POLITICO Playbook: Biden’s South Carolina firewall in trouble Presented by

DRIVING THE DAY

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden addresses the crowd during a South Carolina rally on February 11, 2020 in Columbia, S.C. | Sean Rayford/Getty Images

ABOUT THAT BIDEN FIREWALL -- “Deep cracks emerge in Biden’s firewall,” by Maya King in Charleston, S.C.: “His message is uninspiring. His ground game is flawed. After Iowa and New Hampshire, they’re no longer convinced he can beat Donald Trump. Interviews with two dozen South Carolina lawmakers, consultants and voters here suggests there are deep cracks in Joe Biden’s firewall state, where his campaign expects to turn his misfortunes around with a robust victory that highlights his broad-based support — particularly among African Americans.

“No one denies the state has an affinity for the former vice president to Barack Obama. Biden boasts endorsements from nearly 200 black South Carolina community figures and state and national legislators, a testament to his decades-long relationships with many leaders here. And he’s led in every single public poll in the state over the past year.

“But his advantage has gradually eroded. In a state where African Americans cast 61 percent of the primary vote in 2016, a February Quinnipiac poll showed Biden's support among African-Americans at 27 percent — a 22-point slip from before the Iowa caucus. While almost no one is willing to predict a Biden defeat here, many point to worrisome signs about the state of his campaign.” POLITICO

WAPO: “Mike Bloomberg for years has battled women’s allegations of profane, sexist comments,” by Michael Kranish in New York: “As Mike Bloomberg celebrated his 48th birthday in 1990, a top aide at the company he founded presented him with a booklet of profane, sexist quotes she attributed to him.

“A good salesperson is like a man who tries to pick up women at a bar by saying, ‘Do you want to f---? He gets turned down a lot — but he gets f----- a lot, too!’ Bloomberg was quoted in the booklet as saying. Bloomberg also allegedly said that his company’s financial information computers ‘will do everything, including give you [oral sex]. I guess that puts a lot of you girls out of business.’

“At the time, some Bloomberg staffers said, they laughed off the comments in the 32-page booklet, “The Wit and Wisdom of Michael Bloomberg,” as a macho side of one of the nerdiest men on Wall Street. But others viewed them more darkly, seeing them as blunt examples of what they considered to be a hostile environment, artifacts of a workplace employees said was saturated with degrading comments.

“Several lawsuits have been filed over the years alleging that women were discriminated against at Bloomberg’s business-information company, including a case brought by a federal agency and one filed by a former employee, who blamed Bloomberg for creating a culture of sexual harassment and degradation.” WaPo

-- “Bloomberg’s Billions: How the Candidate Built an Empire of Influence,” by NYT’s Alex Burns and Nicholas Kulish

-- “Bloomberg Campaign Ad Touts Relationship With Obama, Despite Complicated History,” by WSJ’s Tarini Parti and Sabrina Siddiqui

-- “Bloomberg's meme spree prompts changes in Facebook, Instagram rules,” by Nancy Scola

SHAKING THE MONEYTREE -- “Pete Buttigieg’s Dash for Cash: 10 Fund-Raisers in Two Weeks,” by NYT’s Shane Goldmacher: “In the compressed and crucial weeks between the New Hampshire primary and Super Tuesday, Pete Buttigieg is moving aggressively to replenish his campaign coffers with an ambitious schedule of 10 fund-raisers held across six states in a 14-day period.

“The money chase for Mr. Buttigieg began in Indianapolis on Thursday at the 16,000-square foot home of a supporter as donors noshed on egg salad and cucumber sandwiches — ‘What a thrill to be back home again in Indiana,’ Mr. Buttigieg said — and continued on Friday in California, as he traveled from San Francisco to Silicon Valley to the state capital of Sacramento for a photo line with contributors.

“He will soon visit Seattle, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, the Washington D.C. area, Miami and Palm Beach — with most of the events built around states that will vote in early March.” NYT

WOMP WOMP -- “Rise of Sanders, Trump Shows Decline in Party Power,” by WSJ’s Aaron Zitner

TRUMP-BARR FALLOUT … NYT: “How Trump’s Relationship With Barr Got So Complicated” … WAPO: “Barr-Trump relationship facing its gravest threat yet”

-- TRUMP RESPONDS via tweet at 8:04 a.m.: “Ralph Waldo Emerson seemed to foresee the lesson of the Senate Impeachment Trial of President Trump. ‘When you strike at the King, Emerson famously said, “you must kill him.’ Mr. Trump’s foes struck at him but did not take him down. A triumphant Mr.Trump emerges from the.....” …

“.....biggest test of his presidency emboldened, ready to claim exoneration, and take his case of grievance, persecution and resentment to the campaign trail.” Peter Baker @nytimes The Greatest Witch Hunt In American History!”

