The Playbook Podcast

Just before 6 a.m. Moscow time, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in a televised speech that his forces were entering Ukraine. Within moments, distant explosions were heard by reporters stationed in Kyiv and cities throughout the country. 

President Joe Biden, in a statement, called it “an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces.”

A U.S. official said “full-scale” sanctions against Russia would be announced today. POLITICO national security reporter Alex Ward shares what he expects to hear. 

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

The Russian sanctions announced by President Joe Biden on Tuesday made clear the White House is still grappling with the same question he mused about at his Jan. 19 news conference: What is the appropriate Western response to “something significantly short of a significant invasion — or not even significant, just major military forces coming across”? 

Tuesday’s sanctions were more of an amuse-bouche than the full menu that’s been hinted at for weeks. 

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

It happened. On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops — er, “peacekeepers,” as Moscow’s propaganda machine is calling them — into separatist regions of Ukraine. The move came less than a day after Putin and President Joe Biden agreed “in principle” to make a last-ditch effort at diplomacy with a face-to-face meeting. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to iron out those details in a meeting with his Kremlin counterpart Thursday. But with the Russian military rolling across Ukraine’s borders, there are questions about whether that can happen.

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

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy officially backed Harriet Hageman, the primary challenger to Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Olivia Beavers reports. While tensions have simmered between McCarthy and Cheney for over a year, it’s highly unusual for party leadership to back a challenge to a sitting member of their conference.

Listen to Playbook Deep Dive: The untold story of the former judge who beat Trump on Jan. 6 

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

Former President Donald Trump met with Alabama GOP Senate candidate Katie Britt at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, two sources familiar told Playbook. The former president has been having buyer’s remorse after endorsing Rep. Mo Brooks for Senate, watching with frustration as Brooks has failed to catch fire with the MAGA base. 

And for months, many Republican operatives across the political spectrum — from MAGA world and the RNC to the NRSC and Team Mitch — have privately whispered agreement on one thing when it comes to Missouri’s crowded Senate GOP primary: They’d welcome any nominee except Eric Greitens.

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

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?

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

All eyes in Washington are turned east, as Russia claims it’s open to a diplomatic solution but could still invade Ukraine any day. The Biden administration is preparing for the worst — practicing numerous response scenarios, according to WaPo — and moving its limited Kyiv embassy presence west in case of an invasion.

And there was a time when he was considered the model for Democrats looking to flip red seats blue: a former Marine who ran on a centrist platform and won a district Donald Trump carried by 20 points. Today, our Philly-based Pennsylvania politics guru Holly Otterbein spotlights Rep. Conor Lamb's struggle to catch fire with the Democratic base in the Pennsylvania Senate primary, one of the party’s best pickup opportunities this fall.

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

A week ago, we laid out the thinking of some top Democratic strategists who are suddenly imagining a scenario in which the party defies history and holds Congress in the midterms. Over the past few days, we checked in with an array of Republican operatives about whether they think the GOP could actually blow this. 

Even after the RNC’s “legitimate political discourse” debacle two weekends ago, the answer almost across the board was an adamant “no.”

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

The first clips of President Joe Biden's sitdown interview with NBC’s Lester Holt were released Thursday night (the full video will air on Sunday’s Super Bowl pregame show).

Biden announced that his shortlist of potential nominees to replace Justice Stephen Breyer is down to four. Biden: “I’ve taken about four people and done the deep dive on them — meaning thorough background checks, and to see if there’s anything in the background that would make them not qualified.” Also: “​​I think whomever I pick will get a vote from the Republican side for the following reason: I’m not looking to make an ideological choice here.” 

And WaPo’s Seung Min Kim has a look at the status of Biden’s SCOTUS selection process. 

Listen to Playbook Deep Dive: The Gen X activists upending Democratic politics

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

It’s been one of the greatest sources of tension between House Republicans and Democrats for a year now: a chamber-wide mandate requiring lawmakers to mask up before they vote — and steep fines if they refuse. 

But now some House Democrats are following the lead of Democratic governors, calling for an end to mask mandates — even as their party imposes one in the House chamber.

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