Marty Walsh’s inside baseball

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Mar 11, 2022 View in browser   By Sam Stein and Max Tani Presented by Facebook Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration.  Send tips | Subscribe here| Email Alex | Email Max The resolution of the Major League Baseball lockout on Thursday came as a relief for a broad swath of society, which was staring down the prospect of a spring (and possibly summer) without the national pastime. But inside the Biden administration, the announcement was seen not just as a bullet dodged but as an illustration of how labor disputes can be resolved, even on the biggest stages. The administration didn't play an aggressive role in trying to mediate between the players and the owners. But it also wasn't absent either. They made their presence known behind the scenes without tipping their hand in the dispute, with an eye on keeping things civil. The main point person on the matter was Labor Secretary MARTY WALSH who had experience in trying to bridge these types of divides from his time in the union movement and as mayor of Boston, where he helped resolve the Brigham and Women's Hospital strike in 2016. Already in his tenure as labor secretary, Walsh has dealt with several strikes, including one among Kellogg's workers, whom he visited on the line . And he tends to approach them with the same game plan, according to those who have been involved in the stand offs. He puts each side in different rooms and then personally goes back and forth between them. Word first leaked out that Walsh had offered to help mediate the MLB lockout in early February, via our own JONATHAN LEMIRE. But by that point, Walsh had already been in touch with both sides of the dispute. According to multiple people familiar with the arrangements, Walsh had dinner with TONY CLARK, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, on Jan. 19. He had dinner with commissioner ROB MANFRED, deputy commissioner DAN HALEM, Boston Red Sox president SAM KENNEDY and Red Sox chairman TOM WERNER on Jan. 26. Those people familiar with the dinners and calls cautioned against describing them as overly consequential. Walsh never made demands and did his best not to show favoritism, save to acknowledge basic facts of his biography. He was head of the Boston Building Trades before running for mayor. But he also had a decent relationship with businesses in Boston and has kept up those relations while at the Labor Department. More importantly, he had some practical experience in resolving these disputes: keep the most controversial and dicey elements of the negotiations private and be cognizant that the modern day social media landscape would make coverage intensely personal and vitriolic. "Secretary Walsh was an invaluable resource to the process in terms of reaching an agreement," Kennedy said in a statement. "He was consistently available as a resource and sounding board — and was focused on a positive outcome for both sides." When word eventually got out that he was dipping his toes into the MLB lockout, one of his predecessors warned him it was a terrible idea. "My advice to Marty, as former labor secretary to the current one: Stay away from baseball," wrote ROBERT REICH, who was labor secretary during the '94-'95 lockout. "I wouldn't touch another baseball labor dispute if Babe Ruth asked me in person." Reich had reason to issue that clarion call. BILL CLINTON had personally tried to end the baseball lockout by giving both sides a date to find an agreement and then summoning them to the White House where he spent hours trying to forge a compromise. It didn't work. JOE BIDEN never came close to getting personally involved. And Walsh didn't get over-aggressive either. One reason why was that the landscape was doing some of the work for them. Coverage of the standoff frequently portrayed the owners as unreasonable in their demands around a new collective bargaining agreement. Teams were raking in profits but refusing to significantly raise the luxury tax threshold that had contributed to declining average player salaries. Beat reporters were calling bullshit. Sen. DICK DURBIN (D-Ill.) was threatening to go after MLB's antitrust exemption. According to people familiar with the negotiations, Walsh held roughly 20 calls related to the lockout after those initial dinners, ten or so with each side of the dispute. A few weeks back, when talks broke down completely, he offered to bring each side to the Department of Labor's Frances Perkins Building headquarters. But it proved unnecessary. On Thursday, the two sides announced that they'd found common ground. The season would go on. "We appreciate Secretary Walsh's commitment to being available to us during this process and for his passion towards helping the parties get the game back on the field," Halem told West Wing Playbook. TEXT US — Are you TONY CLARK? We want to hear from you (we'll keep you anonymous).  