| | | |  | | By Irie Sentner | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco and Makayla Gray Happy Saturday morning! This is Irie Sentner, in disbelief that we’re already a week into March and hoping to my core that spring really is about to bloom. How do you plan on enjoying the warm weather this week? Let me know.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
Some rural Democrats say their party's affordability messaging feels "disingenuous." | Matt Slocum/AP | Most Democrats think their key to winning back control of Congress in the midterms will be selling voters on an affordability agenda and bashing President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy. But some in their party — running long-shot campaigns in rural regions against Republican incumbents — say all the affordability talk has lost the plot. “Democrats on a national level have discovered ‘affordability’ as a winning strategy, as some magic bullet that's going to win them elections all over the country,” Hallie Shoffner, who won the Democratic Senate primary in Arkansas earlier this week, told Playbook. “Established D.C Democrats like [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer [are] talking about affordability, and I'm sorry, but everybody in Arkansas is going to give him the side eye, because what does he know about affordability?” she added. A spokesperson for Schumer told Playbook in a statement that he “knows that working families are being crushed by higher costs because of Donald Trump’s failed policies and his corrupt bargain with big corporations. That’s why Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats have been fighting to lower costs for people on everything from housing to energy to health care.” After stinging defeats in 2024, Democrats bounced back in 2025’s off-year elections when Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sailed to victory, each behind a campaign that centered on pocketbook issues and sought to frame Democrats as the party that could bring down prices for everyday Americans. Now, party leaders want to ride that messaging into November amid falling approval of Trump’s handling of the economy. Spanberger was a special guest at House Democrats’ annual retreat last week, where she gave her advice for how to hammer an affordability message just one day after she skewered Trump over cost-of-living concerns during the Democratic rebuttal to his State of the Union address. And Republicans are increasingly worried that the outlook on the economy is weakening amid rising gas prices stemming from the war in Iran. But some rural Democrats still aren’t convinced that the party is striking the right tone. “It feels disingenuous,” said Callie Barr, who is running to flip Michigan’s 1st Congressional District. “The standard of living for most folks in rural areas like mine has been declining for the past 40 years under both administrations,” Barr said. “And then all of a sudden, it's like, ‘Oh, affordability is now a talking point, maybe I can win an election off of it, I'm going to start using it in everything.’” Barr and Shoffner told Playbook they hope to see national Democrats put the money where their mouth is by investing in “long-shot” races like theirs. “My hope is that actually there’s real teeth behind this, because I think people just don’t believe it,” Barr said. Each has an uphill battle in their own right. Shoffner is running in Arkansas against incumbent Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, who has served in the Senate since he defeated Sen. Mark Pryor in 2014 — the last time a Democrat held the seat. Barr is running in a rematch against GOP Rep. Jack Bergman, who beat her by more than 21 points in 2024. “It makes sense for the Democratic Party to reinvest themselves in places like us, like Arkansas, and give candidates like me with these grey-collar backgrounds a seat at the table — because I'm going to be honest with you, they might learn something about what it really means to talk about affordability,” said Shoffner, a sixth-generation farmer who had to shut down her family’s farm when she realized it couldn’t make money. That’s similar to messaging that’s been championed by Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.). The rural auto shop owner who flipped Washington’s last red district in 2022 has vocally criticized her party for being out of touch with the middle class. “When you say affordability, people roll their eyes,” said Michael Ceraso, a Democratic strategist working with both candidates who is an alum of Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. “In many of the areas [where] affordability has been a crisis, Dems aren't investing or building infrastructure to do anything to mobilize human beings in those areas.” The DNC last year announced a new program that gives $17,500 per month to each state party and an additional $5,000 per month to those in states run by Republicans, and the party this year has been buoyed by a string of overperformances, including in ruby-red districts. But much of the attention has focused on the most competitive races across battleground states. Of course, it can also be a shrewd political tactic to blast the Democratic Party — which boasts a roster of stars from liberal, urban areas who remain deeply unpopular in conservative, rural ones. But Barr isn't running her campaign with any labels that may be tied to her party ID. “Maybe you're running on a ticket, but that shouldn't be your whole identity,” she said. “When I meet people, they’ll say, ‘Oh, what ticket are you on?’” Barr added. “And I always start with, ‘Well, I'm an American.’”
