MIKE ALLEN’s last Playbook: #3,304, a streak that started June 25, 2007 – WHO’LL BE FIRST? Obama shops for a country club, and The Atlantic shops for an editor – B’DAY: Julianna Smoot, Sam Stein
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By Mike Allen (@mikeallen; [email protected]) and Daniel Lippman (@dlippman; [email protected])
“ONE LAST TIME,” per “Hamilton” ... Good Sunday morning. It’s 8 days to Cleveland, 15 to Philly, and 121 to Election Day.
THE N.Y. TIMES packages its top three stories with the arresting banner, “AMERICA GRIEVES, TENSE AND WARY.” See the page. http://nyti.ms/29yFXpt WashPost banner: “Nation reels from Dallas shootings.” L.A. Times 2-col. lead: “Protests resume in tense cities across U.S.” Welcome home, Mr. President! He arrives from Spain, on the South Lawn, at 10:10 p.m. AP has an “around the country” story, “Shooting of Dallas officers spurs acts of kindness to police.” http://apne.ws/29qKxSF
BREAKING – Reuters/Madrid: “Obama says activists who attack police hurt Black Lives Matter cause ... Obama says we know we have had information hacked from the White House.”
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THE BUZZ: D.C.-area golfers are speculating about what country club President Obama will join after he leaves office. Burning Tree’s history of discrimination makes it a no-fly-zone. He has played at Congressional, but it doesn’t feel warm. He has also played at Chevy Chase, but feels it’s a bit snooty. So by process of elimination, the smart money is on Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, a predominantly Jewish club where Obama has played four times.
One friend said the president even might wind up choosing multiple golf clubs in multiple cities: “He clearly loves the sport.”
Mark Knoller of CBS News generously shares his tally: “Pres Obama has played 3 rounds of golf at Woodmont Country Club plus one visit that was driving range only. He’s played once at the Congressional Country Club and once at Chevy Chase Club. He also played 4 times at TPC Potomac. And once more at Robert Trent Jones in Gainesville, VA. His most frequent golf venue as pres has been Andrews where he’s played 106 times.”
FOLLOW AROUND David Bradley, chairman and owner of Atlantic Media, for long and you’ll run into New York Times luminaries who are eager to succeed James Bennet (who started May 2 as N.Y. Times Editorial Page Editor) as editor of The Atlantic. One person who is being considered wrote us when we inquired about his interest: “On background, no tracks back to me: it’s a great job with huge shoes to fill, and David is searching for a great journalist. I’m honored that anyone is putting me in that category – you are the second with an inquiry like this – but I haven’t discussed it with them.”
Bradley is soliciting recommendations from people he respects, not asking people to apply. By early June, a little over 400 writers, editors and academics had been suggested. Now, the list is closer to 500, plus a number of internal candidates. (About 50 names come up again and again.) So this could take awhile. The Atlantic declined comment other than to emphasize: “We’re still very early in this process.” The short list is thought to include the N.Y. Times’ David Brooks, David Sanger and Michael Luo, and the WashPost’s Fred Hiatt, Ruth Marcus and Carlos Lozada.
THANK YOU for all these great mornings ... TODAY is my last Playbook -- #3,304, with about a dozen of those written by Celebrity Guest Playbookers. There were some fun tweets over the weekend about the streak: “#Favre; #Ripken.” I’m fortunate that between the stunning times we’ve lived through together over the past decade, and this incredible, supportive audience, there has never been a single morning that I wasn’t excited to get up and tell you about the day ahead. I haven’t used an alarm clock since college: I just bolt out of bed every morning, humbled and thrilled to have the chance to serve you one more time. I say: “Thank you, God, for this day,” then go make the donuts at my keyboard.
A buddy sent me an email last night (subject line “Godspeed”) that said: “For all of the people who are saying ‘I have read Playbook since 2007,’ I just want to say that when I put your email into my To line, it populated with not just your politico.com address but also your washpost.com and your timemagazine.com address.” And when I wrote him back, HIS email popped up in my iPhone with his name and then “PIN,” the old BlackBerry secret message address. And that’s how Playbook is: a longtime family, and rare meeting place for Rs and Ds, hacks and flacks, smart citizens and people who run the world.
Starting tomorrow, your cruise directors will be the talented trio of Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer and Daniel Lippman, who’ll propel Playbook into a new era. I’ll stay in the Politico family through the election, helping with events and contributing scoops and stories. After that, I’ll start a new media company with Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz, Politico’s first chief revenue officer. We’ll be based in the area, so you’ll still SPOT me at the same places you spot me now.
BACKSTORY: Playbook started with TWO subscribers – my bosses, John Harris and Jim VandeHei. In those infant days of Politico (back when some people wondered if we were a Spanish-language website), I wrote the guys a morning email that said in the subject line: “How we can rock today.” The email had bullet points about what we should cover, what people were buzzing about, what scoops others had, and what I had done the night before.