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Good Saturday morning.

THE LATEST ON THE CORONAVIRUS -- NYT: “Shifting Ground in Coronavirus Fight: U.S. Will Evacuate Americans From Cruise Ship,” by Vivian Wang, Motoko Rich and Keith Bradsher

HAPPENING IN MUNICH -- “Esper says Taliban deal is promising but not without risk,” by AP’s Robert Burns and Matthew Lee in Munich: “U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Saturday that a truce agreement between the United States and the Taliban that could lead to the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan is not without risk but ‘looks very promising.’

“Ahead of a formal announcement of the seven-day ‘reduction in violence’ deal, Esper said it was time to give peace a chance in Afghanistan through a political negotiation. He spoke a day after a senior U.S. official said the deal had been concluded and would take effect very soon.

Expectations are that agreement will be formally announced on Sunday and that the reduction in violence will begin on Monday, according to people familiar with the plan.”

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DAILY RUDY -- “As impeachment trial ended, federal prosecutors took new steps in probe related to Giuliani, according to people familiar with case,” by WaPo’s Rosalind S. Helderman and Tom Hamburger: “As the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump drew to a close in Washington earlier this month, federal prosecutors in New York contacted witnesses and sought to collect additional documents in an investigation related to Trump’s personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani, according to people familiar with their activities.

“The recent steps — including an interview with a witness last week — indicate that the probe involving Giuliani and two of his former associates is moving forward, even as the Justice Department has set up a process to evaluate claims Giuliani is making about alleged wrongdoing in Ukraine related to former vice president Joe Biden.

“Attorney General William P. Barr said this week that the department had established an “intake process” to accept information about Biden gathered by the president’s personal attorney. Officials confirmed Giuliani’s tips are being routed to the U.S. attorney’s office in Pittsburgh.” WaPo

ANITA KUMAR: “How immigration became the new infrastructure week”: “In May 2019, President Donald Trump unveiled a much-anticipated proposal to overhaul America’s immigration system and launched a quiet campaign to build support. It’s gone nowhere — and few believe it ever will.

“The White House is still regularly holding meetings with lawmakers, business leaders and activists about its 600-page bill. But none of them see any hope for it to pass. Some outright oppose the efforts. And no one has stepped forward to introduce the legislation, in part because the White House insists on retaining control over any changes, according to three people familiar with the situation.” POLITICO

THE FIGHT FOR THE MAJORITY -- “Kobach courts Trump as Senate GOP frets over Kansas seat,” by CNN’s Manu Raju, Alex Rogers and Kevin Liptak: “Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are fearful that the conservative hardliner Kris Kobach could cost them a crucial Senate seat in Kansas and potentially their narrow majority -- and are eager to find a way to defeat him in a hotly contested primary.

“But Kobach is getting face time with President Donald Trump and consulting with Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, over an immigration plan that the White House is developing. And no one knows how Trump will insert himself into the GOP primary, and whether Senate Republican leaders will succeed in getting him to endorse a candidate they argue has a better chance of winning in November.” CNN

TRUMP’S SATURDAY -- The president will leave Mar-a-Lago at 6:40 p.m. en route to a private residence. He will attend a finance dinner at 7 p.m. At 8:35 p.m., the president will leave and return to Mar-a-Lago.



PLAYBOOK READS

PHOTO DU JOUR: Ivanka Trump, a senior adviser to President Donald Trump, looks at a portrait of George Washington at the Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Saturday. Ivanka Trump will deliver a keynote address at Global Women's Forum in Dubai on Sunday. | Kamran Jebreili/AP Photo

WOAH -- “Daughter of Bush-era Cabinet official charged with murder in Maryland,” by WaPo’s Dan Morse: “The daughter of a former U.S. director of national intelligence was charged with first-degree murder Friday amid allegations she stabbed an acquaintance in the neck in Rockville.