| | A message from Anthropic: Qualified Health used Claude, built by Anthropic, to screen 1M+ heart failure patients in Texas. It surfaced life-saving interventions that were buried in fragmented data. See how | | | | 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 1. IRAN LATEST: Iran today “will be hit very hard,” Trump said this morning on Truth Social. That apparent escalation of the war as it stretches into its second week comes as the president has privately expressed serious interest in ground troops to Iran, NBC’s Courtney Kube and colleagues report. Trump has “discussed the idea of deploying ground troops with aides and Republican officials outside the White House while outlining his vision for a post-war Iran in which Iran’s uranium is secure and the U.S. and a new Iranian regime cooperate on oil production similar to how the U.S. and Venezuela are,” per NBC. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the story is “based on assumptions from anonymous sources.” Later today, Trump is set to attend the dignified transfer of the six U.S. servicemembers who have been killed in the war at Dover Air Force Base. Speaking at a summit of Latin American leaders in Miami, Trump vowed to keep American deaths “to a minimum.” More from AP’s Seung Min Kim Reality check: A classified U.S. intelligence report — completed about a week before the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Tehran spun the region into war — found that even a massive assault on Iran would be “unlikely” to oust the country’s regime, WaPo’s John Hudson and Warren Strobel scoop. The CIA referred WaPo’s questions to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which declined to comment. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly did not say if Trump had seen the report, but emphasized to WaPo that “The Iranian regime is being absolutely crushed.” More fallout: “Allies fear Iran war will leave them without US weapons they bought,” by POLITICO’s Jack Detsch and colleagues: “American allies are watching in disbelief as the Pentagon reroutes weapon shipments to aid the Iran war, angry and scared that arms the U.S. demanded they buy will never reach them.” 2. ANOTHER ANGLE: “Iran adds new urgency to Pentagon’s Ukraine drone deal,” by POLITICO’s Eli Stokols and colleagues: “Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran has given Ukraine a new card to play — its hard-won expertise defending against Russian drone and missile attacks. The Iranian counterattack with cheap, easily produced drones has exposed a vulnerability for the U.S. and its regional allies, adding new urgency for the Pentagon to close a deal with Ukraine that has been in the works for the better part of a year.” 3. NO GOOD, VERY BAD WEEK: Trump won the 2024 election on a promise to improve the economy and build the largest mass deportation operation ever seen — but both of those marquee issues this week threatened to turn into a liability for the president, POLITICO’s Sam Sutton and Megan Messerly report. “If you combine an economy that people don’t like with a prolonged war that you know nobody in his base believes they voted for, that’s a toxic problem,” said one Trump ally granted anonymity to speak freely.
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| | | | 4. INTO THE CYBERVERSE: “Trump calls for more aggressive responses to cyberattacks in long-awaited cyber strategy,” by POLITICO’s Dana Nickel and colleagues: “The White House on Friday released its long-awaited National Cyber Strategy, laying out in plain terms the Trump administration’s intention to ‘deploy the full suite of U.S. government defensive and offensive cyber operations’ to erode adversary capabilities and ‘raise the costs for their aggression.’ … But absent from the text of both documents are direct mentions of China and Russia — Washington’s main cyber foes.” 5. KRISTI AND ‘CHIEF’: “How Kristi Noem’s ‘Chief’ Corey Lewandowski Ran Her DHS Tenure into the Ground,” by National Review’s Audrey Fahlberg: “White House officials, lawmakers, and government contractors told NR that they have long suspected that Lewandowski and his political allies inside and outside of DHS are financially profiting from DHS contracts and multiple offices and committees on Capitol Hill are actively investigating the matter.” The White House and DHS declined to comment to NR, and Lewandowski did not respond to a request for comment. 6. TRAIL MIX: Now that scandal-stained Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) is out of the race for Texas’s deep-red 23rd Congressional District, Democrats see an opportunity — and his name is Brandon Herrera, A.K.A. “TheAKGuy,” POLITICO’s Alec Hernandez reports. The YouTuber, gun manufacturer, Second Amendment activist and now GOP nominee has millions of online followers — and a track record of off-color, edgelord jokes that Dems are eager to cut into campaign ads. Herrera did not respond to a request for comment. Issa out … again: “Darrell Issa announces retirement from the House,” by POLITICO’s Melanie Mason and Ben Fox: “[Rep. Darrell] Issa’s (R-Calif.) unexpected decision is an about-face from less than three months ago, when the veteran lawmaker declared ‘I’m not quitting on California’ after briefly considering running for a Texas congressional seat instead.” Kiley with an I: GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley filed for reelection as an independent yesterday, after California’s Democratic gerrymander blew up his existing boundaries, leaving him to run as a longshot in a blue-leaning district, POLITICO’s Tyler Katzenberger reports. “Kiley has tacked to the middle in recent months, since California Democrats targeted his district in a successful gerrymandering campaign championed by Newsom. He’s repeatedly criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson, broken with Republicans in key votes, blasted partisan redistricting efforts and co-authored bipartisan legislation to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies.”