One day John was talking to Howard Wolfson, then on Senator Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and said: “Mikey writes me this great email in the morning that tells me everything I need to know.” Howard asked me if he could get it, and I said, “Sure.” So there were three subscribers. A few days later, his deputy, Phil Singer, asked if he could get a copy, too. I said, “Sure.” That was four. And then the Obama campaign, and the McCain campaign, and the White House, and the DNC, and the RNC, and Katie Couric, and so forth.
I figured people didn’t like bcc, so I was emailing it individually every morning to everyone on the list. It was taking like half an hour just to forward all the copies. So one day I wrote the readers a note that said: You’ll be getting it bcc, but it’ll come half an hour sooner. And everyone was fine with that.
So it was still just an email among friends and sources and newsmakers. Only later did we make it possible to sign up online. Eventually we posted it, and offered sponsorships and launched Playbook Breakfasts. The audience doubled in about four days after Mark Leibovich’s cover story for The New York Times Magazine, “The Man the White House Wakes Up To,” calling Playbook a “morning distillation of the Nation’s Business in the form of a summer-camp newsletter.” http://nyti.ms/29MmJhf
Playbook went public on June 25, 2007, with the cheery opening: “Good Monday morning. Welcome to the new edition of the Politico Playbook that’s available by automatic e-mail, giving you a handy, BlackBerry and Treo-friendly peek at the news driving each day.” (Remember Treos, with the stylus, from the Palm Pilot folks?) Headings in that first issue included “LOOK FOR,” “BUT FIRST,” “FOR YOUR RADAR SCREEN,” ‘THE TAKEAWAY,” “MIKE’S MUST READS,” “SIDEBAR,” “ECHO EFFECT,” “CONTEXT,” “POPPING ON POLITICO BLOGS” and “HAPPENING TODAY.” It ended by saying: “Have a great day. Please send tips, links, thoughts to [email protected].” (Hat tip to Peter Cherukuri for digging that out of the archive.)
Along the way, we added “Playbook Facts of Life.” Elspeth Reeve collected a bunch of them in a New Republic piece, “Essential Life Lessons From Mike Allen,” with headings that included “On power and ethics,” “On being classy,” “On destiny.” http://bit.ly/29HqDp7 And hopefully the staples came through every day: Focus on serving the people beneath and beside you, not just the people above you. ... Live life with no regrets. ... Life isn’t a video game where you get to play it again and be amazing. ... People want to be led. ... If you can give your kids confidence, everything else follows. ... Treat everyone like today’s their birthday. ... Always imagine yourself in the other guy’s shoes. ... Just brush it off. ... Ya never know. ... Play the long game.
And, taking my own advice, for once: Ya have to know when to walk away from the bar.
As my final Playbooks ticked down, people asked me how I’m feeling. It’s a lot like becoming an empty-nester: You have this awesome, needy, all-consuming organizing imperative for your life that suddenly vanishes. You’re happy for your offspring, and just hope you gave it good values and left it happy and healthy for the next season of life. You hope that, as Jim says, you got the big things right and that the lapses – and there were plenty – wound up washing away. Everyone may not have always agreed with your decisions in the moment, but eventually they realize that there was a method to your madness.
It’s also a bit like going from high school to college: High school was essential and nutty, and you wouldn’t trade it for anything. But with hard work, a little luck, and the Lord’s kindness, what comes next will be even bigger and better. So I’m not sad: just excited and grateful. I’m especially appreciative to my Politico colleagues, including the ones who helped get Playbook to you every day; to my family, for embracing this crazy life, and rooting for me at every turn; and to YOU -- the faithful, smart, demanding Playbook community.
THANK YOU for your encouragement, your tips, your corrections, your suggestions, and for joining me on this ride of a lifetime. See you around campus – and don’t go changing.
WEEKEND WEDDING: Colin Barnicle – a founder of Prospect Productions, an Emmy-winning new-media company in Manhattan, and son of Anne Finucane and Mike Barnicle -- to Jackie Govoni, yesterday at St. Mary, Our Lady of the Isle Catholic Church on Nantucket, with reception at The Nantucket Hotel (built in 1891). SPOTTED: Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Louis Burgdorf. Engagement pics http://bit.ly/29vMh2G
SPOTTED in Nantucket yesterday: Greta van Susteren and hubby John Coale, in town ... Chris Matthews at the Straight Wharf ... Jack Welch, eating with former Red Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino and their wives at the White Elephant hotel.
SPOTTED in D.C. yesterday: Rep. John Lewis on Barracks Row, posing for pictures with kids. “I feel famous,” he said. “You ARE famous,” a mom replies. ... Sen. John Cornyn at Costco midday, with cantaloupe in his cart ... David Corn at #BudAndBurgers battle of the decades party at Nats Park, rocking out to ’80s and ’90s music.