“Sophia Negroponte, 27, was being held at the Montgomery County Detention Center in the killing of Yousuf Rasmussen, 24. According to charging documents, after stabbing Rasmussen, Negroponte yelled ‘I’m sorry,’ removed the knife, and pleaded for him not to die. She is the daughter of John Negroponte, who in 2005 was appointed the nation’s first intelligence director by President George W. Bush. ‘We love her deeply,’ Diana Negroponte, Sophia’s mother, said in a brief interview Friday.” WaPo

OPIOID UPDATE: “21 States Reject $18 Billion Offer From Drug Wholesalers to Settle Opioid Litigation,” by WSJ’s Jared S. Hopkins: “An $18 billion offer from three major drug wholesalers aimed at settling litigation over their alleged role in the opioid crisis fell through, after more than 20 state attorneys general rejected it in a letter to the companies’ law firms this week.

“The letter, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, shows that the drug industry hasn’t won enough support from states to begin moving the sprawling litigation to a global resolution.

At least 30 states have either sued the distributors or have been involved in talks to resolve claims. Whether they support the $18 billion offer or not, states said they continue to negotiate with the wholesalers to potentially strike some kind of deal.” WSJ

CONWAY VS. CONWAY -- “When America’s Oddest Political Couple Fight, Those Sparks Are Real,” by NYT’s Elizabeth Williamson

TRUMP WORLD -- “She pushed Trump to exit the Paris climate agreement and roll back environmental rules. And she’s returning to EPA as chief of staff: One of EPA’s first Trump appointees, Mandy Gunasekara, has run a ‘pro-Trump nonprofit’ since leaving the agency a year ago,” by WaPo’s Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis

CLICKER -- “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker -- 16 funnies

GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Margy Slattery and the staff of POLITICO Magazine:

-- “The Nuclear Family Was a Mistake,” by David Brooks on the cover of The Atlantic’s March issue: “The family structure we’ve held up as the cultural ideal for the past half century has been a catastrophe for many. It’s time to figure out better ways to live together.” Atlantic … The cover

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-- “The Chaos at Condé Nast,” by NYT’s Katherine Rosman: “The memoirs of Dan Peres and other ex-employees of the magazine company reveal mess behind the gloss of the aughts.” NYT

-- “‘I Would Rather Win a Pulitzer Prize Than Be President,’” by Craig Fehrman in POLITICO Magazine, excerpted from his new book, “Author in Chief”: “JFK might not have really written ‘Profiles in Courage,’ but he certainly promoted it.” POLITICO Magazine … $20.49 on Amazon

-- “Love and Lhotse,” by Chris Ballard in Sports Illustrated: “Driven by loss, two of the world’s best mountaineers, Hilaree Nelson and Jim Morrison, set out to make history—and find answers—in the shadow of Mount Everest.” SI

-- “Was Jeanne Calment the Oldest Person Who Ever Lived—or a Fraud?” by Lauren Collins in The New Yorker: “Some researchers have cast doubt on the record of the celebrated supercentenarian.” New Yorker

-- “I Should Have Known!” by Henry Gruber in n+1: “I first met Kobe Bryant in his office. I managed a feeble ‘Hey, I’m a big fan’ as he left to pick up a daughter from somewhere. I had much better planned, but it seemed not to matter. A few days later, I was invited back to teach him about ancient history.” n+1

-- “Chasing Colombia’s ‘Cocaine Hippos,’” by Peter Rowe in the L.A. Times: “After the Colombian National Police killed [Pablo] Escobar in 1993, zoos and private collectors acquired the animals, all except the hippopotamuses. ... In time, they escaped from the compound and wandered into the Colombian countryside. They remain there today, the only hippos in the wild outside Africa.” LAT



PLAYBOOKERS

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SPOTTED -- Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the Capitol Friday morning.

TRANSITIONS -- Mia Mitchell is going to the State Department to manage the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative. She most recently has been senior adviser for international economics at the NSC. … Cristina Minasian Nurnberger is now director of public affairs and advocacy at Kaiser Permanente. She previously was SVP of client relations at DDC Public Affairs. … Julie Bulgrin is transitioning from deputy senior director at the NSC to managing director for congressional affairs at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Emily Tisch Sussman, host of the “Your Primary Playlist” podcast and president of ETS Advisory, and Kevin Craw of Caremi Partners welcomed Evelyn Tisch Craw on Thursday. She joins older siblings Lilah and Dean.

