| | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza and Rachael Bade | | | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | We have some news in our latest POLITICO-Morning Consult poll that we can share with you this morning. The results get to the heart of two big questions about 2022: 1. Can Democrats overcome the culture war attacks dragging them down?
2. Can Republicans overcome the Trumpian issues dragging them down? Let's start with the Democrats. DEM VOTERS AND THE CULTURE WARS — Voter opinions about President JOE BIDEN's handling of the pandemic continue to be an enormous anchor weighing down Democrats: Just 39% of registered voters approve of the job he's doing, while 57% disapprove. Democratic governors have been trying to get ahead of pandemic fatigue by lifting mask mandates around the country. The country is moving further and further in that direction. Forty-nine percent of voters want mask mandates removed, while 43% say it is too early for states to rescind their mask mandates. The tricky part for Democrats is that their voters are divided on the issue. A majority of Democrats still want mandates in place.
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| Support for a combination of masks and vaccines is dropping. Yes, a plurality of voters (49%) still feel that local governments should be encouraging Covid-19 vaccinations and masks in indoor public spaces, but that's down 7 points since September. In the teeth of the pandemic, anti-masking sentiment was a fringe obsession limited to the right. But with the Omicron surge subsiding, it's now mainstream — and growing in popularity. ( Toplines … Crosstabs) Masking is hardly the only culture-war concern for Democrats. — Sarah Ferris and Ally Mutnick obtained private polling from the DCCC that the committee has been using in presentations over the last two weeks to show that GOP attacks using issues such as critical race theory, "defund the police" and "open borders or amnesty" are "alarmingly potent." Siren: The DCCC warned that if Democrats don't respond to Republican attacks on these issues, the GOP's lead on the generic ballot jumps from 4 to 14 points in swing districts. Where it sticks: Equally alarming for Democrats, the new polling showed the GOP's attacks are most successful with three groups Democrats desperately need in November: center-left voters, independents and Hispanic voters. — In San Francisco on Tuesday, there was new evidence of what happens when Covid fatigue bleeds into the culture wars. Residents in the liberal bastion overwhelmingly voted to recall three board of education commissioners who angered parents last year by focusing on renaming schools rather than reopening them. "Parents matter," SIVA RAJ , one of the local activists who started the recall movement, told Playbook last night when asked what he thought the recall meant for national politics. "And governance matters." — CNN's Ron Brownstein, taking stock of this political trend , argues that genuine parental frustration with pandemic policies — such as virtual learning and prolonged mask mandates for schoolchildren — has opened the door to "an aggressive drive by Republicans to censor how public school teachers talk about race, gender, sexual orientation and other sensitive topics." Centrist Dem strategist WILL MARSHALL tells Brownstein: "Republicans are tapping into frustrations real and imagined, but we have left a vacuum. We have no reform agenda. Our party is seen as propping up a bureaucratic status quo that many parents thought didn't perform well during the pandemic. You can't just point to Republican demagoguery about race and books and win the argument. You have to make voters a counteroffer."
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See how we're working to help you connect safely. | | | GOP VOTERS AND TRUMP — We are always skeptical of arguments about declining GOP support for Trumpian obsessions. He has made a mockery of such predictions for seven years. But our latest POLITICO-Morning Consult poll points in that direction. — Republican voters want to stop talking about DONALD TRUMP's false claims of 2020 election fraud: Fifty percent want to move on from discussing such claims, while 37% want to continue this focus. Caveat: The poll also shows that GOP views on this issue are sensitive to how the questions are framed. When Republicans were asked if they support or oppose "Trump's continued focus on his claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election," 53% said they support it and 36% said they oppose it. — This comes after a CBS poll released Monday found Trump's grip on the GOP to be pretty firm: Sixty-nine percent of Republicans said they want Trump to run again in 2024, while 31% said he shouldn't. How should Republicans handle Trump? That's a question that will continue vexing Republicans this year — especially if state-level investigations into his private business dealings gain momentum. After Monday's news that Trump's longtime accounting firm had broken ties with him and his family business, The Hill's Alexander Bolton asked some GOP senators for their reaction. His piece includes some critical commentary from MITT ROMNEY (R-Utah), which you would expect. But it was comments from JOHN THUNE (R-S.D.) — who offered no cover for Trump — that suggested a tinge of desire among GOP leaders to find a way to put Trump in the rearview mirror if the investigations escalate: Thune "and other GOP lawmakers are trying to figure [out] what it all means politically, given that Trump is viewed as the party's de facto leader. 'I suppose it probably depends on how this all plays out,' [Thune] said. 'I assume there are other accounting firms out there that they can employ, but clearly they'll have to answer the questions around it.' "'All I know is what has been reported,' he added. 'Those are questions that his organization, they're going to have to respond to and have to answer, I assume. Their financial records have been under attack for a long time, been looked at for a long time … At this point I think it's all part of a broader narrative, and we'll see where it leads.'" "We'll see where it leads." We wonder what Trump will make of Thune's comments.
