HAPPY FRIDAY -- Welcome to the down days between the conventions. Playbook is coming to you this morning from I-80 -- Anna and I are roadtripping back to Washington. The woman at the Hertz counter said everyone is renting cars to drive to D.C. We hear lots of news orgs - including CNN and CBS - chartered planes anyway, so they won’t be impacted by some of the airport delays. Pic of the airport in the 4 a.m. hour: http://bit.ly/29Q07fs
THE NARRATIVE -- Donald Trump was Donald Trump. At an hour and 15 minutes, Trump’s speech was long. His voice was loud. His face was red. Republicans who emailed Playbook said some variation of “it was scary” or “it was aimed at the base.” It was a dark picture of America -- crime-ridden, poor and humiliated abroad. Trump didn’t say exactly how he would turn the situation around, but promised he would, telling the crowd to “believe him,” because things will be taken care of quickly. Cheery Republicans -- and there weren’t many -- said they thought the speech might appeal to the large slice of America that thinks the country is on the wrong track.
Will Trump get the convention bump out of this week in Cleveland? Probably. But we were having a 4:30 a.m. gossip session with our colleague and bud Eli Stokols before leaving for the airport and we all agree that the week was probably, in the long run, a net neutral for Trump. There were no major instances of violence, and despite a series of embarrassing hiccups that illustrate the amateur and clumsy nature of Trump’s campaign, the news cycle - and our memory - is short.
--EXAMPLE of the clumsiness: Trump has canceled his rally in Akron that was scheduled for today. http://bit.ly/2a0Sd1b. He is missing a prime opportunity to build momentum. Hillary Clinton, for example, has already announced a large-scale Philadelphia rally next Friday after the Democratic convention.
On a positive note: Ivanka wasn’t good -- she was great. She stayed on message, articulated cogent points -- many of which might seem more comfortable at a Democratic convention.
--ESSENTIAL: THRUSH’s takeaways -- Lede: “The bar was low, and Donald Trump cleared it.” http://politi.co/2a4YvOm
HOW IT PLAYED: Front pages: WaPo http://bit.ly/29Rxivc … NYT http://bit.ly/2ahOtrn … WSJ http://bit.ly/2adxqah … DRUDGE banner,“THUNDER TRUMP I AM YOUR VOICE! 76-MINUTES TO ‘SAVE AMERICA’” ... HuffPost banner, “AMERICAN NIGHTMARE” …NYPost, “I AM YOUR VOICE!” http://nyp.st/2a5pCbC
--@Scaramucci: “He is getting better as the speech is going on…Having a great time post speech. We are going to work harder than ever. To win for the American people.” http://bit.ly/2adwv9K
--@DrDavidDuke: “Great Trump Speech, America First! Stop Wars! Defeat the Corrupt elites! Protect our Borders!, Fair Trade! Couldn't have said it better!”
--@StephensWSJ: “This speech is a relentless, unyielding, humorless, hectoring appeal to fear and loathing.”
--@RonBrownstein: “The Ivanka Trump speech is the alternate reality of how @realDonaldTrump could have run as a can-do business outsider without the nativism”
--Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63): “I’ve heard this sort of speech a lot in the last 15 years and trust me, it doesn’t sound any better in Russian.”
--@rodrigocampos: “Spotted: ‘Hispanics para Trump’ It’s not ‘para’ guys, it’s 'por' or e en better, ‘con’. #VivaLosHispanico”
--@BernieSanders: “Trump: ‘I alone can fix this.’ Is this guy running for president or dictator? #RNCwithBernie”
--@DonaldJTrumpJr: “Incredible night. @IvankaTrump sticks the landing & @realdonaldtrump gives a double mic drop performance. Awesome #MakeYoutubeGreatAgain”
--Rudy Giuliani on the Rita Cosby show, auditioning for something: “Well I thought it was the best acceptance speech I’ve ever heard. I think was an unbelievable speech.”
SOCIAL 2016 -- per Facebook: "In the last 24 hours, 12.2 million people on Facebook in the U.S. generated 45.1 million likes, posts, comments and shares related to the convention and the candidates. And from the beginning of the GOP Convention to now, 27.9 million people on Facebook in the U.S. generated 167.5 million likes, posts, comments and shares."
