| | | | |  | | By Eugene Daniels, Rachael Bade and Ryan Lizza | | | With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross
|  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis worked the ground game in Iowa on Saturday after inclement weather kept Donald Trump away from the state. | Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY — First off, we’d be remiss to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to all the mamas out there, especially the moms of Playbook — LAURA BADE, LEAH DANIELS, BARBARA LIZZA, SHEILA DeBONIS, DeANNA IRVINE, AMSALE LEGESSE, SUE OKUN, LIZ ROSS and BETH BAGLEY-STANTON. And a special shoutout to our own Rachael Bade, who today celebrates her first Mother’s Day with her baby girl, SKYLA. DeSANTIS STORMS THROUGH IOWA — It was supposed to be the Thrilla In Vanilla: Yesterday, both DONALD TRUMP and Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS were scheduled to campaign in Iowa — Trump at a rally in Des Moines and DeSantis at events throughout the state. Mother Nature apparently had other plans. Just hours before his event’s scheduled start, Trump postponed the rally due to a tornado watch. As our colleagues Natalie Allison and Sally Goldenberg write from Iowa: “Trump fans began lining up hours before the scheduled outdoor rally in Des Moines. They continued waiting for Trump behind metal barriers even as the skies opened. … The scene was a reminder of the lengths to which Trump’s loyal base will go to support and defend him, and that DeSantis has a tough road ahead convincing a sizable chunk of the Republican electorate to move on.” The weather gave Trump lemons. And DeSantis made lemonade. His camp “hurriedly scheduled an unannounced stop late Saturday night at Jethro's, a Des Moines barbecue joint that sits a stone's throw from the park where Trump had planned to hold his rally,” write NBC’s Jonathan Allen, Natasha Korecki and Dasha Burns. There, standing atop a table, the Florida governor gave an abbreviated version of his sales pitch to Iowa voters — hitting Trump, but not by name, by jabbing at the “culture of losing that has infected our party in recent years.” Notably, DeSantis did not “answer questions about abortion and whether, like Trump, he would be inclined to pardon people convicted in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection.” It’s a sign of how the DeSantis team wants to frame its campaign against Trump: not as a matter of policy differences, but of electability. This, of course, is a way to ding Trump while avoiding a more confrontational approach that could alienate his supporters. But we also can’t help but think that the talk of a “culture of losing” is aimed at getting under Trump’s skin, as it goes straight at the public image he’s strained to cultivate for decades: of himself as the ultimate winner. (Remember: This is the man who promised his supporters that he would be so victorious that they would grow tired of all the winning.) DeSantis’ one-man show gave him a chance to try to demonstrate his more personable side and use the retail politicking skills he’s been criticized for lacking. And though many Twitter users joked about his plastered-on smile in impromptu photos with voters, reporting from on the ground suggests the charm offensive might have worked. WaPo’s Hannah Knowles and Dylan Wells: “Critics say DeSantis can be socially awkward and neglects the personal touches valued by other candidates. On Saturday evening, DeSantis sat down with Iowa GOP chair JEFF KAUFMANN for a question-and-answer session that largely focused on his day-to-day life and family, including his wife’s cancer diagnosis. … “He mingled with VIPs at a private reception. He greeted voters — this time not separated from the crowd by bike racks, which appeared at his Iowa events earlier this year. He stopped by a Pizza Ranch restaurant, where he delighted the mother of the manager, SUE DYKSTRA, who finds DeSantis as a person far more appealing than Trump. ‘I really like Trump’s policies … but he’s not a good man,’ Dykstra said. ‘I would not want to sit down and have dinner with him.’” Des Moines Register’s Brianne Pfannenstiel, Katie Akin and Stephen Gruber-Miller: “Several attendees of the [DeSantis] Cedar Rapids event expressed their hesitation about Trump's candidacy — even those who plan to vote for him. “KATHY POTTS, a 64-year-old Cedar Rapids activist, put it like this: ‘I like Donald Trump, but I hate Donald Trump.’ She called Trump a ‘bully’ and ‘mean’ — but she also said Trump ‘led the country better than anybody else,’ and she intends to support him in 2024. “‘With the Republican Party, I don’t think Trump’s the worst thing,’ said JOHN COPLEY, the 20-year-old president of the Dordt University College Republicans. ‘But I do think DeSantis is stronger, if he does run.’ “JEFF SORENSEN, a 63-year-old Muscatine resident, said he hasn't always appreciated Trump's ‘demeanor,’ although he supports Trump's policies. ‘I think Gov. DeSantis has done a fantastic job over a number of years in Florida, and I want to hear what he has to say,’ Sorenson said. "And hopefully he’ll get in the race and tell us that, one of these days.’” These are the exact type of voters DeSantis’ message is aimed at: people who like Trump’s policies, but have grown iffy on Trump himself. Of course, even if DeSantis is able to win Iowa, that’s no guarantee he’ll stop Trump. (Just ask TED CRUZ, who won the Hawkeye State in 2016.) Related reads: “In Sioux Center, Ron DeSantis draws parallels between Florida and Iowa,” by the Sioux City Journal’s Jared McNett … “It’s Been a Week. What Does It Tell Us About 2024?” by NYT’s Jonathan Weisman in Des Moines
| | | | A message from PhRMA: Middlemen like PBMs are charging fees tied to the price of medicines, which means they make more money when the price of a medicine goes up. This business model allows PBM profits to soar and can lead to higher costs for patients. It’s time to lower costs for patients by holding middlemen accountable. | | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — As the debate over spending cuts and the debt ceiling ramps up, the Biden administration is trying to turn the table on Republicans over border security. In a new memo from deputy press secretary ANDREW BATES, the White House blasts Republicans’ proposed spending cuts to “critical law enforcement agencies responsible for policing our southern border, including by terminating thousands of border patrol agents. And they are threatening to single-handedly trigger a recession unless they can deliver this gut punch to the men and women who guard our border. All in service of tax cuts for the rich.” The White House claims the GOP proposal would:
- “Terminate over 2,000 border patrol agents
- Slash the Drug Enforcement Agency Budget
- Allow an additional 150,000 pounds of cocaine, nearly 900 pounds of fentanyl, nearly 2,000 pounds of heroin, and more than 17,000 pounds of methamphetamine into our country.
- Terminat[e] over 500 ATF agents”
The White House and congressional Democrats have deemed the bill the “Default on America Act” (or DOA — get it?). And the argument is that since Republicans haven’t exactly been clear where their cuts would be targeted, we can fairly assume they would land across the board. Worth noting: Even as Biden tries to claim the high ground on border security, last week House Republicans did pass a hawkish bill on immigration and border security. (That, too, was a purely theatrical exercise, as it will not make it through the Democratic Senate.) Good Sunday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza. ELECTION DAY IN TURKEY — Turkish President RECEP TAYYIP ERDOĞAN is facing a tough reelection battle today against challenger KEMAL KILICDAROGLU, who was ahead of Erdoğan in some recent polling. Votes are already being counted. Table setter: “How to watch the Turkish elections like a pro,” by Leyla Aksu The context: NYT’s Steven Erlanger and Anatoly Kurmanaev write that “the prospect that the Turkish leader could lose the election is concentrating diplomatic minds. Officially, people on the Western side won’t talk about their preferences, to avoid being accused of interfering in Turkey’s domestic politics. But it is an open secret that European leaders, not to speak of the Biden administration, would be delighted if Mr. Erdogan were to lose.” The history: “Turkish century: History looms large on election day,” by Christian Oliver and Elçin Poyrazlar in Istanbul