| | | |   | | | Good Wednesday morning. We meant to add this Tuesday, but belated congratulations to our own Rachael Bade, who announced in a Valentine's Day Twitter thread that she's expecting a baby girl in June after five rounds of IVF. We expect the little one to start churning out scoops for Playbook by August. Drop us a line if you have news: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza. BIDEN'S WEDNESDAY — The president and VP KAMALA HARRIS will receive the President's Daily Brief at 10:15 a.m. HARRIS' WEDNESDAY — The VP will also swear in CYNTHIA TELLES as ambassador to Costa Rica at 1:15 p.m. and RETA JO LEWIS as president of the Ex-Im Bank at 1:40 p.m. The White House Covid-19 response team and public health officials will brief at 11 a.m. Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at 1 p.m. THE SENATE will meet at 10 a.m., with cloture and potential confirmation votes throughout the day on the DOD nominations of CELESTE WALLANDER and DAVID HONEY. THE HOUSE is out. MICHAEL MCFAUL and RIC GRENELL will be among those testifying before an Oversight subcommittee at 10 a.m. on responding to Russian aggression in Eastern Europe.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speak in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, Feb. 15. | Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | RUSSIA-UKRAINE LATEST — In a speech from the East Room of the White House on Tuesday afternoon, Biden said that the West is "united and galvanized" and "ready to respond decisively" if Russia invades Ukraine. But behind the scenes, "U.S. and European officials are still struggling to agree how hard to hit Moscow with sanctions, and when," report Nahal Toosi, Andrew Desiderio and Jacopo Barigazzi. — "Biden appeared confident the opposing sides could find a diplomatic exit from the crisis," and "noted that the Russians stated their willingness to continue talks. 'I agree,' he said. 'We should give … diplomacy every chance to succeed,'" write WaPo's Shane Harris, Robyn Dixon, Rachel Pannett and Emily Rauhala. Worth noting: This is a major shift from the recent dire warnings issued by administration officials. Just days ago, national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN said that a Russian attack could be "imminent." CONGRESS INSIDE THE ECA DELAY — If you're holding your breath for a bipartisan deal on the Electoral Count Act to emerge soon, you might be waiting till you're blue in the face. Our Burgess Everett reports today that there's actually quite a divide within the bipartisan group about how fast they can move. — On one side, Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) is telling his colleagues they should put out a "framework" this week — something we heard Sen. SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine) hoped to do a few weeks ago. — But some Republicans in the group have a more … open-ended timeframe. Check out this Sen. THOM TILLIS (R-N.C.) quote: "Take a look at the length of time for the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Everybody thinks it's going to get done in a week or two. But that took months. We're still weeks into a process of discovery and scoping. So, it wouldn't surprise me if we're looking at a May, June timeframe before we have a consensus work product." Meanwhile, "Republicans are already grousing that Democrats are trying to shoehorn in changes not directly related to the Electoral Count Act. A GOP aide familiar with the talks … said that dynamic could prevent the bill from getting the 60 votes it needs to advance." THE WHITE HOUSE WH SEEKS $30B TO BATTLE COVID — The White House is reportedly asking Congress for more money to battle Covid-19 as part of its long-term appropriations package currently being ironed out. — The key numbers, via the AP: "$17.9 billion for vaccines and treatments, $4.9 billion for testing, $3 billion to cover coronavirus care for uninsured people, and $3.7 billion to prepare for future variants." — Siren, via Alice Miranda Ollstein and Adam Cancryn: "While the administration anticipates it has enough vaccines and therapeutics to ride out the [Omicron] surge, three people with knowledge of the matter said the government doesn't currently have enough money to respond if another dangerous variant emerges."