SCREENSHOT DU JOUR – Uber riders hailing a car in Cleveland after Trump’s big speech last night saw the little car icons emblazoned with an American flag: http://bit.ly/29RykHC
FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS -- “Trump claims the prize,” by Shane Goldmacher in Cleveland: “Exactly 350 days after Donald Trump stood in Quicken Loans Arena at the first presidential debate and refused to endorse the eventual Republican nominee if it wasn’t him, he accepted that same Republican Party’s nomination — and vowed to keep winning all the way to the White House. In the biggest address of his unlikely, divisive and meteoric political career, Trump on Thursday night sought to bring together a party that he helped fracture in an ugly primary that left divisions that were apparent all the way through a tumultuous four days in Cleveland. The Manhattan mogul sold himself as the champion of a downtrodden working class — ‘America’s blue-collar billionaire’ as one speaker called him earlier in the evening — promising to restore ‘law and order’ and casting himself as a change agent against presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.” http://politi.co/2alsa79
PAPER OF RECORD -- JMart and Pat Healy in the NYT: “Donald John Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday night with an unusually vehement appeal to Americans who feel that their country is spiraling out of control and yearn for a leader who will take aggressive, even extreme, actions to protect them .. With dark imagery and an almost angry tone, Mr. Trump portrayed the United States as a diminished and even humiliated nation, and offered himself as an all-powerful savior who could resurrect the country’s standing in the eyes of both enemies and law-abiding Americans.” http://nyti.ms/2ad0JKi
SUNSHINE STATE VEEPSTAKES -- Hillary Clinton is in Orlando and Tampa today, and Miami Sunday -- and she’ll announce her vice presidential choice somewhere in the Sunshine State in the next couple days before heading to Philadelphia for the convention. People generally think the announcement will come via text message some time today.
--Warren, last night to Stephen Colbert: “I think if it were me, I would know it by now. So probably not.”
NYT LEANS IN ON KAINE -- “Tim Kaine Seems Likely for Hillary Clinton’s No. 2, but Liberals Balk,” by NYT’s Amy Chozick (posted online at 12:01 a.m., and on A10 in the print edition). “Democrats close to … Clinton’s presidential campaign signaled strongly Thursday that she would choose Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia as her running mate, rounding out the ticket with a popular politician from a battleground state. Both former President Bill Clinton and the White House have expressed their support for Mr. Kaine, but aides cautioned that Mrs. Clinton had not yet made a final decision and that other candidates were still under consideration.
“Mrs. Clinton is widely expected to announce her choice in an email to supporters while on a campaign swing in Florida on Friday afternoon, an attempt to regain momentum the day after her Republican opponent, Donald J. Trump, accepted his party’s nomination in Cleveland. With Mr. Kaine emerging as a clear favorite, one group already expressed disappointment at the prospect of the former governor of Virginia joining the ticket: liberals.” http://nyti.ms/29Y8y5A
SCOOP: FORMER AMBASSADOR BUYS CLINTON URLS -- Howard Gutman, Barack Obama’s former ambassador to Belgium, has bought several Hillary Clinton-related domain names to “protect” them ahead of the Democratic nominee’s VP announcement. Gutman has purchased Clinton-Kaine.com, Clinton-Kaine 2016.com, Clinton-Castro.com and Clinton-Castro2016.com. “Ambassadors know how to keep secrets,” our source told us. “And the Clinton campaign will have to first track him down in Greece.”
MEDIAWATCH -- “Gretchen Carlson Declares Victory Over Roger Ailes: Courage Caused a Seismic Shift,” by The Hollywood Reporter’s Ashley Cullins: “Carlson’s lawyers issued a statement Thursday afternoon in response to Ailes’ exit: ‘Within just two weeks of her filing a lawsuit against Roger Ailes, Gretchen Carlson’s extraordinary courage has caused a seismic shift in the media world. We hope that all businesses now understand that women will no longer tolerate sexual harassment and reputable companies will no longer shield those who abuse women. We thank all the brave women who spoke out about this issue. We will have more to say in coming days as events unfold.’” http://bit.ly/29PUJbW ... Fox’s official statement http://21.cf/2aAzJmJ ... Ailes’ letter to Rupert, given to Drudge http://bit.ly/29ZRhHe
-- NBC News received a total of 14 nominations for the News & Documentary Emmys awards. Nightly News with Lester Holt had the most nominations out of all three evening news broadcasts. Dateline also received a total of five nominations.
FOR YOUR RADAR -- AP at 7:06 a.m.: “PARIS (AP) - French President Francois Hollande increasing military help for Iraq to fight Islamic State group, following Nice attack.”
CALLING ALL CARS! -- Send us your a) breakout media star of the 2016 election and b) your winners and losers of the convention. We’re going to run the results in the next few days. jake@politico.com
DAILY DONALD -- “Did The Trump Campaign Just Get Hit With The Monica Langley Curse?” by HuffPost’s Ryan Grim: “As Eric Trump was set to begin his high-profile speech Wednesday night, he looked over and saw a familiar face. ‘Good luck,’ said Monica Langley, a Wall Street Journal reporter who covers his father, Donald Trump. ‘Monica, we love you!’ the younger Trump replied, in an exchange captured by several political reporters standing nearby. Langley is a ‘senior special writer’ at the Journal, and she clarifies in her Twitter bio that she writes ‘page-one profiles of CEOs, billionaires, presidential candidates and key news figures.’ She’s been known for her glowing coverage of Donald Trump this campaign season, which has been returned with tremendous access, private plane rides, and, at least according to Eric, some love, too. … But Trump shouldn’t necessarily celebrate the positive coverage, because a Langley profile has, in the past, often come with something reminiscent of the curse of the Sports Illustrated cover.” http://huff.to/2aeFed1
GROUNDED -- “NC GOP chairman to Cruz delegates: Find your own way home,” by The Charlotte Observer’s Jim Morrill: “When North Carolina Republican Chairman Robin Hayes asked fellow delegate Ted Hicks on Thursday what he thought of the convention speech by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Hicks was candid. ‘I thought it was a fine speech,’ said Hicks, who’d flown to Cleveland aboard Hayes’ private Pilatus plane. But he was startled by Hayes’ reply. ‘I think you need to ride the bus home,’ Hayes told Hicks and fellow Cruz supporter Rod Chaney. So the two Triangle-area Republicans, who’d expected to fly back with Hayes, scrambled to find a ride with a delegate who happened to be driving home Thursday.” http://bit.ly/2a5bXB9
MICHAEL KRUSE, “Trump and the Dark Art of Bad Publicity: In one lurid, scandalous month in 1990 he learned a lesson that helped forge his whole candidacy”: “[T]he idea, unprecedented at this level of politics, is at the heart of one of the most remarkable mechanisms of Trump’s rise—the conviction that mistakes, flagrant provocations and the attendant bad publicity genuinely don’t matter, so long as they serve the goal of owning the spotlight. On the short list of Trump’s most guiding, abiding beliefs, this is one that ranks near the top: that bad publicity doesn’t have to be avoided, and doesn’t have to be endured—that it should be embraced, and even stoked. It’s possible to see Trump’s whole campaign as a structure built on colossal missteps, statements that would have torpedoed all other candidacies but have buoyed Trump’s simply by keeping his name in the news.” http://politi.co/2allnu2
MICHAEL GRUNWALD, “What We Learned in Trump’s Cleveland: The GOP remains divided on ideology, united on attitude”: “For the last eight years, Republicans have behaved less like a conservative party than an anti-Obama party. They waged war against the president from his first week in office — not only over progressive priorities like subsidized health care, Wall Street reform, climate action, and tax hikes on the rich, but over Common Core educational standards, infrastructure projects, small-business tax cuts, and other federal initiatives that Republicans traditionally supported. So it made sense that the GOP electorate turned to Trump in 2016. There were 16 more conservative candidates in the primary, but he was the ultimate anti-Obama candidate, questioning not only the president’s policies but his citizenship.” http://politi.co/2a5bZZV
GROUNDHOG DAY -- “AP FACT CHECK: Trump resurfaces debunked claims in speech,” by Calvin Woodward and Michael Biesecker:“Despite promising ‘the truth, and nothing else’ in his convention speech, Donald Trump presented the nation with a series of previously debunked claims and some new ones Thursday night — about the U.S. tax burden, the perils facing police, Hillary Clinton’s record and more.” http://apne.ws/29ZFnwI
DEPARTMENT OF THE DARK ARTS -- “‘Republican source’ leaks Trump speech to Dems,” by Ken Vogel and Julia Ioffe: “A super PAC backing Hillary Clinton on Thursday night mysteriously obtained and leaked drafts of Donald Trump’s nomination speech — and those of several other convention speakers — hours before the night’s proceedings were set to kick off, sending the Trump campaign scrambling on the final night of what has been a chaotic convention. The super PAC, Correct the Record, obtained a document containing the drafts from ‘a Republican source who had access to it and they sent it to us,’ said Correct the Record founder David Brock ... Correct the Record sent the text of Trump’s draft speech to its press list a little after 6 p.m., gloating ‘as if this convention hasn’t been enough of a failure for Trump, somehow he let US get a hold of his full remarks before the speech.’ About 15 minutes later, the Trump campaign sent out a press release containing excerpts of Trump’s speech that closely matched the draft released by Correct the Record.” http://politi.co/2aAhbDp
SPOTTED: Newt Gingrich wiping away tears during Trump’s speech http://politi.co/2a4TQwa
TAMMY/BETSY PODCASTS – For Bloomberg’s “Masters in Politics,” they interviewed Alex Castellanos – head of the Trump SuperPac Rebuilding America. http://apple.co/2a1IbKE
--The team of actors from the Creative Coalition – Harry Hamlin, Billy Baldwin, Tim Daly, Wendie Malick, and Griffin Dunne. http://apple.co/2a1J2ev
VIDEO DU JOUR – per Bloomberg Politics’ Matt Negrin and Griffin Hammond: “We brought ‘Trump: The Game’ -- Donald Trump’s official 1989 board game -- to the Republican convention and played it all week with whoever would join us. We even talked about it, briefly, with Donald Junior and Eric.” http://bit.ly/29Y2mdC
NEWS YOU CAN USE – “Yelp’s Top Candidates For A Good Time At The Democratic National Convention In Philadelphia” http://bit.ly/29Y39vi
--@PeterHamby: “The breakdown-by-age for TV viewership of the GOP convention is eye-popping.” http://bit.ly/2ajqYBj
HOW PHILLY SAVED THE NAVY YARD -- WITHOUT THE NAVY -- The newest installment of POLITICO Magazine’s “What Works” series explores how Philadelphia — host of this year's Democratic National Convention — was able to transform an abandoned military facility into a bustling hive of new industry, offices and even shipbuilding. Base conversions don't always turn out so well, so how has Philadelphia managed to transform an area the size of its downtown so successfully? http://politi.co/2a3ZdL6 ... Photo gallery http://politi.co/2akm6Mg
SUNDAY SO FAR:
-- CNN’s “State of the Union”: Jake Tapper live from Philadelphia - Robby Mook … Donald Trump Jr. … Panel: Van Jones, Neera Tanden, Andre Bauer, Kellyanne Conway.
--NBC’s“Meet the Press”: Chuck Todd Live from Philadelphia ... Panel: Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, Andrea Mitchell, Michael Steele.
--CNN’s “Inside Politics”: John King live from Philly at 8 a.m.: Jonathan Martin, Julie Pace, Jeff Zeleny, Maeve Reston
--“Fox News Sunday”: live from the Wells Fargo Center: Joel Benenson ... Panel: Brit Hume, Anne Gearan, George Will, Amy Walter.
--“This Week”: Robby Mook and Sen. Bernie Sanders ... Panel: Donna Brazile, Matthew Dowd, Rep. Tom Cole, Rep. Keith Ellison
PLAYBOOK IRL -- The big teleprompter in the middle of the room at the Q http://bit.ly/2afphVB … Ashley Parker’s Thursday night shoes http://bit.ly/2a0K8qL … Corey Lewandowski http://bit.ly/2a0L9yY …
--@reidepstein: “Folks, raise a glass for the incomparable @poconnorWSJ at his last convention.” http://bit.ly/29ZCkEO
SPOTTED: Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) waiting for a Delta flight to Minneapolis Friday morning, eyes closed … Rep. Dan Donovan (R-N.Y.) FaceTiming while walking the hallways in the Q Thursday morning … Fox News’ Chad Pergram touring the convention floor around noon … Herman Cain holding court with reporters at Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse … Steve Scalise hanging with Bret Michaels at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame … A seer sucker wearing Michael Caputo talking to Rep. David Rivera in the Q … Ward Baker in the lobby of the Ritz ... Chris Hayes in shorts and a T-shirt in an elevator at the Metropolitan
OVERHEARD on the PA system at Cleveland airport: “Kris Kobach, please return to security” for a forgotten bag. Kobach is Kansas secretary of state. … “Jennifer Jacobs,” of Bloomberg fame, was also told on the PA system to go to her gate. SPOTTED in the airport this morning: Wolf Blitzer.
--Ivanka Trump ordered a “scooped-out bagel” from Westin hotel room service and was told “we got a bagel, but not a scooped-out one,” according to a hotel tipster.
HAPPENING IN PHILLY -- Picture Motion is teaming up with IMPACT Arts + Film Fund to bring the IMPACT Film Festival to the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. During the convention the IMPACT Film Festival screen select issue-driven films and convene change makers from across the country and engage audiences in nuanced conversation about some of the key issues of our time. The Festival aims to uplift the priorities of activists, delegates, party leaders, and candidates attending the convention. This year's slate includes five powerful and thought-provoking documentaries including “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You,” “Newtown,” “Check It,” “Command and Control,” and “The C Word.”
--NARAL Pro-Choice America is hosting a Men for Choice party at the Democratic National Convention next Wednesday at World Cafe Live. Actresses Ashley Judd and Sophia Bush will be the special guests, along with a performance from JP Harris and The Tough Choices. Celebs filling out the Honorary Host Committee include Aziz Ansari, Jon Cryer, David Eigenberg, Tony Goldwyn, Matt McGorry, and Andrew Rannells.
TRANSITIONS -- From Rhett Buttle: “I am happy to share that Monday I joined the Hillary Clinton for America campaign as the liaison to the business community. I’ll be working with the private sector to make to make sure they we are listening and have a seat at the table.”
HAPPENING IN D.C. -- Republican Women for Hillary hosted its first event on the rooftop of Jennifer and Tim Lim’s apartment Thursday evening. More than 40 Republicans for Hillary (and a few Democrats) networked over cocktails on the night of Donald Trump’s acceptance speech.SPOTTED: Jennifer Lim (Founder RWFH), Tim Lim, Mike Lepage, Meghan Milloy (Chair, RWFH), and Sara McAlpin.
BIRTHDAYS: Reid Cherlin … former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) is 93 ... former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), is 73 ... David Shuster, the pride of Bloomington, Ind. … Will Fischer, executive director of the Union Veterans Council ... Politico’s Craig Howie and Vicki Nguyen ... Eagles great Don Henley ... Tarun Chhabra, ... Alex Pappas of the Daily Caller ... Buzz Brockway ... Michael “Silverfinger” DiRienzo, executive director of the Silver Institute, a.k.a Mayor of P.J. Clarke’s (h/t Tim Burger) ... Caleb Smith, the Speaker’s digital comms director ... Meghan Sullivan, associate VP of legislative affairs of the Mortgage Bankers Association ... AJ Jorgenson, comms director at the Manufacturing Institute … New York Magazine’s Annie Lowrey, an NYT alum ... Sandra Hawthorne, outreach manager for the Logistics Management Institute (LMI), as well as a Burson, Levick, and GW External Relations alum ... Adam Finkel, Partner of Orfin Ventures ... Pew’s Elise Shutzer ... Eugene Carpino, CEO of Augustus Global LLC, celebrating his big 4-5 in Chicago with his family and friends (h/t Algirde Pipikaite) ... Amy Littleton, DNC vet and current Hillary staffer (h/t Brad Bosserman) ... Anne Szkatulski, assistant general counsel at Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority in Chicago, celebrating with a rooftop cook out with friends to ring in her 32nd turn around the sun ... Brandt Anderson ... Breanna Chandler of Revolution Messaging ... Lauren AbuAli … ESPN senior writer Don Van Natta Jr., an NYT alum and the pride of Pinecrest, Fla. ... Ceci Alvarez … Eleni Tavlarides, daughter of Mark Tavlarides and Jennifer Swanson … Kevin Eastman … CNN’s Terence Burlij, a NewsHour alum …
… Warren Bass, senior editor of WSJ’s Review section … Shelly Porges ... Nathan Naylor, SVP at FleishmanHillard ... Sarah Obenour ... Soren Dayton, SVP of digital advocacy at Hill+Knowlton Strategies … Mike Gibson, president of Advocacy Group ... Mike Moffo … Kerry Allen, legislative analyst at RAND Corporation and a Klobuchar and a Bill Nelson alum … Maor Cohen ... Travis Korson, principal at Millennial Strategy Group ... Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) is 68 … Sam Chiron … Steven Bennett, VP and COO of Brookings and brother of Matt ... Enrique Goni … Arshi Siddiqui, partner at Akin Gump and Pelosi alum … Mary Masserini ... Les MacDonald, pride of Philly and LA ... Maury Forman, pride of Cedar Falls ... Marie Westfried ... Christine Patronik-Holder (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ... Jeffery Winmill, associate attorney at Van Ness Feldman ... Andrew Feinberg ... Gary A. Waters ... John Kim Cook ... Orson Bean is 88 ... 76! How old is Alex Trebek? ... Danny Glover is 7-0 ... actor-comedian-director Albert Brooks is 69 ... Willem Dafoe is 61 ... David Spade is 52 ... Patrick Labyorteaux is 51 ... Keyshawn Johnson is 44 ... Britain’s Prince George of Cambridge is 2 (h/ts AP)