The Playbook Podcast

Tuesday saw a flurry of activity in Washington, Moscow and Brussels, but little clarity as to whether Europe was closer to a war — one that President Joe Biden warned would be “the largest invasion since World War II” and “would change the world.”

And,  it's bad news/mildly good news for Biden 2024 in the latest weekly POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. First the bad: If the election were held today, Biden would lose badly to a generic Republican, 46% to 37%.

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

Frustration with Chuck Schumer leadership strategy is privately simmering among some Hill Democrats. 

We talked to a half-dozen senior Democratic staffers in both chambers Monday night and heard a variation of the same complaint from each of them: that Schumer’s ploy to isolate Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) on Build Back Better and then voting rights has only set the party back in achieving its goals.

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

With Congress out of town and President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda paused, Washington will be dominated by Ukraine-Russia news this week.

Some major developments on Ukraine in the past 24 hours:

— Early this morning, NATO announced a buildup in Eastern Europe: “NATO Allies are putting forces on standby and sending additional ships and fighter jets to NATO deployments in eastern Europe, reinforcing Allied deterrence and defence as Russia continues its military build-up in and around Ukraine.” More from Reuters

— The State Department on Sunday ordered all family members of U.S. government employees at the embassy in Kyiv to leave the country immediately, and it authorized the departure of some other embassy personnel. State also issued a new travel advisory for Ukraine: “Do Not Travel due to the increased threat of Russian military action.” Americans in Ukraine “should consider departing now.” 

— Top Pentagon officials, per the NYT’s Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt, presented Biden with options to send “several thousand U.S. troops, as well as warships and aircraft, to NATO allies in the Baltics and Eastern Europe.”

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

Former President Donald Trump has floated the idea of doling out dual endorsements in some of the key midterm races as he becomes increasingly suspicious of his advisers who are pushing competing candidates. 

The GOP kingmaker-in-chief has grown so distrustful of all the advice he’s getting from various aides — and so wary of being lured into picking the wrong horse — that he’s floated an idea that would essentially dilute his endorsement. 

Subscribe to Playbook Deep Dive: Cedric Richmond on Biden's turnaround plan

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

There’s a lot to unpack from President Joe Biden's marathon press conference in the East Room, but let’s start with this statement deep into the 1-hour-and-51-minute event:

“You guys have been trying to convince me that I am Bernie Sanders. I’m not. I like him, but I’m not Bernie Sanders. I’m not a socialist. I’m a mainstream Democrat, and I have been.”

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

President Joe Biden will face the White House press corps today at 4 p.m. He’s due for a grilling given the state of his presidency one year in: His poll numbers are underwater, his agenda is stalled, inflation is soaring, Covid-19 is raging. And the midterms are­ coming.

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

Welcome back to a four-day workweek in Washington. Today, Senate Democrats resume their doomed push on voting rights and election reform, taking up legislation that already passed the House. Expect more of the fiery speeches we’ve heard from both sides recently as Democrats open the debate.

And, what's next for the BBB? Front-line House Democrats, eager to boost their prospects in November, are urging party leadership to break up Build Back Better into a series of votes on popular planks — even if it means giving up on one grand bill.

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

With the Democratic Party on course for a devastating midterm election and party elder statesmen stepping in to help, Playbook's Tara Palmeri reports that people close to Bill and Hillary Clinton said the former first couple sees it as an opportunity to insert themselves back into political life.

The intra-party divisions have given them a chance to flex their centrist, dealmaking brand of politics as a way to move the party forward.

Subscribe to POLITICO Playbook Deep Dive: What Joe Manchin told Steve Clemons at dinner

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer of POLITICO Audio.

At 1 p.m., the president will appear at a Democratic Caucus meeting to try to rally senators behind the party’s voting reform proposal. In keeping with his Georgia speech this week, he’s expected to call on them to do whatever it takes — including making an end run around the filibuster — to “save” democracy. 

But Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) aren’t budging on the filibuster.

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

We have fresh numbers, via the latest POLITICO/Morning Consult poll, on how the public views the major voting rights and electoral reform proposals being considered in Congress. Crosstabs … Toplines

Let’s start with the most interesting takeaway: the first data we’ve seen about reforming the Electoral Count Act, the 19th-century law that Donald Trump tried to use to subvert the Electoral College on Jan. 6. 2021. Fifty-five percent of voters support ECA reform.

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