Meanwhile: ELON MUSK’s Twitter said yesterday that it has “taken action to restrict access to some content in Turkey,” a controversial move that critics say is giving in to the demands of Erdogan, WaPo’s Perry Stein writes. “Much of Turkey’s media is under government control, and critics accuse Erdogan of cracking down on social media companies to stifle opposition voices as he tries to stay in power.” Musk addressed the controversy on Twitter, responding to a critique from MATTHEW YGLESIAS: “Did your brain fall out of your head, Yglesias? The choice is have Twitter throttled in its entirety or limit access to some tweets. Which one do you want?” See the interaction
| | | | A message from PhRMA: Middlemen say they want lower prices, yet they often deny or limit coverage of lower-cost generics and biosimilars while giving preferential coverage to medicines with higher prices. | | | SUNDAY BEST … — Sen. CHRIS MURPHY (D-Conn.) on the chances of immigration legislation, on NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “Despite my tough words for how Republicans approach this issue, I think there is still an opportunity, at least in the Senate, for bipartisan immigration reform. … I think right now you’ve got to do the pieces that are most urgent, and to me, that’s border security, that’s asylum reform, and then that’s doing something about the Dreamers who are here and need some help.” — DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS on whether he’s spoken with Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY on border legislation, on CNN’s “State of the Union”: “I have not. We have been calling on Congress to pass legislation to fix what everyone agrees is a broken immigration system. We have been asking for that for more than two decades. On Day One of his presidency, President Biden presented a legislative package. The proposal right now, what we are asking for, and we are really in need of desperately as a country, is immigration reform to fix the system, not to dismantle it.” — House Homeland Security Chair MARK GREEN (R-Tenn.) on whether Mayorkas should be impeached, on “State of the Union”: “I have been very careful not to say, ‘Let’s impeach Secretary Mayorkas,’ because I don't have that authority in my committee. … But what I do have is a responsibility for oversight. And we’re going to do that. We’re going to look very closely at the failures of this administration and Secretary Mayorkas.” — Rep. BYRON DONALDS (R-Fla.) on House Republicans’ border legislation priorities, on “Fox News Sunday”: “We're still trying to figure out some side pieces of immigration policy overall because Democrats would never work with us on commonsense immigration policies. … So, the House Republican position is a border security package that would secure the border, and it was my position as well … that's where we’ll be moving when we [win] back the White House in 2024.” TOP-EDS: A roundup of the week’s must-read opinion pieces.
- “Trump’s Lesson for the Media and Ron DeSantis,” by Ross Douthat in NYT
- “Could the Maxine Waters Lawsuit End Attack Ads?” by Stephen Carter in Bloomberg
- “Why Steven Crowder’s Marriage Matters,” by Bethany Mandel in The Free Press
- “A Generational Cliff,” by Lakshya Jain, Leon Sit, Jesse Richardson, Harrison Lavelle and Armin Thomas at Split Ticket
- “Not worried enough? A U.S. default threatens national security, too,” by Catherine Rampell in WaPo
- “4 Betrayals That Explain America,” by Joshua Zeitz in POLITICO Magazine
- “It’s time for Congress to help the Congressional Research Service,” by Kevin Kosar in The Hill
- “11 questions I wish Trump had been asked at the CNN town hall,” by Ramesh Ponnuru in WaPo
- “Falling Fertility Rates Will Turn the Immigration Debate Upside Down,” by Tyler Cowen in Bloomberg
- “Will Texas Blow Up Its Energy Miracle to Bolster Fossil Fuels?” by Michael Webber in NYT
- “The Very Invisible Republican Primary,” by Matthew Continetti in the Free Beacon
- “The Second Phase of the Biden Presidency,” by David Brooks in NYT
- “Gun Owners vs. Gun Nuts,” by Holman Jenkins in WSJ
- “13 parents share the best reasons to have children,” by Alyssa Rosenberg in WaPo
| | BIDEN’S SUNDAY — The president has nothing on his public schedule.
