Interview
POLITICO Playbook’s Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman - Co-Authors of "The Hill to Die On"
- Politico modernized Playbook for iPhone readability with enhanced visuals and increased output frequency to five days a week with twice-daily issues to address the Trump era.
- Playbook maintains its identity as a Washington-focused newsletter despite expanding reporter presence in Ohio, Wisconsin, and the Rust Belt to better cover state-level events.
- The book The Storm Is Getting Worse covers the two-year period from Election Day 2016 through the government shutdown ending February 20, 2020, characterizing the first two years of the Trump presidency as his most productive before the midterms.
- The authors initially predicted minimal public interest in Congress or their book but acknowledge current market conditions contradict this assumption.
- Paul Ryan viewed his health care repeal effort as a personal responsibility and a final political act, while Mitch McConnell described himself as a "rock star" with doubled poll numbers during the Kavanaugh confirmation.
- Mitch McConnell remains uneasy with Donald Trump, having signaled to Chuck Schumer that he controls the legislative turf.
- Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan utilize daytime cable television, which has become "prime time" for Congress and the president, to push Donald Trump back toward the conservative right.
- Major networks including CNN, MSNBC, and NBC have shifted strategies to conduct town halls with every Democratic candidate, treating them seriously.
- The Democratic field currently includes nearly 20 candidates with none having broken through, despite high voter sentiment favoring individuals with experience running cities or states over Washington figures.
- The authors estimate Bernie Sanders has a 65% or higher probability of securing the Democratic nomination due to high polling and fundraising strength.
- As of April 12, Joe Biden has not defined his candidacy or raised funds while consulting with his family.
- The authors predict that very little legislative progress will occur before 2020 due to the president's use of Twitter and media to dominate the narrative.
- The authors anticipate a long tail of ramifications from attacks on institutions like Congress and the media, though the full impact of norm-breaking remains unknown.
- The timeframe for public outrage has significantly shrunk due to desensitization, with scandals that previously required a week or month to register now failing to gain traction.