Or if you think we missed something in today's edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow.  Email us at westwingtips@politico.com or you can text/Signal/Wickr/WhatsApp Alex at 8183240098 or Max at 7143455427. A message from Facebook: We're making investments in safety and security—and seeing results Facebook has invested $13 billion over the last 5 years to help keep you safe. Over the last several months, we've taken action on: •62 million pieces of explicit adult content •51.7 million pieces of violent and graphic content See how we're working to help you connect safely.   POTUS PUZZLER Speaking of sports: During his time in the Oval Office, President BARACK OBAMA famously enjoyed playing the occasional pickup basketball game with visiting NBA stars, a nice perk for the league's most famous fan. But during one game on the then-president's birthday, one NBA superstar accused some of his fellow NBA players of taking it easy on Obama, and needed to guard him more. Who was it? The Oval FOREVER '16: The 2016 presidential campaign was one of the great pivot points in U.S. history. And the long-lasting ripple effects of its outcome very much remain on the minds of people in power today, among them White House staff secretary NEERA TANDEN.  A close HILLARY CLINTON ally, Tanden dropped two social media missives overnight that underscore how the campaign from five years ago shadows over politics today. First, she took a little Twitter-glee late Thursday night at a Daily Beast report that Russian-American national ELENA BRANSON — recently indicted for registering to lobby as a foreign agent — gave a campaign donation to former Rep. TULSI GABBARD. "Surprise surprise!" wrote Tanden. (These two have a history , folks.) The second came this morning in response to a Playbook item on a recent Project Veritas' video series attempting to discredit New York Times' reporters. As RACHAEL BADE and West Wing Playbook's own MAX TANI reported in Playbook this morning, Times editor DEAN BAQUET encouraged the paper's staff not to play into the group's hands by having their "heads explode" over the videos. "A note to my friends at the Times. Russia stole emails in 2016 to run a psyops on the American people- to make its heads explode," Tanden wrote "your paper even used the emails since. Maybe don't play into their hands either." BIDEN-ISM: While visiting an elementary school in Philadelphia today, Biden told two third-grade girls: "I want you girls to remember, no serious guys til you're 30." AWWW: One of the girls gave the president a big hug and presented him with a drawing of a gray-haired president (presumably Biden). The classroom teacher — who told Biden she had been rooting for him — wiped tears from her eyes as she looked on at the warm exchange between Biden and the students. WAR, WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? Speaking to House Democrats today, Biden explained why he has resisted calls to ramp up America's involvement in Ukraine. "We will not fight the third world war in Ukraine," he said. "Look, the idea that we're going to send in offensive equipment and airplanes and tanks…going in with American pilots and American crews. Just understand. Don't kid yourself, no matter what y'all say. That's called World War Three. Okay. Let's get it straight here guys. The old Expression, Don't kid a kidder." BACKGROUND NOISE: Senior White House staffers had CNN on in the background aboard Air Force One on the way to Philadelphia today. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This New York Times fact check, specifically the headline: "Republicans Wrongly Blame Biden for Rising Gas Prices." The piece, which was cited by Biden and multiple administration officials including White House chief of staff RON KLAIN, says the pandemic is to blame for high gas prices, not Biden's specific energy policies. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN'T WANT YOU TO READ: More signs of political headwinds for the president and his party in an election year. A new survey from the Wall Street Journal which found that Biden and Democrats have lost ground on several of the issues most important to voters, including education and the government's response to Covid.   SUBSCRIBE TO NATIONAL SECURITY DAILY : Keep up with the latest critical developments from Ukraine and across Europe in our daily newsletter, National Security Daily. The Russian invasion of Ukraine could disrupt the established world order and result in a refugee crisis, increased cyberattacks, rising energy costs and additional disruption to global supply chains. Go inside the top national security and foreign-policymaking shops for insight on the global threats faced by the U.S. and its allies and what actions world leaders are taking to address them. Subscribe today.     