POLITICO Playbook Daily Briefing - POLITICO

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April 21, 2022: Dems eye a culture war clapback Apr 21, 2022

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Whether it’s pandemic restrictions and schools, or critical race theory and political correctness, when it comes to the culture wars raging across America, the right often dances circles around the left. And because of that, many Democrats — particularly those in vulnerable seats — either avoid engaging on those topics altogether or privately beg their colleagues to avoid overly “woke” rhetoric or policy prescriptions they believe could hurt the party politically.

Enter Mallory McMorrow, the little-known Democratic state senator from suburban Michigan, who is turning that conventional wisdom on its head this week.

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

April 20, 2022: How Trump and Thiel resurrected J.D. Vance Apr 20, 2022

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Tech mogul Peter Thiel gave J.D. Vance's Ohio Senate campaign a fresh infusion of cash, pouring in $3.5 million to Protect Ohio Values, the super PAC backing Vance, our colleague Alex Isenstadt reports, “part of a broader tranche of money that has come in to support the Senate candidate after last week’s [Donald] Trump endorsement.”

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audi

April 19, 2022: White House wonders: To mask, or not to mask? Apr 19, 2022

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On Monday, just hours after a federal judge struck down the nationwide public transportation mask mandate, major airlines (and even President Joe Biden’s beloved Amtrak) began telling their passengers they could stop wearing the protective face coverings — sometimes while they had already boarded and taken their assigned seats.

The surprise ruling seems to have caught the White House flat-footed on the question of whether or not to appeal the ruling.

Officially: White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters the administration was “reviewing the decision, and, of course, the Department of Justice would be making any determinations about any litigation.”

Unofficially: The White House is still figuring out what to do next, weighing two very big factors: credibility and politics.

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

April 18, 2022: The inflation argument splitting Dems in two Apr 18, 2022

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Democratic strategists have split in two over how to discuss inflation.

One camp tends to blame the media for focusing too much on the issue at the expense of positive economic news such as low unemployment. This group tends to promote statistics buried beneath the headlines that suggest inflation isn’t that bad. But privately, more and more Democrats see inflation in far more dire terms — and not just for their prospects in elections this year.

One top progressive sounded the alarm over the weekend on a widely read off-the-record email list. The author gave us permission to quote from their missive — “Danger: Inflation Is a Third Rail” — which was ricocheting around lefty circles Sunday night.

April 15, 2022: Ohio Republicans team up to stop Vance endorsement Apr 15, 2022

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With Ohio’s May 3 Senate GOP primary barely two weeks away and no clear frontrunner, J.D. Vance's rivals are mounting an all-out effort to head off a potential endorsement from former President Donald Trump, per our colleagues Natalie Allison, Meridith McGraw, Alex Isenstadt and Daniel Lippman. Trump seems intent on picking a horse in all the big GOP primaries. But several candidates are bunched together in polling in Ohio, making this one a real roll of the dice.

Listen to Playbook Deep Dive: Biden’s pollster on the recipe for how to ‘not get our a---- kicked’ in the midterms

Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

April 14, 2022: Why Hispanic voters could cost Democrats Nevada Apr 14, 2022

Show notes

In the coming weeks and months, we’ll be out covering the key districts and states that will decide the outcome of the midterm elections.

Nevada has one of 2022’s most under-covered Senate races. The incumbent, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, keeps a low profile in Washington and back home, but she’s raised a record amount of money and is spending big on TV ads. Nevada has a famously transient population, so she’s started with a biographical spot to introduce herself to the hundreds of thousands of potential new voters who weren’t around when she was first elected in 2016. Her other messaging is straight from the Dems’ generic 2020 strategy for vulnerable senators: reminding voters of all that Covid relief money that kept businesses afloat.

The political environment for Cortez Masto is brutal. Consider the latest poll, released this week from Suffolk University and the Reno Gazette Journal:

Biden’s approval rating in the state was 35%.
Cortez Masto would lose to either GOP nominee: 43-40 against the well-known Adam Laxalt, and 40-39 against the relatively unknown Sam Brown.
72% of Nevada voters said the economy was just fair or poor.
Inflation is the top issue for voters — 40% of whom said they are worse off compared to four years ago.

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

April 13, 2022: Dems split over Biden gas price moves Apr 13, 2022

Show notes

Here’s something Democrats agree on: High gas prices — and the inflation rate they’re driving up — are a huge political liability.

Here’s something Democrats don’t agree on: what to do about it.

On Tuesday, as the new 8.5% annualized inflation rate was announced, President Joe Biden was in Iowa, addressing concerns about energy costs and touting his decision to remove restrictions on the sale of E15, an ethanol-gas mix the administration hopes can ease the proverbial pain at the pump.

“I’m not going to wait to take action to help American families,” Biden said. “I’m doing everything within my power by executive orders to bring down the price and address the Putin price hike.”

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

April 12, 2022: Biden braces for brutal inflation numbers Apr 12, 2022

Show notes

This morning at 8:30 a.m., the Labor Department will release its newest consumer price index report, and the White House is bracing itself for the political impact of inflation numbers that are widely expected to be the highest yet faced during the Biden administration.

What to expect: Economists polled by Reuters anticipate that the report will show that, year-over-year, “consumer prices rose 8.4% in March, up from 7.9% in February.” That would be the highest rate since December 1981, notes CNBC.
Why it’s likely to be that bad: This is the first CPI report since the large jump in oil and gas prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Worth noting: “Economists consider two versions of the CPI data: The headline number that includes all prices consumers face, and a so-called core CPI that excludes often volatile food and energy price fluctuations,” writes CNBC’s Thomas Franck. “The White House says it anticipates a wider-than-normal disparity between the headline and core readings because of an abnormal increase in gas prices that occurred last month.”

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

April 11, 2022: SCOOP: Liz Cheney’s record fundraising haul Apr 11, 2022

Show notes

Rep. Liz Cheney has set another personal fundraising record.

The Wyoming Republican is fighting off a serious challenge from Harriet Hageman, a Cheyenne attorney, and the Aug. 16 primary has turned into the most important and closely watched contest between the MAGA and traditional wings of the GOP.

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

April 8, 2022: From nomination to confirmation in six weeks Apr 08, 2022

Show notes

In a history-making vote Thursday afternoon, the Senate confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, where she will be the first Black woman in history to serve as a justice. Immediately after VP Kamala Harris called the 53-47 vote, Senate Democrats (and, notably, Utah Republican Mitt Romney) gave a standing ovation while most Senate Republicans sulked from the chamber floor.

Listen to Playbook Deep Dive: Khanna’s BBB advice to Biden: ‘Just get Sanders and Manchin in the room and hammer this out’

Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

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