SPOTTED in N.Y. last night: Secretary of State Kerry (and Spike Lee) in the house for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s final “Hamilton.” USA Today says that during the emotional final curtain call, the orchestra broke into the theme from “The West Wing”: “Miranda appeared surprised by this, and visibly moved (the star has cited the Aaron Sorkin show as one of his influences while writing Hamilton).”
STEVE RATTNER in N.Y. Times, “Long Lines at Airports? You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”: “[M]any of us haven’t heard the real reason: funding for the [TSA] has been sliced by 8.5 percent over the past five years, leading to a 5.5 percent drop in the number of screeners. At the same time, the number of travelers has increased by more than 15 percent. ... This year, discretionary spending — which encompasses airport security, infrastructure, education, research and development and much more — will be lower than it was in 2005.” http://nyti.ms/29HlJIV
THE LONG VIEW ... JULIAN ZELIZER for The Atlantic, “Is America Repeating the Mistakes of 1968?”: “When questions over race and policing were front and center in a national debate in 1968, the federal government failed to take the steps necessary to make any changes. The government understood how institutional racism was playing out in the cities and how they exploded into violence, but the electorate instead was seduced by Richard Nixon’s calls for law and order, as well as an urban crackdown.” http://theatln.tc/29w4Yzd
SUNDAY BEST -- JAKE TAPPER interviewing JEH JOHNSON on CNN’s “State of the Union”: “African American parents, especially those who have sons, are grappling with what to tell their children these days especially in the wake of the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. ... What advice do you have for those parents, Secretary Johnson?” JOHNSON: “Well I’ve obviously got some experience with this as a parent and as somebody who’s been around. I’m 59 years old now, and I’ve had my share of unpleasant encounters with law enforcement when I was much younger.”
TAPPER: “What kind of experiences did you have as a younger man if you don’t mind me asking sir?” JOHNSON: “Well you know, the type of road encounters that others have talked about.”
-- “Dallas police chief: Shooter wrote in blood,” by CNN’s Eric Bradner: “The gunman who killed five police officers in Dallas was plotting larger attacks, Dallas Police Chief David Brown [told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union”]. ‘We’re convinced that this suspect had other plans’ ... Brown said police found bomb-making materials and a journal at the shooter’s home that suggested he’d been practicing detonations and appeared ready to take aim at larger targets. ... Among Dallas investigators’ current goals: Figure out what [Micah] Johnson had meant by ‘RB,’ lettering that Brown said he’d written on the wall in blood before his death.” http://cnn.it/29HrXZ9
GAME CHANGE? “Trump looks at retired general [Michael] Flynn as possible running mate,” by Reuters’ Steve Holland: “The thinking is that Flynn, who has been a foreign policy adviser to Trump, would be able to help Trump in the area of national security at a time of challenges abroad like the threat from Islamic State militants. ... Flynn was chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency under President Barack Obama from 2012-2014.” http://reut.rs/29wz5rM
MARGARET CARLSON for Bloomberg, “Trump Finds Hidden Prize in FBI Clinton Report”: “[I]f Republicans got their indictment, the Democrat [Hillary] that Donald Trump has the best chance of beating would have been chased from the race and Joe Biden would enter. No wave of white working-class voters would save Trump from defeat.” http://bloom.bg/29GumU6
CLEVELAND WATCH ... “Anti-Trump Delegates Are Making A Plan To Pick Their Own Vice Presidential Nominee,” by BuzzFeed’s Rosie Gray: “Anti-Trump delegates are preparing a rules change proposal that would chart a path for delegates to choose their own vice presidential nominee at the Republican National Convention, instead of voting for Donald Trump’s choice. A draft proposal obtained by BuzzFeed News outlines several changes to Rule 40 that would make it easier for delegates to reject whomever Trump picks as his running mate and present their own alternative. ... [I]t will be presented at the Rules Committee meeting next week in Cleveland ahead of the convention.” http://bzfd.it/29wwm1s
BONUS GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman:
--“Cory Booker’s Newark Mirage,” by Amy S. Rosenberg in Politico: “The senator from New Jersey would bring urban credibility to a Clinton ticket. But how much did the ‘rockstar mayor’ actually accomplish?” http://politi.co/29n9uD4
--“I’m a black ex-cop, and this is the real truth about race and policing,” by Redditt Hudson in Vox: “On any given day, in any police department in the nation, 15 percent of officers will do the right thing no matter what is happening. Fifteen percent of officers will abuse their authority at every opportunity. The remaining 70 percent could go either way depending on whom they are working with.” http://bit.ly/29Eny90
--“Night Moves,” by Amanda Petrusich in Virginia Quarterly: “Preserving the Sublime at One of the Darkest Places in America.” http://bit.ly/29oS2Ju (h/t Longreads.com)
--“A Diamond and a Kiss: The Women of John Hughes,” by Soraya Roberts in Hazlitt magazine: “There was a reason none of the teens in the legendary director’s films were real rebels, but rather outsiders with an eye on upward mobility.” http://bit.ly/29v1jUJ
MEDIAWATCH – Alex Thompson starts Aug. 1 as Politics & Policy Editor at Vice News up in Brooklyn. He has been working for Maureen Dowd in The Times’ Washington bureau.
