Biden’s plan to boost donations: focus on Obama and Trump
Plus: The mothership motherload of all Hollywood sci-fi memorabilia just landed
Hello, in this issue we’ll look at…
Biden’s plan to boost donations: focus on Obama and Trump
The Situation Room got a makeover. Here’s what it looks like.
The mothership motherload of all Hollywood sci-fi memorabilia just landed
Scroll to the end to see: The message 13 presidential libraries from Hoover to Obama have for YOU 🫵
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Biden’s plan to boost donations: focus on Obama and Trump
With small-dollar donations down for many campaigns across the board, President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is honing in on two known quantities in hopes of boosting donations and finishing out the quarter ending Sept. 30 strong: former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
Biden’s two most recent successors either already are or are expected to soon be the focus of ads. Biden’s campaign is currently running a promotion on Meta’s Facebook and Instagram for the chance to win airfare and hotel stay to meet him and Obama. As of Monday, the campaign was running more than 300 ads with the promotion using 10 different graphics, half of them gradients, according to Meta’s Ad Library.
Obama also appears in one Biden campaign video ad, asking supporters to donate. The spot ends with Biden at the camera, as if filming, offering his former boss his gratitude: “Thanks, Obama.”
Trump currently shows up infrequently in Biden ads. When he does, it’s usually with other Republican candidates, lumped together broadly as “MAGA” extremists, like this ad about abortion running on Google platforms. In the coming weeks, campaign officials told NBC News the campaign will focus more messaging that Trump and his allies are a threat to democracy.
It’s not particularly surprising Biden would emphasize the 44th and 45th U.S. presidents in his campaign. Not only has it worked before (see: 2020), but among Democrats, Obama and Trump are the most and least popular presidents, respectively. An August Pew Research Center survey found 58% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said Obama has done the best job as president over the past 40 years, compared to 2% who said the same for Trump, tied for last place with the Presidents Bush. Just 7% said Biden had done the best job.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Tuesday he would ask a House committee to open an impeachment inquiry into Biden. On social media, White House spokesman Ian Sams called it “extreme politics at its worst.”
The Situation Room got a makeover. Here’s what it looks like.
After getting a yearlong, $50 million renovation, the White House Situation Room opened last week for tours with Biden and national security staff.
More than just a single room, the Situation Room encompasses 5,500 square feet in the West Wing with multiple conference rooms and offices. The main conference room, named for John F. Kennedy, (above) has leather seats for 12 plus the president at the table, along with leather arm chairs around the perimeter of the room. The duty watch station (below) is a 24/7 operations center. I imagine you can go God Mode on Netflix there, yeah?
Created in 1961 by Kennedy following the botched Bay of Pigs invasion, the Situation Room was where Obama administration members were updated on the mission to take out Osama bin Laden in 2011. It was last renovated in 2007.
Among the upgrades to the space are mahogany paneling from Maryland, stone from a Virginia quarry, and offices with see-through glass that can change to opaque for added privacy with the push of a button, according to the Associated Press.
Situation Room director Marc Gustafson told the AP that Biden “thought the update was fantastic” when he toured last week, and Gustafson commented that while past visitors used to be disappointed the space didn’t live up to what they imagined it would look like, that will no longer be the case.
“This looks like the movies,” he said.
The mothership motherload of all Hollywood sci-fi memorabilia just landed
Before his death last year at the age of 76, model designer Greg Jein was nominated for an Oscar for his work on Steven Spielberg's “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and an Emmy for his work on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” Now his collection of Hollywood props and sci-fi memorabilia is heading to auction.
More than 550 items from Jein’s collection are being sold by Heritage Auctions, including models of the alien Mothership and Devil’s Tower he made for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
Jein traded and collected props from other movies during his career, so in addition to plenty of “Star Trek” memorabilia (William Shatner’s Captain Kirk lace hairpiece, anyone?), there’s also “Star Wars” items, including a complete, original Stormtrooper costume (bidding starts at $200,000) and a Red One X-wing Starfighter miniature (bidding starts at $400,000).
An L.A. native, Jein graduated from Cal State Los Angeles and created models and miniatures for Industrial Light and Magic, Walt Disney Imagineering, and defense contractors like Lockheed and Hughes Aircraft.
“He was an inspiration,” Heritage Auctions' Executive Vice President Joe Maddalena said in a statement. “Being able to handle his collection is one of the most significant things I've ever done because I feel like I am the custodian of my friend's treasures.”
Have you seen this?
An artist is selling a collection of all the underwear men have left at his house for $50,000. The artwork is a display of 68 pairs of vacuum-sealed men’s underwear. [Artnet News]
Presidential centers from Hoover to Bush and Obama unite to warn of the fragile state of U.S. democracy. In a first-of-its-kind joint statement, 13 presidential libraries said in part (emphasis mine):
Americans have a strong interest in supporting democratic movements and respect for human rights around the world because free societies elsewhere contribute to our own security and prosperity here at home. But that interest is undermined when others see our own house in disarray. The world will not wait for us to address our problems, so we must both continue to strive toward a more perfect union and help those abroad looking for U.S. leadership.
Each of us has a role to play and responsibilities to uphold. Our elected officials must lead by example and govern effectively in ways that deliver for the American people. This, in turn, will help to restore trust in public service. The rest of us must engage in civil dialogue; respect democratic institutions and rights; uphold safe, secure, and accessible elections; and contribute to local, state, or national improvement.
🫵 For extra credit: In 280 characters or less, what’s one thing you can do to help create a more perfect union in your community? [The Associated Press]
I’m a fake brand, in a fake world: The secrets behind designing a great fictional brand for TV and film. Duff Beer, Dunder Mifflin Paper, Wonka Candies, Barbie merchandise… We’ve seen countless made-up brands transcend seamlessly from the screen into the real world. So what’s the key to their success? [It’s Nice That]
How personalized license plates took over America. There are more than 8,000 plates in all 50 states plus D.C. [Fast Company]
🔒 YELLO subscriber exclusive:
History of political design
An actual plaque on the shower door preserved from Ronald Reagan's home in Pacific Palisades, Calif., from when then-President Jimmy Carter called him to concede in 1980. The original General Electric Showcase House was built for Reagan in 1956 when he hosted the company’s “General Electric Theater,” and it was designed by architect William R. Stephenson.
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