In conversations with more than a dozen people involved with the Build Back Better legislation, conflicting theories emerged about who is responsible for President Joe Biden’s lost legislative agenda. The enduring tension looms over quiet discussions between the White House and congressional Democrats on a dramatically scaled-back bill, with finger-pointing about who’s to blame for the failure of the larger bill amid uncertainty about what, if anything, might actually pass ahead of November’s midterm elections. Senior Vice President John LaBombard discusses the risks involved for Democrats in the mismatch between “sky-high” expectations and narrow margins. Read the article here.
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Democrats say they’ve done a lousy job at highlighting their accomplishments in a year plus of unified power in Washington, and are blaming this on the possibility they will suffer major losses in November’s midterm elections. Co-founding Partner Rodell Mollineau shares his perspective in this article from The Hill. Read the article here.
Republicans are pouncing on the Biden administration’s recent decision to scrap a Trump-era pandemic border policy, launching a multi-pronged attack against Democrats in Congress, in the courts and on the campaign trail. Republicans’ national campaign arms, as part of their strategy to take back the House and Senate in November’s midterms, have signaled a new push to highlight the policy in their outreach to voters, particularly in swing states and districts near the U.S.-Mexico border. Senior Vice President John LaBombard discusses how the lack of policy details is causing big political challenges for the Democratic party. Read the article here.
The Back Booth, a weekend edition of The D.C. Brief, is TIME’s politics newsletter. Each week it hosts a conversation between political professionals on the right and the left, pulling back the curtain on the conversations taking place in Washington when the tape stops rolling. This week Partner Kristen Hawn sat down with journalist Philip Elliott and Republican consultant Matt Beynon. Read the piece here.
Senate Democrats are bracing for a surge of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in the wake of President Biden’s decision to rescind Title 42, a key restriction, creating yet another political headwind for Democratic candidates ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. ROKK Senior Vice President, a former aide to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, John LaBombard shares his thoughts on why vulnerable and centrist Democrats are scrambling to distance themselves from President Biden’s decision-read the article here.
A popular refrain PR experts hear from executives is, “I’m an expert on XYZ topic. So, why doesn’t the media call me for interviews?” One reason is that the “reliable source club” is small. Anecdotally, it seems journalists have a cadre of go-to sources they tap consistently, especially when covering breaking news stories. PR News created a list of the basic characteristics of a good source, where ROKK Managing Director Lindsay Singleton explains the importance of offering context on the environment to the generalist reporter-read the article here.
When President Biden ad-libbed a line about how Russian President Putin “cannot remain in power,” he was echoing a popular global sentiment, albeit one with enormous gravity. To some, it was seen as a moment of candor by a president whose decades-long political career had him entrenched in foreign policy matters. Others say that Biden’s tendency toward candidness is a dual-edged sword. ROKK Partner and Democratic strategist Rodell Mollineau explains how Biden is being true to himself-read the article here.
The Biden Administration is preparing for a possible new surge in COVID-19 cases and has already started the political blame game in case the response falls short. In fact, The White House has called out Republicans in Congress for not authorizing new funds to make the fourth round of booster shots free and pay for therapeutics and other ways to reduce the impact of another surge in cases. ROKK Partner and Democratic strategist Kristen Hawn said that the politics around the pandemic have put the Biden White House in a tough spot-read the article here.
GOP strategists say that Trump pulling his Mo Brooks endorsement is a reminder of the harsh reality of dealing with the former president. ROKK Co-founding Partner Ron Bonjean weighs in on the relationship between Trump and Brooks-read the article here.
Flashing a red marker and his desire for a larger stage, Texas Senator Ted Cruz was in full viral mode at Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination hearing. Republican strategist and ROKK Co-founding Partner Ron Bonjean explains how the nomination hearings are a way for Senate Republicans to capture a moment inside of Washington where the spotlight is on them-read the article here.