| | | | POLITICO Forecast In a fragmented global landscape, understanding how policy and politics intersect across borders is critical. Forecast synthesizes POLITICO’s global reporting to connect key developments and global convenings, giving readers a clearer view of what’s ahead. Subscribe Now. | | | | | 7. FOR YOUR RADAR: Investigators believe Chinese government hackers are behind the recent FBI surveillance network breach, WSJ’s Dustin Volz reports, though the probe is still in its early stages. “A notification sent in recent days to some lawmakers in Congress said the FBI began investigating the matter last month, the people said. The intrusion involved hackers accessing an unclassified system that contains information about the calls and internet activity of criminal suspects and others under government surveillance.” The Chinese Embassy in Washington didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 8. ON MESSAGE: “DHS feeds talking points to Republicans as opposition to ICE warehouses swells,” by WaPo’s Jonathan O'Connell and Douglas MacMillan: “DHS has tried to quietly enlist local Republican leaders to promote the administration’s $38 billion plan to transform industrial warehouses in towns and cities across the country into migrant detention centers. Faced with swelling opposition, the agency is backchanneling to political allies, in at least one case with a misleading message, while staying largely silent in public.” 9. EVERYONE’S A CRYPTO BRO: “How Candidates Are Using Winks and Posts to Seek Crypto and A.I. Cash,” by NYT’s Shane Goldmacher: Candidates “are filling out industry questionnaires and writing social media posts or peppering their websites with telling phrases that echo corporate talking points — the kind of buzzwords that industry insiders can instantly recognize as signs of support. … In some ways, it is an old Washington story of power, money and influence, unfolding in new ways, with new players and on new platforms.”
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| | | | CLICKER — “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker — 17 funnies
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Nick Anderson / Raw Story | GREAT WEEKEND READS: — “He Came to Spy on America. He Fell in Love With It Instead,” by Zach Dorfman for POLITICO Magazine: “In the wake of the Cold War, some Soviet bloc spies decided their fake American lives weren’t so bad.” — “The Pentagon’s Favorite Tech Guy Is This Hawaiian Shirt-Wearing Founder,” by NYT’s Sheera Frenkel and Cade Metz: “Once shunned in Silicon Valley, [Palmer] Luckey has become the It Guy of the booming defense-technology industry.” — “Ketamine, Prostitution and Money: Details of a Secret DEA Probe of Jeffrey Epstein,” by Bloomberg’s Jason Leopold: “A Department of Justice document combined with interviews reveal that a long-running investigation into organized crime led law enforcement to suspect the serial sex abuser of money laundering, distributing ‘club drugs’ and operating a prostitution ring.” — “The Grande Dame of the Epstein Files,” by N.Y. Mag’s Jessica Bennett and Katie Ryder: “She stops to make sure she’s been understood: She means that [Jeffrey] Epstein was the one who was hypnotized — by her.” — “The ‘guerilla warrior’ who taught OpenAI to fight,” by Transformer’s Issie Lapowsky: “Interviews with 18 sources, including former OpenAI employees, Lehane’s former colleagues, lawmakers and other political and tech leaders — including several sources who greatly admire and respect [Chris] Lehane — suggest that cutthroat reputation is well-deserved.” — “The Man Who Broke Into Jail,” by The New Yorker’s James Verini: “Friedmann was the sort of activist that people who normally can’t abide activists could appreciate.” — “‘America Doesn’t Want My Children or Grandchildren,’” by The Atlantic’s Caitlin Dickerson: “The family had never been apart for long. The four of them linked arms or held hands when they walked down the street together, without seeming to notice they were doing it. Separation was not an option. So they would go, all of them.” — “2 young billionaires are behind the prediction market boom. They hate each other,” by NPR’s Bobby Allyn: “The feud could shape the future of the industry, with each executive offering competing visions for how prediction markets should grow, either by fighting in court for the legal right to exist or — like the cryptocurrency industry before them — by trying to skirt U.S. regulations for as long as possible.”
