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DC Hunger Games & Zaz Predictions
Roe’s Woes, Blockbuster Season, The Cruise Anomaly  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 
The Daily Courant

Roe’s Woes, Blockbuster Season, The Cruise Anomaly

Happy Friday from all of us here at Puck. And thanks as always for reading The Daily Courant, your afternoon guide to our latest and most important journalism.

Today, we lead with Tara Palmeri’s insiderly portrait of the chaos in Mitch McConnell’s orbit as he struggles to control a 2022 slate of nutjob candidates without incurring the wrath of you-know-who. (Sign up for Tara’s private email, The Washington Mall, to get the next edition in your inbox.)

Plus, below the fold, Dylan Byers and William D. Cohan exchange predictions for how the Roberts-Redstone-Zaslav tango ends. And Matt Belloni delivers the goods on everything Top Gun, with updates on Tom Cruise’s eye-popping payday; Paramount’s streaming strategy; and what it all means for Hollywood’s blockbuster summer.

The Agony and Ecstasy of Mitch McConnell
The Agony and Ecstasy of Mitch McConnell
The Republican’s 80-year-old lion of the Senate has dealt with it all—Trump, the insurrection, terrible candidates, countless unpopular votes—and still built a legacy as the court-stocking leader of the right. Now he’s in for the election season ride of his career: nutjob candidates, a controversial strategy, and the shadow of you-know-who.
TARA PALMERI TARA PALMERI
For the better part of the past five years, Mitch McConnell has crafted a veritable playbook for surfing the Trump wave while mitigating his exposure to the most vile and damaging elements of the former president. He’s been disciplined (never invoking Trump’s name), calculating (never a “no” just because Trump is a “yes”), and realpolitik (bear-hugging problematic Trump candidates, such as Georgia’s Herschel Walker, who allegedly held a gun to his wife’s head. (Walker has explained this, and other violent episodes, as related to a mental illness for which he has since been treated.) This rare political dexterity explains why the Hammer has been elected unopposed Minority or Majority Leader of the Senate since 2007, a tenure in which he has been master of the legislative process and has had full command of the G.O.P. conference.

It’s all a bit wild considering that McConnell is a deeply unpopular figure in the country, and even in his home state of Kentucky. But McConnell doesn’t care about popularity so much as he cares about the institution, and ultimately changing the country through confirming conservative judges, which he’s done at a record pace that will define his legacy.

There’s been the persistent rumor throughout D.C. that McConnell will retire in two years, when he turns 82 and surpasses Mike Mansfield as the longest-serving Senate party leader. But there’s been even more whispering lately that he has lost his grip on the party. This election season, in particular, could test the theory. McConnell faces a multi-headed hydra of issues that will challenge even his own legendary wits and cunning: a slate of antagonistic candidates, some of whom are already calling for his ouster; divisions within his own ranks; and the ambitions and whims of the other senior citizen vying for unrivaled control of the party...
CONTINUE READING ONLINE
FOUR STORIES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
NBCU-EA Postmortem
NBCU-EA Postmortem
Notes on why NBCU-EA didn’t happen, thoughts on Warren & Shari, and Zaz’s next moves.
DYLAN BYERS & WILLIAM D. COHAN
Cruise's Big Payday
Cruise's Big Payday
If Top Gun’s resuscitates the box office, Cruise and Ellison have set themselves up for huge windfalls.
MATTHEW BELLONI
Twitter Deal Chronicles
Twitter Deal Chronicles
The Twitter proxy statement reveals the dealmaking foreplay surrounding Musk’s $44 billion blockbuster.
WILLIAM D. COHAN
The Kremlin Turncoat
The Kremlin Turncoat
A former Russian diplomat opens up about his shocking resignation, Putin’s nuclear threat, and how it all ends.
JULIA IOFFE
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