| | | |   | | | JUDICIARY SQUARE HARRIS LOBBIES FEMALE SENATORS ON SCOTUS — Harris has "recently reached out to women senators on both sides of the aisle to seek their input on the upcoming Supreme Court vacancy," our Marianne LeVine and Christopher Cadelago report. — Dems she's talked to: TINA SMITH (Minn.), KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (N.Y.), PATTY MURRAY (Wash.), TAMMY DUCKWORTH (Ill.) and DEBBIE STABENOW (Mich.). — Republicans she's talked to: DEB FISCHER (Neb.), SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO (W.Va.) and JONI ERNST (Iowa). ALL POLITICS THE 2022 BATTLE — Voting for the 2022 midterms is already underway, and the nation's top election officials are caught fighting a two-front war: Battling disinformation stemming from the last election, while simultaneously preparing for the next one, Zach Montellaro reports. "In interviews with 10 state chief election officials — along with conversations with staffers, current and former local officials and other election experts — many described how they have had to refocus their positions to battle a constant rolling boil of mis- and disinformation about election processes." AMERICA AND THE WORLD GETTING REAL WITH ISRAEL — For POLITICO Magazine, Elise Labott profiles IDAN ROLL, the 37-year-old, gay model-turned-Israeli deputy foreign minister who's become the face of Israel's campaign to rebrand its foreign policy and woo back U.S. Democrats. Roll is touring the world touting Israel's commitment to fighting climate change and protecting gay rights, as part of a broader effort under the new PM to "shrink" the focus on the conflict with Palestine. But after a trip to Washington, Roll is getting mixed reviews. Democratic leadership, eager to reclaim a pro-Israel message, has been receptive, while some progressives dismiss his campaign as cosmetic. MEDIAWATCH INSIDE A 'SECRET ASSAULT ALLEGATION' THAT ROCKED CNN — Touting a rare five-person byline, the NYT is up with a story diving deep into the controversy that sent CNN roiling. Leading the piece is a new nugget about a letter that arrived at the network last December, just after JEFF ZUCKER suspended primetime host CHRIS CUOMO: an allegation from a lawyer representing a woman who said Cuomo sexually assaulted her, then "tried to keep her quiet by arranging a flattering CNN segment about her employer at the time." Cuomo denies the allegations, but — as the story reads — "by week's end, Mr. Zucker had fired Mr. Cuomo, telling him that a drumbeat of scandals had become 'too much for us.'" — Separately, WarnerMedia, the company that owns CNN, released a statement announcing that ALLISON GOLLUST, the senior CNN official who had a romantic relationship with Zucker, is also leaving: "Based on interviews of more than 40 individuals and a review of over 100,000 texts and emails, the investigation found violations of company policies, including CNN's News Standards and Practices, by Jeff Zucker, Allison Gollust and Chris Cuomo," chief executive JASON KILAR said. — Just after the statement blasted out, Puck's Dylan Byers scooped a response from Gollust sent to CNN staff: "WarnerMedia's statement tonight is an attempt to retaliate against me and change the media narrative in the wake of their disastrous handling of the last two weeks. It is deeply disappointing that after spending the past nine years defending and upholding CNN's highest standards of journalistic integrity, I would be treated this way as I leave." "If you look closely between the words 'retaliate' and 'against me,' you can see an impending lawsuit," Byers writes. NYT WINS ROUND 1 VS. PALIN, CONT. — A jury on Tuesday unanimously found that the NYT was "not liable for defamation against former Alaska Gov. SARAH PALIN," CNN's Sonia Moghe reports.