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➡️ Get on the Invite List | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | DISPATCH FROM CHICAGO — Leaders from across the political spectrum gathered yesterday on Chicago’s South Side to honor civil rights icon Jesse Jackson, but the celebration of life also reunited figures tied to one of Illinois’ most dramatic political scandals, POLITICO’s Shia Kapos writes in. Among those in attendance was former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose political career collapsed in a corruption scandal that erupted shortly after Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. Federal prosecutors accused Blagojevich of attempting to profit from appointing Obama’s successor to the U.S. Senate seat, describing the position in secretly recorded conversations as something valuable he did not want to “give away for nothing.” Yesterday’s memorial marked the first time Blagojevich and Obama were known to be in the same room since the scandal led to the governor’s arrest and eventual conviction. DISPATCH FROM VIRGINIA — “A suburb rife with data centers set to fight Amazon plan for another,” by WaPo’s Paul Schwartzman: “The last thing Loudoun County leaders wanted was another data center in a suburb that has long had the nation’s highest concentration of facilities that handle the world’s online traffic.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Matt Baker is departing as chief of staff at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence after nearly a year in the post to make a long-planned return to the private sector. Before joining DNI Tulsi Gabbard’s staff in April 2025, Baker worked at Valor Equity Partners. ADMINISTRATION MOVES — Vinay Prasad, the FDA’s vaccine chief, is set to depart the agency in April after a series of controversial decisions angered pharma and drew sharp criticism for his handling of rare disease therapy candidates before the agency, POLITICO’s Lauren Gardner reports. And Jeffrey B. Clark, the regulatory czar behind much of the administration’s climate rollbacks, is leaving the White House, NYT’s Lisa Friedman reports. MEDIA MOVE — Emma Uber is joining City Cast DC as a reporter and newsletter writer. She previously covered local breaking news and public safety for WaPo. THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here): CBS “Face the Nation”: Energy Secretary Chris Wright … Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) … Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Leiter … Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Olga Stefanishyna. NBC “Meet the Press”: Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz … House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries … Steve Kornacki. Panel: Adrienne Elrod, Susan Page, Bill Stepien and Amy Walter. FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) … Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) … Lt. Gen. Charles Moore … Jonathan Turley … Energy Secretary Chris Wright. CNN “State of the Union”: Energy Secretary Chris Wright … Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) … Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). Panel: Rebeccah Heinrichs, Jonah Goldberg, Karim Sadjadpour and Nayyera Haq. ABC “This Week”: Admiral Mike Mullen … Panel: Susan Glasser and Anne Applebaum. Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures”: Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) … Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) … Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.). MS NOW “Velshi”: Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) … Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) … Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas). PBS “Compass Points”: Firas Maksad … Danielle Pletka … Wendy Sherman … Ray Takeyh. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Giuseppe Macri and deputy editor Garrett Ross.
| | A message from Anthropic: Fragmented data makes it hard to find critical interventions. Qualified Health used Claude, built by Anthropic, to screen over 1 million heart failure patients in the University of Texas Health System. Hospitals digitized records years ago. Claude makes them usable. | | | | | | | | Follow us on X | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Canada Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | |
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