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: David Asman, host of Fox Business Network’s “Bulls & Bears.” A fun fact about him: “The morning my Nicaraguan-born stepson went off to boot camp at Parris Island, he told me: ‘I want to earn my citizenship.’ He became a U.S. citizen while serving with the Marines in Afghanistan, more than fulfilling his pledge.” Playbook Q&A

BIRTHDAYS: Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) is 55 … retired Adm. Jim Stavridis, operating executive at the Carlyle Group and chairman of the board of counselors at McLarty Associates, is 65 … Jen Wlach, managing director at Mercury … Ben Purdy … TPM’s Josh Marshall is 51 … Katarina Price Frans … WSJ’s Amanda Lilly … Jonathan Salant of NJ Advance Media … Jackie Kier … Carrie Sheffield … Alex Siegel, deputy executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition … Toni Hall … Keely Herring … Madalina Ciulin … Jules Johnston … Sourav Bhowmick … Beth Solomon, managing director of strategic initiatives and development at CARE … Peter Feldman … Lindsey Teague … Bobby Panzenbeck … Jason Thielman, COS for Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) …

… Kerry Feehery, senior policy adviser at Holland & Knight (h/t husband John) … Priya Singh … Sarah Dolan, executive director at America Rising ... Grace Lloyd (h/t sister Alice) ... Allison Berkowitz is 35 … Christopher Anderson … Andrea Bitely … Francisco Bencosme … Paige Moody Erickson, senior adviser to the CEO of CARE ... Mike Curto, managing partner at Squire Patton Boggs’ D.C. office (h/ts Jon Haber) ... Art Spiegelman … Clare Flannery … Dean Petrone ... Linda Kramer Jenning … Amy Clark ... Valentina Pereda ... Dan O’Brien ... Shalini Vajjhala … John Bisio of Walmart public affairs ... Brian Wilson … William John Cox ... Amanda Gordon ... Janie Kim ... Robert Swan ... Gerry Dickinson ... Linda Roth ... Andrew Moyer ... Nick Bauer ... Chad Maisel … George Bamford

SUNDAY SHOWS by Matt Mackowiak, filing from Austin:

-- NBC’s “Meet the Press”: Joe Biden … Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). Panel: Peter Alexander, María Teresa Kumar, Danielle Pletka and Eugene Robinson.

-- ABC’s “This Week”: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) … Tom Steyer. Panel: Pierre Thomas, MaryAlice Parks, Franco Ordoñez and Julie Pace.

-- CBS’ “Face the Nation”: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) … Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) … Tom Steyer … Anthony Fauci, director of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Panel: Eliana Johnson, Ed O’Keefe, Paula Reid and Amy Walter.

-- “Fox News Sunday”: Pete Buttigieg … Kellyanne Conway. Panel: Guy Benson, Donna Brazile, Michael Anton and Charles Lane. … “Power Player of the Week” segment with Ben Folds.

-- CNN’s “State of the Union”: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) … Pete Buttigieg … Marc Short … House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) (substitute anchor: Dana Bash).

-- Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures”: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy … Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) … Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) … Trey Gowdy.

-- Fox News’ “MediaBuzz”: Ben Domenech … Kristen Soltis Anderson … Joe Trippi … Charles Gasparino … David Bossie … Philippe Reines.

-- CNN’s “Inside Politics”: Panel: Margaret Talev, Lisa Lerer, Tarini Parti and Phil Mattingly (substitute anchor: Nia-Malika Henderson).

-- CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS”: Panel: Anna Fifield and Rana Foroohar … Colleen Kraft … Kim Ghattas … Joseph S. Nye Jr.

-- CNN’s “Reliable Sources”: Panel: Philip Bump, Joan Walsh and Anne Applebaum … Asawin Suebsaeng and Lachlan Markey … Julie K. Brown and Ken Doctor.

-- Univision’s “Al Punto”: Joe Biden. Panel: Alfonso Aguilar, Jesus Marquez and Michelle Del Rosario Martinez … Jesús Esquivel … Bartolomé Hernández … José Luis Perales.

-- C-SPAN: “The Communicators”: Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) and FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub. … “Newsmakers”: CBO Director Philip Swagel, questioned by Roll Call’s Bridget Bowman and National Journal’s Alex Clearfield. … “Q&A”: Craig Fehrman.

-- MSNBC’s “Kasie DC”: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) … House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) … Donald Ayer … Robert Costa … Juana Summers … Jake Sherman … Michael Steele … Matt Gorman … Brendan Buck … Guy Cecil … Don Calloway … Ken Dilanian.

-- Gray TV’s “Full Court Press with Greta Van Susteren”: acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf … Randi Weingarten … Libby Casey.

-- Sinclair’s “America This Week with Eric Bolling”: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) … Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) … Peter Schweizer … Greg Miller … Jose Aristamuño.

-- “Mack on Politics” weekly politics podcast with Matt Mackowiak (download on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify or Stitcher): GOP Florida congressional candidate Amanda Makki.



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