuses are within political parties, so voters can’t rely on cues like party labels to pick a candidate.

Campaign bling

• Back in 2016, reluctant Trump volunteers, unfamiliar with caucus procedures, courted Iowa supporters.
• They carry out tasks on behalf of the campaign at events themselves.
• Lest this all seem overly staid, there’s bling, too – a limited edition white and gold variant of the distinctive MAGA cap for the captains.

Caucus 101 lessons

• The events have considerable time devoted to instructing the crowd about how to caucus, which is an unusual use of time at campaign events.
• The typical rally requires attendees to register and be in place well before the event begins, perhaps 1-2 hours early.
• But early in these Trump rallies, the program pivots to a Caucus 101-like presentation – how to find out where to caucus, what to do in advance and what to expect at the caucuses.
• When Democratic candidates have offered such instruction in the past, it’s been behind closed doors, reserved for known supporters and closer to caucus time.

Barbara A. Trish does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• Lest this sound like a normal event, it was not – the leading candidate, former President Donald Trump, who’s getting more than 50% in national primary polls, chose not to come.
• But that may have been a benefit to the debaters, who were able to spend their time talking about issues and not simply fighting off attacks by Trump.
• The Conversation U.S. asked three experts – foreign policy scholar Jordan Tama from American University, Michigan State law professor Brian Kalt and Arizona State historian Calvin Schermerhorn – to watch, listen and analyze the debate.

Speaking about race in code

• In response to a question about rising urban crime rates, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy whistled the loudest.
• DeSantis has partially built his brand on clamping down on school curricula around race and racism.
• Yet, in this historically diverse field of Republican candidates, there was not a diversity of views regarding race.
• Yet Scott didn’t deviate from the conservative script that government aid hurts families and vowed to “break the backs of the teachers’ unions.”

Candidates spar over funding the Ukraine war

• The candidates all agreed on the importance of countering China and securing the southern border with Mexico, but disagreed sharply over whether the U.S. should continue providing military and other kinds of support to Ukraine, now in its second year of war with Russia.
• DeSantis said that he would make U.S. aid to Ukraine contingent on European countries providing more funding.
• Ramaswamy, meanwhile, countered that the U.S. should not prioritize the war in Ukraine, arguing that, “We have to put the interests of Americans first, secure our own border instead of someone else’s.” Former New Jersey Gov.
• Chris Christie, Pence and Haley then pounced on Ramaswamy, making the case for a more robust vision of American leadership on the world stage.
• Will the Republican Party – and possibly, the U.S. – stand for international engagement, democracy and freedom?

Pardoning Trump – and its limits

• Brian Kalt, Michigan State University As the debate’s discussion of Donald Trump wound down, Ramaswamy reiterated his pledge to pardon Trump if elected, and asked Pence if he would do the same.
• Pence responded by saying he would give due consideration to a pardon, but suggested that he would only do so if Trump was convicted and showed contrition.
• Thus a President Ramaswamy would be able to use his pardon power not only to reverse a Trump conviction but also to end any ongoing federal prosecution or investigation against him.

• As President Joe Biden rolls out "Bidenomics," his approval rating remains at 42% while 57% of voters think he is pursuing bad economic policies.
• Bidenomics faces an uphill battle: 57% think Biden is pursuing bad economic policies today and 56% think Republicans in Congress understand Americans' economic problems better than Biden.
• The July Harvard CAPS / Harris Poll survey was conducted online within the United States from July 19-20, 2023, among 2,090 registered voters by HarrisX and The Harris Poll.
• Follow the Harvard CAPS Harris Poll podcast at https://www.markpennpolls.com/ or on iHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.