POLITICO’s Todd Purdum sat down with Josh King, author of “OFF SCRIPT: An Advance Man’s Guide to White House Stagecraft, Campaign Spectacle, and Political Suicide,” at Chevalier’s Books in Los Angeles for a 75-minute journey through what King calls “the Age of Optics.” The session debuted last night on C-Span’s BookTV series and is now streaming online. http://cs.pn/29vsoUi
DAVE JACOBSON and MAC ZILBER launch campaign communications firm: “Jacobson & Zilber Strategies will specialize in strategic communications, political campaigns, public relations, crisis management and public affairs.” http://bit.ly/29rSNCx ... www.jacobsonzilber.com
OUT AND ABOUT ... SPOTTED Friday night at the Stanton and Green birthday party for Kelley Hudak of Steve Scalise’s office: Robb and Blair Watters, Lauren French, Nika Nour, Ryan Triplette, Robert Costa, Kaya Singleton, Caitlin Carroll, Katy Summerlin, Andrew Shult and Allison Schneider, Ansley Rhyne, Lachlan Markay, Ja’ron Smith, Lauren Culbertson, Marty Rieser, Chris Hodgson.
BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): State’s Edna Ruano, a DHS alum and Texpat in DC longing to return home after serving in the Obama administration, going on 5 years this July
BIRTHDAYS: Sam Stein, HuffPost senior politics editor ... Julianna Smoot, co-founder of the Smoot Tewes Group, former Obama National Finance Director, Social Secretary, USTR Chief of Staff and more (h/t Jon Haber) ... Kenny Day, SVP of political at iHeartMedia ... Politico’s Matt Daily, Catherine Boudreau, Ashley Afranie-Saky, and John Appezzato ... Morning Consult’s Eli Yokley is 24, celebrating with a trip home to Joplin, Mo. this past week, dinner at Chez Billy Sud and drinks on the house at Billy Martin’s Tavern in Georgetown Friday night, a party in Noma last night, and brunch at Centrolina on the big day! (h/ts Lauren Weber and Simone Pathe) ... former NYC Mayor David N. Dinkins is 89 ... Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) is 6-0 ... Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) is 61 ... Rena Shapiro, VP of politics and advocacy at BuzzFeed ... Emil Caillaux is 32 ... The Ortagus twins are 34: Morgan Ortagus is a commentator on Fox Business, a navy reservist, and an Executive Director at Ernst & Young. Megan Ortagus is an analyst at State and former comms Director of the Institute for the Study of War ... NBC’s Shawna Thomas (h/t Olivia Petersen) ... Bill Thompson, former NYC Comptroller ...
... Ian Rivera, regional paid media director for the Hillary campaign ... Karen Hinton, Mayor de Blasio’s former press secretary ... WSJ’s Heather Haddon ... Caroline Ciccone ... Sarah Boxer, politics and breaking news journalist/producer for Yahoo News and Katie Couric ... Amanda Woloshen ... Kevin Call ... Bill Roberts, principal of Corridor Partners ... Debbie Palacios, media monitor director of American Bridge ... Sarah Hodgkins ... Jamie Lockhart, OFA-VA alum, and the pride of Richmond ... Peter Bondi, strategic comms. and research consultant for The Bondi Group ... Christine Turner, director of trade policy and global supply chain security of the National Security Council ... Caroline Gransee, an Atlantic alum ... Mary Conlow ... Clay Haynes (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ... Chris Terris ... Max Blachman, biz. development summer associate at Yonder Careers and Sherrod Brown alum ... Tim Schlittner ... Kristin Chesemore ... Finlay Lewis is 78 ... Elie Jacobs of M Public Affairs ... Monty Warner ... Elizabeth Bartz ... Chuck Lewis ... JJ McCoy ... Edie Mead Holway ... Jeff Mitchell ... former boxer Jake LaMotta is 95 ... Broadway composer Jerry Herman is 85 ... Jerry Miller (Moby Grape) is 73 ... International Tennis Hall of Famer Virginia Wade is 71 ... Arlo Guthrie is 69 ... Perrie Edwards (Little Mix) is 23 (h/ts AP)
HAVE A GREAT DAY. Please send tips, links, thoughts to [email protected].
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