VP KAMALA HARRIS’ SUNDAY — The VP has nothing on her public schedule. | | | | | | DON’T MISS THE POLITICO ENERGY SUMMIT: A new world energy order is emerging and America’s place in it is at a critical juncture. Join POLITICO on Thursday, May 18 for our first-ever energy summit to explore how the U.S. is positioning itself in a complicated energy future. We’ll explore progress on infrastructure and climate funding dedicated to building a renewable energy economy, Biden’s environmental justice proposals, and so much more. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
|  A Howard University student turns their back in protest as President Joe Biden delivers the commencement address at Capitol One Arena on Saturday, May 13. | Getty Images | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | 9 THINGS FOR YOUR RADAR 1. LABOR PAINS: The Biden administration is stepping up its campaign to get JULIE SU confirmed as Labor secretary, pressing key Senate Dems to get in line, our colleague Jennifer Haberkorn reports. “Over the past two weeks, White House chief of staff JEFF ZIENTS has placed calls to key senators who are considering her nomination, according to a White House official who asked not to be named to speak freely about the outreach. “In recent days, Commerce Secretary GINA RAIMONDO and Energy Secretary JENNIFER GRANHOLM have also joined the effort, calling moderate Democrats who have been noncommittal about supporting Su, according to three people familiar with the calls.” The increased pressure comes as Sen. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-Calif.) returns, giving Dems another vote to count in the confirmation battle. 2. VIVEK LA VIDA RICA: “How Vivek Ramaswamy made a fortune before pivoting to politics,” by Jessica Piper: “While Ramaswamy has not yet filed a mandatory personal financial disclosure (his campaign asked for a deadline extension in order to be ‘thorough’), he released 20 years of his individual income tax returns online and to reporters. The filings date back to 2002, the year in which he turned 17 and reported earning $2,000. He reported over $1 million in annual income for the first time in 2011, when he worked at QVT Financial, and has since reported earning more than $240 million, driven by $174 million in capital gains for 2020.” 3. MONEY MOVES: NYT’s David Fahrenthold and Tiff Fehr are up with a remarkable audio interactive story: “How to Raise $89 Million in Small Donations — And Make It Disappear” The details: “A group of conservative operatives using sophisticated robocalls raised millions of dollars from donors using pro-police and pro-veteran messages. But instead of using the money to promote issues and candidates, an analysis by The New York Times shows, nearly all the money went to pay the firms making the calls and the operatives themselves, highlighting a flaw in the regulation of political nonprofits.” 4. BIDEN AT HOWARD: “Biden calls white supremacy ‘most dangerous terrorist threat’ in speech at Howard,” by Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing: “Addressing the 2023 graduates of the university at the Capital One Arena in D.C., Biden depicted the U.S. as a nation roiled by internal conflict and alluded to core messages of both his 2020 and 2024 campaign platforms. Invoking the battle cry he used to galvanize voters in the 2020 election cycle, he called on his audience to ‘fight for the soul of the nation.’” Watch the clip
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   It’s time to lower costs for patients by holding middlemen accountable. | | | 5. GUTS, GLORY, RAHM: “From Rahmbo to Rahm-bassador: How an unlikely diplomat has wooed Japan,” by WaPo’s Michelle Ye Hee Lee in Tokyo: “Being ambassador to Japan is an important but typically cushy appointment, managing an alliance that has remained largely stable for seven decades and has been bestowed to political giants like CAROLINE KENNEDY, former vice president WALTER MONDALE and former Senate majority leader HOWARD BAKER. Yet for [RAHM] EMANUEL, 63, his schedule here rivals his time as White House chief of staff or as mayor of Chicago. He has been an unusually hands-on, visible and outspoken American ambassador. The kind that Japan has never seen before.” 6. IMMIGRATION FILES: “‘It ain’t gonna be good’: Green card freeze imperils health system,” by Kelly Hooper: “The State Department announced in its May bulletin it moved the cut-off date for visa eligibility to June 1, 2022 — meaning only those who filed petitions before that date will be able to continue with their applications this fiscal year — because of soaring demand. Anyone who filed a green card petition in the past year, which could include thousands of nurses, won’t be able to proceed with their applications. Health groups say the move could devastate a nursing workforce that is plagued by staffing shortages in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.” Related read: “Crossing jungle and desert, migrants navigate a sea of misinformation,” by WaPo’s Juan Arturo Gómez Tobón and Samantha Schmidt in Necoclí, Colombia 7. SCOTUS WATCH: “Free speech or federal crime? Protesters are still marching outside conservative Supreme Court justices’ homes,” by NBC’s Lawrence Hurley in Chevy Chase, Md. 8. MESS IN THE MIDDLE EAST: “Drone Strike That Killed U.S. Contractor in Syria Was Launched by Iran-backed Militia in Iraq,” by WSJ’s Michael Gordon, Warren Strobel and David Cloud: “The cross-border strikes illustrate the difficulties the Biden administration faces in the Middle East as it shifts its military focus to deterring China and Russia. It also highlights the challenges the U.S. faces in developing a policy to deal with Iraq 20 years after toppling the regime of SADDAM HUSSEIN.” 9. THE LEGEND OF ZELENSKYY: “Zelensky, in private, plots bold attacks inside Russia, leak shows,” by WaPo’s John Hudson and Isabelle Khurshudyan: Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY “has proposed going in a more audacious direction — occupying Russian villages to gain leverage over Moscow, bombing a pipeline that transfers Russian oil to Hungary, a NATO member, and privately pining for long-range missiles to hit targets inside Russia’s borders, according to classified U.S. intelligence documents detailing his internal communications with top aides and military leaders.”