| | | | DON'T MISS CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO's new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Alexandra Petri welcomed a new baby — and defied the adage that you forget how painful labor is once it's over. Joe Cunningham compared his last election to, well, see the pictures for yourself. Dan Snyder was revealed as the buyer of a $48 million, 16,000-square-foot mansion on the Potomac — the most expensive home in the history of the greater Washington area. Washington Business Journal reports that he purchased the home (in cash) through an LLC in November, and his long-rumored ownership was revealed when the property was listed as his home address in contribution disclosure forms filed by Glenn Youngkin's inaugural committee. Vivek Murthy related the story of his daughter, who's too young to be vaccinated, getting Covid-19 — and the difficulty of parenting during the pandemic. Billy Long blasted Josh Hawley for not telling him he'd endorse Vicky Hartzler, in an unsolicited phone rant to our Alex Isenstadt. West Wing Playbook unspooled the curious tale of Jovanni Ortiz and a perhaps credulous story in The Hill. IN MEMORIAM — "P.J. O'Rourke, Conservative Political Satirist, Dies at 74," by NYT's Neil Genzlinger: "In articles, in best sellers and as a talk show regular he was a voice from the right skewering whatever in government or culture he thought needed it." FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Chris Stirewalt, the former Fox News editor who was fired months after defending the network's early, accurate call of Arizona for Joe Biden in 2020, is coming out with a new book, "Broken News: Why the Media Rage Machine Divides America and How to Fight Back," on Aug. 23. Stirewalt told Daniel Lippman that while the book isn't a tell-all and surveys the media landscape more broadly, it does include some Fox stories, including the Arizona moment and his experiences with Roger Ailes. $29 BOOK CLUB — Deborah Birx, the former White House coronavirus response coordinator in the Trump administration, is publishing a memoir this spring "that will focus on her contentious time as White House coronavirus task force coordinator in the administration of President Donald Trump," AP's Hillel Italie reports. SPOTTED at a dinner at the residence of British Ambassador Karen Pierce and Charles Roxburgh on Monday night: Italian Ambassador Mariangela Zappa, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Abigail Blunt, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Tom Friedman, Sally Quinn, Margaret Carlson and Bob Costa. MEDIA MOVES — Kristen Hinman will be mid-Atlantic bureau chief for Axios Local. She currently is articles editor at Washingtonian. … Jerusalem Demsas will be a staff writer at The Atlantic. She currently is a policy writer at Vox and co-host of "The Weeds" podcast. TRANSITIONS — Stephanie Schriock is joining Precision as of counsel. She previously was president of EMILY's List, and is a Jon Tester alum. … Emerge is adding Virginia state Del. Danica Roem and Madison, Wis., Common Council Alder Arvina Martin as executive directors of the organization's Virginia and Wisconsin state affiliates, respectively. … Jess Moore is now senior counsel and director of government affairs and policy at GE Aviation. She most recently was director of international security cooperation at Textron, and is a State Department and Tom Rooney alum. … … Courtenay Mencini is now comms/PR manager at Google. She most recently was strategic comms adviser to the FBI director. … Hadley Chase is now director of client strategy at Rising Tide Interactive. She most recently was senior digital strategist at Aisle 518. … Elizabeth Grossman is now policy counsel and manager at Pacific Community Ventures. She most recently was at Voting Rights Lab, and is a Pete Buttigieg campaign alum. ENGAGED — Katie Kissinger, an associate attorney in Goodwin Procter's antitrust and competition practice, and Campbell Wallace, an MBA candidate at Georgetown and a Tom Carper alum, recently got engaged on the beach in Boca Grande, Fla., with her family present. The couple met after college through one of her former Georgetown roommates. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Robert Allbritton … Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) … Reps. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), David Rouzer (R-N.C.) (5-0), Neal Dunn (R-Fla.) and Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) … Kevin Robillard … POLITICO's Cate Hansberry … Jennifer Steinhauer … Susan Levine … CNN's Mike Warren … Sarah Bianchi … Joe Concha … Cameron Joseph … Nigel Cory of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation … Paul Blake … Jim Conzelman … Walmart's Bruce Harris … David Copley … Strader Payton … Susan Platt … Sonya Bernhardt … Kent Talbert … Michelle Tuffin ... Ben Kobren … Ed O'Keefe of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum … Carl Icahn … former Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.) … Jay Carson Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com . Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Mike Zapler, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Allie Bice, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross.
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