INSIDE THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN -- Donald Trump is in Detroit today, where he’ll lay out his America First economic plan. It’s a chance at a reset and refocus of the race onto economic policies, where the Trump campaign says it believes it has an advantage -- and a point to make. Trump will lay out a few specifics: He’ll propose to cut the corporate tax rate to 15 percent, make all child-care expenses tax free, and overhaul America’s trade deals. He’ll call for a temporary moratorium on new regulations, an elimination of the estate tax, tax reform and a new national energy policy.
But in our discussion with Trump aides in advance of the speech, they described it as a “vision speech” -- an address meant to set the table for a larger discussion in the near future. Trump’s campaign wants to make the point that Hillary Clinton -- and her policies -- represents the past.
“There will be a lot of discussion about bad judgment in supporting these trade details and being bought and paid for by corporations, but the overarching theme of it is that Hillary Clinton is a stale politician from a long ago time,” a Trump campaign aide told Playbook in advance of the speech. “A figure from the past whose time has long since been over. That she has nothing new or fresh or exciting to offer our politics. Everything she’s been proposing is something we’ve heard for a million years before. And we’re offering the possibility of really big change. The fundamental rethinking of all of our trade deals. Not just more tinkering around the edges. A complete overhaul of the entire regulatory code, which has been increasing under every president … A complete rethinking of our energy policy. These are the kind of things we’re talking about. Where Hillary Clinton is very much yesterday.”
“Everything about her is so yesterday,” the aide said. “The big theme of this speech is let’s cut the ties from the failed policies of the past. Let’s go boldly into the future, and the Trump campaign represents that course in the most fundamental of ways. Trump himself is the first non-politician in our lifetimes and the first figure from outside the system to capture the nomination. If you want to change the system, you have to buy a change agent that’s not part of the system.”
The Trump campaign wants to make the rollout of its economic policies a weeklong event to keep the drumbeat going. In the coming days and weeks, Trump is expected to expand on these plans and roll out new proposals. The big question is whether Trump can stay on this message, or will he stray.
SCOOP: MORE REPUBLICANS FOR HILLARY-- The “Clinton campaign is telling folks they expect more GOPers of varying significance to continue coming out this week like they did last week and they expect to formally announce their organization for Republicans endorsing by the end of the week,” according to a senior Hill Democrat. More Republicans for Clinton -- and an organization that centrally supports Republicans coming out in favor of the Democratic nominee -- is a major development, and could help solidify their message that this election is less about party, and more about making a responsible choice for the country. Clinton campaign officials declined to comment.
-- CASE IN POINT: Michigan's former Republican governor William Milliken endorsed Clinton this morning. http://on.freep.com/2b7fw9q And Lezlee Westine, who was the director of George W. Bush's office of Public Liaison, also announced her support for Clinton. http://wapo.st/2aLekti
-- Hillary Clinton will be in Florida today, touring 3 Daughters Brewery in St. Petersburg and then will attend a rally in Kissimmee, where she will “outline her plan to make the biggest investment in good-paying jobs since World War II during her first 100 days in office.” On background per a Clinton campaign official: In advance of Donald Trump's speech in Detroit today, Hillary for America’s Senior Economic Policy Team will release a memo outlining 7 reasons why a Trump presidency would endanger the U.S. economy. http://bit.ly/2aEFXk6 ... HFA’s new “Trumponomics” video “highlighting that Donald Trump’s economic plans mean lower wages, jobs outsourced, more debt, and tax breaks for the 0.1%.” http://bit.ly/2atxuVy
HILLARY’s economic speech is THURSDAY in Detroit.
Good Monday morning! Anna and Jake will be on CBSN with Josh Elliott this morning at 11 a.m.
**SUBSCRIBE to Playbook: http://politi.co/1M75UbX
THE SPEAKER SPEAKS -- “Paul Ryan is confident about keeping his seat, more cautious about the House,” by the Bob Costa on A3 in the Washington Post from Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin: “When asked if his majority could be in jeopardy, the 2012 Republican vice-presidential nominee answered carefully, saying it is natural for any elected official to be concerned about his party’s seats. ‘Mitt [Romney] and I lost by four points and we lost eight seats. [Arizona Sen. John McCain] lost by seven [in 2008] and we lost 21 seats,’ he said, referencing the past two presidential elections. ‘If you’re speaker of the House, it’s your job to worry about the Republican majority, no matter what the circumstances are.’ Ryan paused and smiled after his answer. When asked the question again in a slightly different way, he chuckled. ‘I’m going to leave it at that,’ he said.” http://wapo.st/2aO8nsB
--RYAN’s primary is tomorrow. He is expected to win.
DAILY DONALD -- “Donald Trump’s Allies Battle for Favor of G.O.P. Givers He Mocked,” by NYT’s Nick Confessore, on A14: “In hotel suites and skyboxes, from K Street to the Texas suburbs, in conversations that are both urgent and strained, allies of Mr. Trump are imploring senior Republicans and senior party donors to come to Mr. Trump’s aid, despite a damaging series of post-convention controversies that have left some in the party ready to abandon him. The goal is to persuade thousands of the party’s most reliable patrons to overcome their lingering objections to the candidate most of them never wanted, and to help defeat a Democrat most of them want even less. In the coming weeks, Mr. Trump and campaign officials will attend a string of high-dollar fund-raisers organized with the [RNC], hitting the summer haunts of the well-to-do — from East Hampton to the California wine country — in a last-ditch effort to tap into the party’s vast financial reserves.” http://nyti.ms/2aFF0On
NEW TRUMP SUPER PAC AD – “Dead Broke” from Rebuilding America Now – a narrator scarily says after a clip of Clinton’s “dead broke” comment: “It didn’t last long. A foundation was created and money started to roll. Speeches, connections and donations. Misogynist regimes, Wall Street insiders, corrupt dictators. They all had one thing in common. Their check cleared.” http://bit.ly/2aSVKgt
‘WAKE UP CALL’ -- “Trump fundraising sets off Clinton camp alarms: ‘We must redouble our efforts in the coming weeks,’ a concerned Robby Mook writes,” by Gabe Debenedetti in New York: “Taken aback by the size of Donald Trump’s July fundraising haul, Hillary Clinton’s campaign is quickly working to beef up its efforts to raise campaign cash before the fall — sending the candidate, running mate Tim Kaine, and former President Bill Clinton on an all-out financial sprint through August while explicitly warning top fundraisers this week that they need to pick up the pace. In an internal memo, first obtained by POLITICO, that will be circulated to high-level donors [this] morning, campaign manager Robby Mook specifically writes that the Republican nominee’s July haul overshot the campaign’s expectations, necessitating a new wave of action.
“‘Donald Trump also had his best fundraising month of the campaign, raising $80 million,’ explains Mook in the roughly 750-word missive — titled ‘Wake Up Call’ — after trumpeting Clinton’s own $90 million haul between the campaign and other Democratic committees. ‘This was far more than anyone expected — and should be a wake-up call to all Hillary supporters. We must redouble our efforts in the coming weeks.’” http://politi.co/2b6Tnez
THE MAP -- “Clinton sets out most efficient path to get to 270,” by the AP’s Tom Beaumont in Des Moines: “Hillary Clinton doesn’t appear all that interested in making scenic stops on her state-to-state quest to become president. The Democratic nominee is instead programming her GPS to take her on the quickest route to collect the 270 Electoral College votes she needs to win the White House. With three months until Election Day, Clinton’s campaign is focused on capturing the battleground states that have decided the most recent presidential elections, not so much on expanding the map. Clinton’s team doesn’t rule out an effort at Arizona, a state with a booming population of Latino voters that polls find are loath to support Trump. And Georgia, a bastion of the Deep South, echoes recent population trends in other Southeastern states where Clinton is competing aggressively. But neither is among the 11 battleground states that Clinton’s television advertising plans and her travel schedule point to as her focus. Those states are the perennial top-tier targets Florida and Ohio, plus Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.” http://apne.ws/2bdHY8S
-- “Inside the swing-state trench warfare,” by Darren Samuelsohn, Katie Glueck, Kyle Cheney and Daniel Strauss: “For Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, their strategies for winning in November are compounded by a significant obstacle: They’ve already lost once in some of the most important counties in this election’s most important swing states. These battlegrounds — spread across the 11 battleground states from Jefferson County in Colorado to Brown County in Wisconsin to Scott County in Iowa — have become epicenters of the 2016 campaign. Both campaigns know it too, and that’s why the candidates and their surrogates have been scrambling to crisscross the country for personal visits to these places as the White House race enters a final lap.
“Close to 50 interviews with GOP and Democratic party chairs from 25 of the most vital counties on the map — counties that are poised to play a major role in determining their state’s outcome either because of their size or voting history — revealed Trump himself is on his own mission to learn as much as he can from the local officials who know their voters the best. And the Clinton campaign is methodically working to lock down these pivotal places by leveraging the family’s longtime relationships with local officials and activating a field organization that’s far more extensive than the ad hoc, seat-of-the-pants effort on the GOP side.” http://politi.co/2aEOALz
DATA DU JOUR -- “Where Are All the Republican Women? There are fewer Republican women in Congress now than in 2006. The trend repeats at every level of government,” by David S. Bernstein on Politico.com: “These are not anomalies. So far this year, Republicans have nominated women in just 26 of the 308 congressional districts that have held primaries. That’s a mere 8 percent—and it’s in line with the current makeup of the House Republican Conference, which is 91 percent male and 9 percent female. ... Although there are now 247 Republicans in the House, up from 229 a decade ago, there are fewer women: 22, down from 25.” http://politi.co/2aJXKdp
ANDREA PEYSER in N.Y. Post, “I can no longer justify calling myself a Trump supporter”: “I think Trump secretly doesn’t want the prize. Why would he crave spending endless hours in policy meetings, cavorting with miserable domestic and world leaders and abandoning his collection of obscenely opulent abodes to live in public housing at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, DC? ... When I visited about two months after his lovely wife, Melania, now 46, gave birth to the couple’s son, Barron, now 10, the infamous germophobe boasted that after fathering five children, he’d never changed a diaper. I enthused that Melania, who stood quietly nearby aboard 5-inch stilettos, had lost all her baby weight. Trump corrected me: ‘She’s almost lost all the baby weight.’” http://nyp.st/2b6EFUJ
--Howard Wolfson (@howiewolf): “Longtime @nypost readers will understand why it’s a big deal that Trump has lost @AndreaPeyser”
BIG IN JAPAN -- “Japanese Emperor Akihito Indicates He Is Ready to Abdicate Emperor,” by WSJ’s Eleanor Warnock in Tokyo: “Japanese Emperor Akihito said Monday that age and ill health could make it difficult for him to carry out his official duties, hinting that he wanted to abdicate in what would be the most significant change to the imperial system in the postwar era. ‘When the emperor has ill health and his condition becomes serious, I am concerned that, as we have seen in the past, society comes to a standstill and people’s lives are impacted in various ways,’ the 82-year-old emperor said in a prerecorded speech broadcast in Japan on Monday afternoon … Emperor Akihito didn’t directly use the word ‘abdication’ in Monday’s message. But he left little doubt that he wanted to pursue that course, describing the downside of having an emperor too old to perform his duties and dismissing alternatives as impractical.” http://on.wsj.com/2b2wGb5
SNEAK PEEK -- VP BIDEN in Foreign Affairs, “Building on Success Opportunities for the Next Administration”: “[D]espite the proliferation of threats and challenges — some old, some new — by almost any measure, we are stronger and more secure today than when President Barack Obama and I took office in January 2009. Because of our investments at home and engagement overseas, the United States is primed to remain the world’s preeminent power for decades to come. ... [T]his comprehensive campaign against violent extremism will succeed only if it is carried out in a manner that is consistent with our values and keeps the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims — the vast majority of whom reject Salafi jihadist views — on our side. We know that al Qaeda, ISIS, and their ilk want to manufacture a clash of civilizations in which Americans think of Muslims in us-versus-them terms. ... We should never let these groups win by giving in to the religious war they want.” http://fam.ag/2aE4IN4
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- James Andrew Miller’s “Powerhouse: The Untold Story of Hollywood’s Creative Artists Agency,” is out tomorrow (Jake has already preordered it). Miller is the author of “Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN” and “Live from New York: The Complete Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests.” Here is a fun excerpt from “Powerhouse”:MICHAEL OVITZ, Former Chairman, CAA: “After he [Bill Clinton] was elected, he called me up, and said, ‘I need a favor.’ What do you say to the president of the United States when he asks that, ‘No’? I said, ‘Of course. What is it?’ He said, ‘The DNC’s running out of money. Can you raise us some money?’ I said, ‘Will you speak?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Okay, how much do you need?’ And he told me what he needed — I forget how much it was — and he said, ‘Can you do it?’ I said, ‘Sure, how many months do I have to put this together?’ He said, ‘You have three weeks.’ And I said, ‘You have to be kidding.’ He said, ‘No, I’m dead serious.’”
“There’s nothing like a presidential visit to drain yet another drop of envy out of your competitors. When Bill Clinton came to CAA’s Beverly Hills headquarters on December 4, 1993, Ovitz used the occasion not as a coronation of the president, but of CAA itself, going so far as to make sure competitors were left off the invitation list. There were over four hundred guests at the $1,000-per-person cocktail fund-raiser (for the [DNC]) and 80 people paid $2,500 each, in addition to the hefty admission fee, for one-on-one photo opps with Clinton in the large conference room on CAA’s third floor. Stars who showed up in full glitter included Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Costner, Warren Beatty, and Alec Baldwin, along with such executives as Disney’s Michael Eisner and Peter Guber of Sony Pictures Entertainment. And since this was Hollywood, there was, of course, some drama. Sally Field had to ditch her limo and run six blocks to the building because she was running late and the Secret Service had already shut down the surrounding streets from cars. The Secret Service refused to let Chevy Chase into the building because he had forgotten his ID, which rendered him beyond pissed, so an Ovitz aide was dispatched to authenticate him. And Glenn Close rushed over with her full makeup on from the play she was doing, appropriately enough, Sunset Boulevard.” Buy the book ($21.82 on Amazon): http://amzn.to/2aEKeE6 … Vanity Fair adaptation from this April, “How Superagents Michael Ovitz and Ron Meyer Divorced CAA and Landed Their Own Movie Studios” http://bit.ly/2aUBFq8
BIG APPLE WATCH -- “Shaun Donovan eyes NYC mayoral run,” by Isaac Dovere: “Shaun Donovan, President Barack Obama’s budget director, wants to run for mayor of New York City — and one of Michael Bloomberg’s top political hands is putting together a preliminary effort to draft him into the 2017 primary race against incumbent Bill de Blasio. The moves come as de Blasio, who’s been on the outs with the White House after saying President Barack Obama showed up late to the income inequality conversation (and is in such bad shape with the Clintons that all the mayor got was a mid-afternoon speaking slot at last month’s Democratic convention), is battling rocky poll numbers and a list of investigations that has grown almost by the week.” Cameos by Bradley Tusk, Rev. Al Sharpton, Howard Wolfson http://politi.co/2b6QvOU
PUSHBACK FROM MASS. AVE -- “Brookings Rebuts New York Times” on Medium: “An article published by The New York Times today, reported by Eric Lipton and Brooke Williams, portrays a picture of the Brookings Institution in a way that fundamentally misrepresents our mission and distorts how we operate, particularly in our relationship with corporate funders. Mr. Lipton and Ms. Williams make a sweeping allegation that, in return for donations, Brookings promotes the business interests of certain corporations. ... That is not the case at Brookings: the line is always clear, hard, and recognized by our scholars, our institution, and our donors. The reporters’ attempt to buttress their thesis with cherry-picked phrases lifted from thousands of pages of internal—often informal or draft—documents, using them out of context. They also ignore a large body of evidence we made available to them demonstrating that the projects in question were developed in ways that hewed to our institutional standards of scholarly independence.” http://bit.ly/2aFeIMu ... The original piece http://nyti.ms/2aEnkmk
THRUSH PODCAST -- In “Off Message” this week, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) admits to being unfocused and adrift before discovering his cause -- gun control -- after the Sandy Hook tragedy. Murphy, a father of two young children, tells Glenn Thrush he believes the gun issue should now be a “litmus test” for being a Democrat. What does Murphy think of the drudgery being a senator entails, especially fundraising? “There’s just a ton of bulls*** with this job,” he says. Story http://politi.co/2aKZMKb … Transcript http://politi.co/2bdGwTS … Listen http://apple.co/1KRm0m0
VIDEO DU JOUR -- per Morning Media: “John Oliver’s 19-minute segment on the troubles facing journalism, starring The Huffington Post, (‘Arianna Huffington's blockquote junction and book excerpt clearinghouse’); Tronc (‘sounds like the noise an ejaculating elephant makes or, more appropriately, the sound of a stack of print newspapers being thrown into a dumpster’); Jeff Bezos; Sheldon Adelson and more.” Video http://bit.ly/2aUIeZI
MEDIAWATCH -- “Balance, Fairness and a Proudly Provocative Presidential Candidate,” by Jim Rutenberg in his NYT “Mediator” column: “But let’s face it: Balance has been on vacation since Mr. Trump stepped onto his golden Trump Tower escalator last year to announce his candidacy. For the primaries and caucuses, the imbalance played to his advantage, captured by the killer statistic of the season: His nearly $2 billion in free media was more than six times as much as that of his closest Republican rival. Now that he is the Republican nominee for president, the imbalance is cutting against him. Journalists and commentators are analyzing his policy pronouncements and temperament with an eye toward what it would all look like in the Oval Office — something so many of them viewed as an impossibility for so long.” http://nyti.ms/2aKYQFH
-- “Politico executive Peter Cherukuri joins startup incubator 1776,” by HuffPost’s Michael Calderone: “Cherukuri is leaving the company to become president and chief innovation officer for growing tech startup incubator 1776.” http://huff.to/2aZntPx
WASHINGTON, INC. – “Conservative group launches $4.8M campaign against Medicare changes,” by Dan Diamond on Politico Pro: “The American Action Network [today] is announcing a three-pronged, $4.8 million advocacy campaign that targets Medicare’s plan to pilot a new way to pay for drugs, as well as the agency’s long-gestating Independent Payment Advisory Board. It’s the single largest issue-advocacy campaign in the conservative group’s history - with $1.9 million in print ads, $1.7 million in direct mail, and $1.2 million in digital ads, all targeted at seniors - and it comes with Congress on recess. ... The group is targeting 61 congressional districts, all held by Republicans.” List of districts for Pro subscribers http://politico.pro/2b2aGwK … Sample ad http://bit.ly/2b6GwG0
RIO ROUNDUP – “Russia is kicked out of Rio Paralympics because of widespread doping,” by USA Today’s Martin Rogers: “Paralympics chiefs took the step that the [IOC] shied away from on Sunday — banning the entire Russian team from competing in Rio. The International Paralympic Committee announced at a news conference that Russia would be kicked out of its Games, which will run after the conclusion of the Olympics, from Sept. 7-18. The IPC acted in the wake of a report ... [that found] a staggering level of state-sponsored, organized doping across the Russian sports system.” http://usat.ly/2aE442j
--“Katie Ledecky smashes world record to win Olympic gold in 400-meter freestyle,” by WashPost’s Dave Sheinin in Rio: “Ledecky, the freestyle phenom from Bethesda, won her first gold medal of these Games, torching the field in the final of the 400 free at Olympic Aquatics Stadium with a stunning time of 3:56.46 to win by nearly five seconds over Britain’s Jazz Carlin. U.S. teammate Leah Smith took the bronze. Ledecky punctuated her swim with an unbridled fist pump, followed by a giant smile.” http://wapo.st/2b726tL
U.S. MEDAL COUNT -- Three golds, five silvers, four bronzes.
SPORTS BLINK -- “Alex Rodriguez to Retire and Join Yankees as an Adviser,” by NYT’s David Waldstein: “Instead of sitting on the bench for the rest of the season, doing nothing, Rodriguez [will] given his release by the Yankees and then appointed a special adviser and instructor for the club. He would get the $27 million still owed him for this season and for 2017, but he would no longer be playing.” http://nyti.ms/2axPvxJ
SPOTTED: A gleeful Paul Kane riding the D.C. streetcar (PK has been the harshest critic of the streetcar). Pic http://bit.ly/2aZmMp6 ... Guy Cecil in purple Lacoste shirt in seat 1A last night in an AA flight from DCA to Boston.
PIC DU JOUR – SPOTTED on the Potomac yesterday afternoon: a sailboat with sails that read “Hernick for Congress.” Republican economist and ecologist Charles Hernick is running in the 8thdistrict in Virginia, currently represented by Don Beyer. http://bit.ly/2b0bp0v
MILESTONE -- @markknoller: “Pres Obama playing golf [Sunday] at Farm Neck on Martha’s Vineyard. By my count, his 300th round as president.”
WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Gary Bass, a well-known Princeton professor and human rights expert who wrote the recent prize-winning book “The Blood Telegram” about Nixon, Kissinger and the Bangladesh genocide, and Katy Glenn Bass, deputy director of the PEN American Center, which defends freedom of expression, email friends and family: “We are overjoyed to welcome our baby girl. Miriam Bass was born [Saturday] weighing 5 lbs 14 oz. Both mom and baby are in great health, resting up from an eventful day. Her middle name is Elizabeth, a tribute to Katy’s late grandmothers, Betty Glenn and Betty Baker, and Gary’s late grandmother, Bess Bobrow. Her Hebrew middle name is Nechama (comfort), in memory of Gary’s late grandfathers Nate Basserabie and Chona Bobrow.” Pic http://bit.ly/2asAotD
WEEKEND WEDDINGS -- “Margaret Chadbourn, David Clarke” -- N.Y. Times: “Ms. Chadbourn, 34 ... works at ABC News in Washington, where she contributes to on-air and online news segments as a general assignment reporter and producer. She graduated from Sewanee: the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn. ... Mr. Clarke, 41, is an editor on the national staff of The Washington Post [and is a Politico alum]. He graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, and received a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern. ... The couple met while working as reporters at Reuters in Washington.” With a pic http://nyti.ms/2bd1nXl … Wedding pics http://bit.ly/2aFZUKJ ... http://bit.ly/2b2yKj1
SPOTTED celebrating the Saturday nuptials at the swanky outdoor reception in Alexandria’s River Farms were Politico’s Clea Benson, Bob Hillman and Joe Schatz, Colleen McCain Nelson and Eric Nelson, Bob Honold, Brai Esene, Derek Douglas, Rebecca Ritzel, Patricia Zengerle, Lorraine Woellert, Kathryn Larson, Denise Dunckel, Ron Orol, Denny Gulino, Joe Warminsky, Geoff Bosworth, Joe Warminsky, John and Cory Czajka.
-- Anna Mulrine, defense/national security reporter for the Christian Science Monitor, and Stefan Grobe, Washington reporter for Euronews, forged a transatlantic entente this weekend in the verdant Shenandoah hills outside of Washington, D.C. The couple was fêted by 180 of their closest friends - who flew in from as far as Salzburg and Seattle - at the Loudon country home of the father of the bride. The bride, having traded her flak jacket and helmet for a sinewy, strapless silk taffeta gown, beamed as her beloved jested that he would tame her fiery Irish temper with his German efficiency. BBQ brisket, dancing, and a brilliant fireworks display capped the evening; the champagne flowed past the witching hour. Pic http://bit.ly/2aE4CFz
SPOTTED: Liz Halloran, Ilana Ozernoy, Nancy Youssef, Sharahn Thomas, Alan Levin, Jackie Northam.
--“Alexandra Stevenson, Enrico Mills” – Times: “The bride, 31 ... is a business reporter at The New York Times. She graduated with honors from McGill University. ... The groom, 29, is a software developer in New York for Socket Mobile, a maker of bar-code scanners in Newark, Calif., where the groom’s father is the company’s president and chief executive. The couple met in 2007 while working as camp counselors at the John F. Kennedy International School, a private school in Saanen.” With pic http://nyti.ms/2aEPKbQ
OBAMAWORLD WEDDING -- “Brian Mosteller, Joseph Mahshie” – Times: The couple was “married Aug. 1 at the residence of Vice President Joe Biden in Washington, where Mr. Biden led the ceremony after being granted temporary permission by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia Marriage Bureau. Mr. Mosteller, 40, is a special assistant to the president and the director of Oval Office Operations at the White House. He joined the Office of the President in 2007 after a career in operations and logistics with various international athletic competitions, including the Olympic Games in 2002, 2004 and 2006. He graduated from Ohio State. ... Mr. Mahshie, 30, works in Washington as the trip coordinator for Michelle Obama. From 2013 to 2015, he worked in New York as the events manager for the Times Square Alliance, formerly known as Times Square Business Improvement District. He graduated from Florida State in Tallahassee. ... The couple met during the Fourth of July weekend in 2014 when Mr. Mahshie was visiting Washington from New York.” With pic http://nyti.ms/2axQb61
--“On the Campaign Trail, Love Doesn’t Always Win,” by Tammy La Gorce in the “Field Notes” column in NYT’s Sunday Styles: “With every presidential election, there are stories of couples who fell in love while working long hours together to get their candidate elected. But for every campaign-trail romance that ends in marriage, many others will be as short-lived as a lead in the polls was for Scott Walker and Ben Carson in the Republican primaries. One reason is that while the high-voltage atmosphere of political campaigns may incite passions, it also tends to skew the vision of the people working inside them.” With cameos by Sadie Weiner, Zachary Wineburg, Rick Siger and Kinsey Casey, Matt Posey, Geoff Wetrosky, and Hal Brewster http://nyti.ms/2b6fXkf
FLASHBACK -- Amy Chozick in the WSJ, April 18, 2008, “Campaign Hook-Ups: The seemingly endless presidential campaign has led to an unusually high number of staff romances.” With cameos by Craig Minassian, Bill Burton, Laura Capps, Sandra Sobieraj Westfall, Alexandra Pelosi http://on.wsj.com/1EB7yyS
PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION -- “Angelina Jolie is not going to be a professor at Georgetown University,” by WashPost’s Jessica Contrera: “The rumor, which was originally reported by Us Weekly, stems from the (true) announcement that Jolie will be a visiting professor at the London School of Economics this fall. She will deliver guest lectures to students of the school’s one-year master’s degree program on ‘Women, Peace and Security.’ That program is a ‘sister program’ with the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, spokeswoman Rachel Pugh said, but ‘there are no current plans for Angelina Jolie to teach at Georgetown.’” http://wapo.st/2aEKmDr
BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Andrew Gradison, an LA in Rep. Jason Smith’s office ... John Mayo, training wizard for C-4 Analytics and OFA alum … Maggie Goodspeed ... (was Friday): Grace Cutler, managing editor at Circa (h/t Nihal Krishan)
BIRTHDAYS: Sunny Feldman (hat tip: Vale) … Ron Klain, former Biden Chief of Staff and Ebola coordinator, expert debating coach, now EVP and general counsel at Revolution, is 55 – per wife Monica Medina: “Same age as POTUS. We also had a big party - we recreated the Indiana State Fair at a park in Germantown. We had carnival games, a petting zoo and all the best state fair food - including fried Oreos and funnel cakes. More than 100 friends and lots of Hoosier family members helped us celebrate.” Pic http://bit.ly/2aEQ4r1 (h/ts Monica, Jon Haber and Teresa Vilmain) ... WashPost’s Jackson Diehl ... Virginia Heffernan ... Claire Brinberg, senior producer at ABC’s World News with David Muir and a “political junkie, Springsteen lover, cheese eater, New Yorker,” per her Twitter ... Sam Wilson, Obama and Dag Vega alum now a lawyer in SF for O’Melveny & Myers … Politico’s Vinay Mehra and Tyler Bowders ... Kate Damon, principal/owner of Kaze Design ... CBS News’ Kylie Atwood is 27 ... Emily Rogers, press secretary for Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) ... Kelly Jemison Needham is 28 ... Politico contributor Michael Levin is 58 ... Dee Ertukel ... Jonah Seiger ... Sara Maldonado ... Will Caggiano ... Marc Ambinder (h/ts Haber) ... the Renewable Fuel Standard is 11 (release this a.m. from Fuels America: http://politi.co/2b5ATuP) ... Elizabeth Brakebill McAdam ... Karen Hancox … James Feinstein … David Bass, president and CEO of Raptor Strategies (h/t Tim Burger) … Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group … former FEC chairman Michael Toner, partner at Wiley Rein … Hayley Matz Meadvin, chief strategy and comms officer of Chicago Public Schools, a Jill Biden and SBA alum ... Mike Schwartz …
… conservative Svengali Mike Biundo, co-founder of Right On Strategies and senior advisor to Donald Trump ... William “Big City Britches” Cronin … Jonah Seiger, founder and managing partner of Connections Media ... Mallory Hobson … Jeff Chu ... Lance Frank, executive director of comms at CBS News ... former Rep. Ron Marlenee (R-Mont.) is 81 ... former Rep. Jim Weaver (D-Ore.) is 89 ... former Rep. Robin Tallon (D-S.C.) is 7-0 ... former Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard is 74 ... John Lambert, LC for Sen. Ron Johnson ... Mike Dankler, LD for Rep. Jackie Walorski ... Luke Londo of Dan Benishek’s office ... Habib Durrani ... Dan Betts of Sen. Cory Gardner’s office (h/ts Legistorm) ... former Sen. John Culver (D-IA) is 84 ... Karen Hancox ... Dee Ertukel ... Alison Dominuco ... Jay Gersema ... Cameron Terry ... Xerxes Bhappu (h/ts Teresa) ... Kristina Dei ... Samantha Brady ... Mallory Hobson ... Fredrick Odol ... Michael Burwick ... actor Richard Anderson is 9-0 ... singer Mel Tillis is 84 ... Dustin Hoffman is 79 ... Phil Balsley (The Statler Brothers) is 77 ... Larry Wilcox is 69 ... Robin Quivers is 64 ... percussionist Anton Fig is 63 ... Donny Most is 63 ... Deborah Norville is 58 ... The Edge is 55 ... JC Chasez (‘N Sync) is 4-0 ... Roger Federer is 35 ... Britain’s Princess Beatrice of York is 28 ... pop singer Shawn Mendes is 18 (h/ts AP)