| | | | GET READY FOR GLOBAL TECH DAY: Join POLITICO Live as we launch our first Global Tech Day alongside London Tech Week on Thursday, June 15. Register now for continuing updates and to be a part of this momentous and program-packed day! From the blockchain, to AI, and autonomous vehicles, technology is changing how power is exercised around the world, so who will write the rules? REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Howard University proves the everlasting point: everyone needs an editor. Ron DeSantis got behind the grill in Iowa. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at an engagement party for Elaine Kamarck and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) hosted by Abby and Roy Blunt, April and John Delaney and Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) at the Delaney home on Capitol Hill on Thursday night: Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Paul Pelosi, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), Reps. David Trone (D-Md.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), John Larson (D-Conn.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Margaret Cheney, Stacey Alexander, Steve Elmendorf, Don Graham, Jane Harman, Mara Liasson, Ruth Marcus, Angela Alsobrooks, Tony Coelho, Ann and Lloyd Hand, EJ Dionne, Nina Easton and Russ Schriefer, Susanna Quinn, Mike French, Fred and Amy Upton, Amy Nathan and Howard Fineman, Alexis Covey-Brandt and Lois Romano. — Glamour and the Paid Leave for All campaign hosted a reception Thursday night with Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) at her home to celebrate the newly formed partnership and the outlet’s 28 Days paid leave initiative. SPOTTED: Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Chris Dodd, Dawn Huckelbridge, Sam Barry, Natasha Pearlman, Jocelyn Frye, Ali Vitali, Erika Gudmundson, Leigh Ann Caldwell, Ashley Allison, Adrienne Elrod, Brittany Caplin, Sarah Hardy, Laura Modi and Mel Campbell. TRANSITIONS — Imani Bentham is now director for new membership development at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She most recently was director for engagement and membership strategy at National Journal. … Gayatri Patel is now an independent consultant for foreign policy and international development. She previously was VP of advocacy and external relations at the Women’s Refugee Commission. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Rebecca Linder Blachly, director of the office of government relations for The Episcopal Church, and James Blachly, music director of the Experiential Orchestra, welcomed William Reed Linder Blachly on March 1. BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Marcia Lee Kelly HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Mark Zuckerberg … Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) … Susie Wiles … Tom Donilon of O’Melveny & Myers … former Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) … J.B. Poersch of Senate Majority PAC … ABC’s Karen Travers … NBC’s David Gelles … Sam Newton … Jon Vogel of MVAR Media … Sydney Thomas Stubbs of Americans for Prosperity … Aneiry Batista … former Reps. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.), Mimi Walters (R-Calif.) and Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) (8-0) … Cassie Scher of Rational 360 … Bloomberg’s Josh Eidelson … Rob Levinson … Kara Allen … Judith Barnett … Brian Canfield … Elizabeth Mulkey … former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen … Jill Stein … Howard Wolfson … Lenwood Brooks … Caleb Randall-Bodman of QuestEnd Advisors … State Department’s Akhil Bery … POLITICO’s David Guide and Emily Golden … Audrey Henson … Erwin Chemerinsky (7-0) Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: Insurers and PBMs get savings that can reduce the cost of some brand medicines by 50% or more. But, they don’t have to share those savings with you. In fact, experts warn PBM incentives may lead them to prefer higher priced medicines. They collect exorbitant fees based off a medicine’s list price, which means they make more money when the price of a medicine goes up. It’s time to lower costs for patients by holding middlemen accountable. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment