October 10, 2022

9-23-22 Fauci's Ego, Best Selling Status, New Midterm Polls, and More

WTF Happened This Week?

A newsletter from Win the Future Strategies, LLC, on politics, policy & pairings (Food & Drink) Sign up today!

See below for:

1. what’s going on with us,

2. the top political stories we’re following,

3. the top policy and business developments we’re watching,

4. the recipe and drink of the week, and

5. the “WTF Moment of the Week"

Don’t hesitate to contact us with questions, comments, or content suggestions by visiting our website or by emailing us at Victory@wtfstrategies.com.

(1) Top WTF News

We’re continuing to promote our new book, Vignettes & Vino: Dinner Table Stories from the Trump White House with Recipes and Cocktail Pairings!

We reached "Best Seller" status on Amazon as the:

#1 book in the wine pairing category
#1 new release in the cocktails and mixed drinks category
#1 new release in the wine and spirits category

We received coverage of the book in several big outlets this week:

This adds to our prior coverage from:

SiriusXM Radio with Tim Young on The David Webb Show
Fox News, which featured our Citrus Sangria
Daily Mail, which discussed several of our stories, including the very short-lived consideration of the Tiger King pardon
Real America's Voice where we chatted with Ed Henry and Karyn Turk while they were live from Benny’s in Palm Beach, and
The Sam Malone Show where Brian discussed the book back in July

The book is available for pre-sale in the biggest retailers in America! Order your copy today at one of these fine choices:

(2) Top Political News of the Week

Midterm Elections

Some interesting polling data came out this week:

Nevada GOP candidates are leading with Adam Laxalt up by 4 points in the race for Senate and Joe Lombardo up 3 points in the Governor's race.

Note: Trafalgar did this poll, which had Trump leading Biden by 0.7 in 2020, and Biden won the state by 2.4 points.

New Hampshire Dem candidates are leading with Sen. Maggie Hassan up by 8 over Don Bolduc and Rep. Chris Pappas leading friend of WTF Karoline Leavitt by 7 points.

Note: UNH handled this survey. In 2020, they predicted an 8 point win by Biden over Trump in the state, and the margin was 7.3, so pretty darn accurate.

Ohio GOP candidates are leading with J.D. Vance up by 1 over Tim Ryan in the Senate race and Gov. Mike DeWine cruising to reelection by 16.

Note: Marist did this poll, and when they polled Ohio in 2016, they were not particularly close. They had Trump leading Clinton by 1, but Trump's actual margin of victory was 8 points.

Georgia is showing some split ticket voting. Gov. Brian Kemp leads Stacey Abrams by 6, but Sen. Raphael Warnock leads Herschel Walker by 2 points.

Note: CBS / Yougov handled this poll, and they showed races in Georgia in 2020 as neck and neck, within the margin of error.

Arizona is also showing some split ticket voting. GOP candidate Kari Lake leads the governor's race by 4, but Dem Sen. Mark Kelly leads the GOP's Blake Masters by 2 points.

Note: Trafalgar did this poll. In the 2020 senate race, they had Kelly leading McSally by 2 points, which was quite accurate.

(3) Top Policy & Business News of the Week‍

Inflation & Interest Rates

Unfortunately, our predictions regarding tough economic sledding are starting to come true.

As Politico's Victoria Guida put it, the Fed's 0.75 point rate hike this week and its continued monetary tightening "moves are designed to kill the worst inflation in 40 years. They're also likely to kill U.S. economic growth."
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and PIMCO's chief economist Tiffany Wilding are predicting some frightening unemployment numbers coming down the pike.

Bank CEOs Go to Washington

The CEO's of America's largest banks testified on both sides of Capitol Hill this week.

Democrats pressed them on eliminating overdraft fees.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib asked them to stop funding fossil fuel projects and JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon fired back "that would be the road to hell for America."
Sen. Pat Toomey and other Republicans pushed back on ESG / social issues--portending how a GOP majority in the next congress will approach "woke" corporations.
Jamie Dimon also raised eyebrows by slamming crypto, calling bitcoin and others "decentralized ponzi schemes."

Government Funding / Permitting Reform

Congress is likely to pass legislation funding the government for at least a period of several months very soon. Funding is set to expire at the end of the month, and both houses are expected to pass a continuing resolution to get past the election until mid-December.

What's less clear is the viability of permitting reform legislation proposed by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) to speed up the development of energy projects. Sen. Schumer had agreed to attach permitting reform to the funding package, but the proposal is receiving pushback from the left and right.

Housing Market

Sales of existing homes fell for the seventh straight month, showing that the housing market is cooling off from its breakneck pace.

The data comes via the National Association of Realtors

(4) Recipe & Drink Pairing of the Week

Peanut Butter Cake & Ginger Old Fashioned

This is another favorite from Vignettes & Vino!

To EAT: Peanut Butter Cake

Serves 8

1 box of chocolate cake mix, baked according to instructions

1 lb. (4 sticks) butter, softened

8 cups powdered sugar, divided

1¼ cup creamy peanut butter

7 Tbsp. whole milk, divided

¾ cup heavy cream

1½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

Pinch of salt

Peanut butter cup candies, chopped, divided

Bake the chocolate cake mix in two 9-inch cake pans and let cool.

Beat the butter until smooth. Add about half the sugar and beat again until smooth. Then add in the peanut butter and about half of the milk. Beat all the ingredients well, adding in the salt and remaining sugar. Add the remaining milk as needed until the frosting is thin enough to spread (but not too thin).

Heat the heavy cream in a pot until it begins to bubble, then pour in the chocolate chips. Let the mixture cook for about 2 minutes, then mix until smooth.

Top one cake layer with a coating of frosting, add a layer of chopped peanut butter cups, then add another layer of frosting. Add the second cake on top of that.

Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting. Drizzle the chocolate-cream mixture all over the cake. Sprinkle with the remaining chopped peanut butter cups.

TO DRINK: Ginger Old Fashioned

With something so sweet and delicious, you need a little spice. That’s where the Ginger Old Fashioned comes into play. The Old Fashioned is a classic. Teresa’s sister, Rosalia, added her own dash of flavor and kick to it—a healthy splash of ginger beer—and it is delicious. Brian is partial to Michter’s rye for Old Fashioneds, because he has a long-standing relationship with the brand’s owners, the incomparable Magliocco brothers from New York, having represented them as their attorney for years, and because it is spectacular whiskey.

1 sugar cube or 1 tsp. simple syrup

2 oz. bourbon or rye whiskey (recommend Michter’s)

2 dashes of Angostura bitters

1 healthy splash of ginger beer

1 maraschino cherry (or amaretto cherry for a little variety)

1 twist orange zest

Put a large ice cube or a few small ice cubes in a glass with the sugar cube or simple syrup. Pour in the whiskey, bitters, and ginger beer. Stir for about 15 seconds. Drop in the cherry. Twist the orange zest over the glass, drop it in, and serve.

(5) WTF Moment of the Week

Stacey Abrams, the Dems candidate for Governor of Georgia, said that fetal heartbeats at 6 weeks do not exist and are just "manufactured sound" designed to control women's bodies. Um. Wut?

As always, you can reach us by visiting www.winthefuturestrategies.com or by emailing us at Victory@wtfstrategies.com. Have a great week!