Agenda Setting BUT, IT'S THE COVID, STUPID: Despite that Journal poll, Biden has gotten a bit of a bounce in the polls in recent days. And it sparked speculation as to whether the State of the Union address or his handling of the situation in Ukraine is to credit. Another poll this morning from the Democratic-allied firm Navigator suggests it might be simpler: The pandemic is receding. "President Biden's handling of the pandemic is net +7 (52 percent approve – 45 percent disapprove), an 8-point positive swing since our last survey in late February," the firm notes. "This shift is largely driven by Independents who have swung from net -22 to net -2; approval of Biden's handling of the pandemic." By contrast, look at the numbers with respect to Biden's handling of the economy. Navigator notes that "there has been an increase in the number of Americans who believe the economy is experiencing more job growth after President Biden made the point in his State of the Union." But the data also shows that "Approval of Biden's handling of the economy also remains consistent with previous tracking at net -15." In short: Less Covid, better polls! THE BUREAUCRATS MAKE MONEY MONEY, MAKE MONEY MONEY MONEY: Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN and second gentlemen DOUGLAS EMHOFF (he'll go by Douglas for this one) made a joint stop at a local mint in Denver, Colo., today to see the production of MAYA ANGELOU quarters. Newly named assistant secretary for public affairs at Treasury, LILY ADAMS, posted a picture of the duo and we couldn't help but pick up on some familiar vibes.  Illustration by Natalia Agatte INSIDE THE INTERIOR — As part of POLITICO's new series chronicling the individuals who are crucial in driving conversations about race and politics, we spoke with Interior Secretary DEB HAALAND about her historic appointment, systemic racism and why she loves Queen. Read the full list .   A message from Facebook:   What We're Reading The White House is briefing TikTok stars about the war in Ukraine (WaPo's Taylor Lorenz) How the White House approaches the internet: (FWIW's Kyle Tharp) Where's Joe Biden was busy today. After receiving the daily brief, he held a Roosevelt Room event announcing changes in the U.S.'s trade attitude toward Russia. Then he was off to Philadelphia, where he addressed the House Democratic Caucus and toured an elementary school for an event promoting mental health and the need to keep schools open. He ended the day at Camp David, where he'll stay for the weekend. Where's Kamala The vice president continued her brief tour of several countries on NATO's eastern flank with a stop in Bucharest, Romania, where she met with Romanian President KLAUS IOHANNIS and held a news conference.   DON'T MISS CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO's new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE.     The Oppo Book White House press secretary JEN PSAKI has a confession. Her breakfast of choice is something a young kid would love, which makes sense because she has young kids. "I also eat a lot of toaster waffles, which sounds really sad when I say it that way, but they can be delicious," she told The Cut in January . Honestly, we can't argue with that, so long as she's using some real deal Vermont syrup and not the store brand knockoff. Cartoon of the Week Cartoon | John Darkow/The Columbia Missourian Every Friday, we'll feature a cartoon of the week — this one is courtesy of JOHN DARKOW. Our very own MATT WUERKER also publishes a selection of cartoons from all over the country. View the cartoon carousel here. POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER KOBE BRYANT, of course. According to former Obama advisor DAVID AXELROD, the Lakers superstar complained that fellow NBA hoopers CHRIS PAUL and former teammate DEREK FISHER were going too easy on the president. 'The two meanest little MFs in the league and you won't get within seven feet of that guy," Axelrod recalled Bryant saying. "Come on, y'all, play some ball!'" A CALL OUT — Do you have a more difficult trivia question? Send us your hardest question on the presidents with a citation and we may feature it. Edited by Paul Demko A message from Facebook: We're making investments in safety and security—and seeing results Facebook has invested $13 billion over the last 5 years to help keep you safe. Over the last several months, we've taken action on: •62 million pieces of explicit adult content •51.7 million pieces of violent and graphic content See how we're working to help you connect safely.     Follow us on Twitter Alex Thompson @AlexThomp Maxwell Tani @maxwelltani Allie Bice @alliebice   Follow us

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