Mediaboss Marketing

I was reading Michael Smiths chronicle of designing the Obama White House, feeling serene, marinating in a luxurious world of wine-colored swatches and embossed mohair velvet and carpet border details desperately in need of tweaking.

Suddenly, I was confronted with violence.

Beneath a black-and-white picture of Jacqueline Kennedy looking at the blueprints for her White House plan, Mr. Smith reveals that Mrs. Kennedy may have fired her decorator, Sister Parish, because of an incident with Caroline.

Mrs. Parish later admitted to learning that the first lady had been told that she had kicked young Caroline a rumor the decorator didnt exactly confirm or deny, Mr. Smith writes in Designing History, which traces White House style from its first residents, John and Abigail Adams, to the Obamas.

I emailed Caroline Kennedy to see if that story could possibly be true.

I would believe everything Michael Smith says, she wrote back mischievously, adding, That early trauma has clearly affected me deeply.

I Zoomed with Mr. Smith, on vacation in Marthas Vineyard, who noted that he happened to be very Kennedy attired, sporting a nautical look of shorts and a Herms navy blue sweater over a J. Crew shirt.

When Mr. Smith came to Washington, wanting to conjure the glamour of the Kennedys as another young family moved into the White House, what struck him?

Its like a white-water river rafting trip of history, he said about his eight-year makeover of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. You walk into every room and you know, this is the room that Eartha Kitt challenged Lady Bird Johnson about Vietnam or this is the room that President Roosevelt addressed the nation in wartime or this is the room where Betty Ford discoed with Tony Orlando. The history of the White House is so extraordinarily dense, that to be conscious of it all the time was kind of amazing.

And the Obamas were making history every day, as the first Black occupants of a house built with the labor of enslaved people.

In her foreword to the book, Michelle Obama says that Mr. Smith understood the stakes. The pressure on any first family is enormous, she writes. The pressure on the first Black one would be even greater.

The first time he was at the White House and saw President Barack Obama landing in Marine One, Mr. Smith said, it was the most surreal, because youre in this essentially, 18th-century-esque building, looking out the window and it was like Mars Attacks. Only later, did I realize that all my newly made cushions for the Truman Balcony were littered all over the lawn.

Did he see any ghosts?

I would call Nancy Reagan and I would have all these long, long conversations, Mr. Smith said. I remember asking her about the ghosts and she thought I was insane. He said that there were so many residents of the White House through the ages with grudges and unfinished business, that if all those poltergeists lingered, it would get very crowded.

Youd have to have a four-year term, he said, or maybe if youre a good ghost, youd get to come back for eight.

The history obsessive, as he calls himself, read anything he could find about past restorations, including letters from first ladies ranging from Mary Todd Lincoln to his favorite inspiration, Mrs. Kennedy.

Mr. Smith, 56, grew up in Newport Beach, Calif., with a mother who was a watercolor artist and a father who was in the import-export business. As a child he would read about various countries and periods modern Japan or the Russian Revolution and then eat food and style his room to match.

When I got immersed in Japanese architecture, I asked my parents if I could put my mattress on the floor like a futon, he said.

He looks like a California native, with a mop of beachy blond hair and a sun-kissed complexion. He is inspired by movies and says he started his White House job thinking of Dave and The American President.

The decorator, who lives and works primarily in Los Angeles, is a favorite of celebrities and moguls, with clients including Cindy Crawford, Steven Spielberg, Shonda Rhimes and Rupert Murdoch, and in places ranging from Chicago and Palm Beach to Las Vegas.

Tailoring the White House to a new family is more hazardous work. Furniture can fall apart if you move it or you can discover that the carpet youre planning on using in the West Wing was made in China.

And since it is such a cherished landmark, the criticism will flow. You do know youre going to get trashed, Mr. Smith said. You get people who say you ruined it or other people would say its too fancy or people who said it wasnt grand enough.

His scheme for the Obama White House was to make the aura younger and fresher with more inclusive art.

Mr. Smiths Oval Office evoked his West Coast aesthetic. A New York Times story by Penelope Green about the 2010 unveiling of the cappuccino-colored Oval Office redo replacing the Belle Watling brightness of the Clinton Oval was headlined The Audacity of Taupe. I teased in a column at the time that the most powerful place on earth was so swathed in earth tones, you would have thought Al Gore got elected. (Then again, he did.)

Sally Quinn, the Washington writer, described the transformation of the Oval this way: Bushs room says, Lets have a glass of sherry while we sign the treaty. Obamas room says, This is serious. We dont have time to waste. Double espresso, anyone?

That line appeals to Mr. Smith, who says, That was very much the idea, right? He was in the office all the time. And I think that I wanted it to be as peaceful and comfortable as it could be, given the lofty proportions of the room and the intense camera ready lighting.

Mr. Obama did not care for the Chinese export plates with the presidential seal that had long been displayed on the bookshelves of the Oval Office. Im not really a plate kind of guy, he once explained it to a rear admiral. (I am with him there.)

Aware of Mr. Obamas fascination with technology he particularly loved Science Day, when kids brought their projects to the White House Mr. Smith replaced the plates with patent models from the Smithsonian: Samuel Morses telegraph, John A. Peers gear-cutting machine and Henry Williamss steamboat paddle wheel.

When the Obamas moved in, there was a lot of sensitivity about spending too much with the country teetering on financial collapse. Mr. Smith writes that he donated his services to the White House and the Obamas paid for the majority of their new furnishings in the residence out of the presidents book royalties. Mr. Smith lent the Obamas some objects; other donors provided furniture, and the Obamas chose items from the White House collection and borrowed paintings from museums.

There are, of course, strict parameters. The Secret Service nixed a 10-foot-high abstract Clyfford Still painting, PH-115, that Mr. Smith jokes would have required a cherry picker to lift in, because their security perimeters were too tight on Inauguration Day, as he was rushing to prepare the house. Also, he said, youre not going to dream up some supermodern, space-age version of the White House, although he did revolutionize the lighting by augmenting the chandeliers with discreet LED lighting with dimmers.

I mean, youre kind of building a ship in a bottle, right? he said. It has to be part of a continuation, but you also have to make it personal, but its also short-term. So, its a very odd situation. He has compared the job to being Miss America, an honor but transient. You know that the next occupants are going to wipe out some of your hard work.

Mr. Smith grew close to the Obamas as he feathered their temporary nest. His spectacular pad in Rancho Mirage a Mayan glass and stucco palazzo in the desert with a Thunderbird-shaped pool, channeling the smells and spirit of Joan Didions The White Album is a favorite R & R spot of the Obamas.

He notes that, felicitously, the Obamas view from that house is the same one that John F. Kennedy had when he stayed at the home of Bing Crosby, which was a couple streets away.

Mr. Smiths partner is James Costos, a former H.B.O. executive who got to know the Obamas and raised money for the re-election campaign. Mr. Obama made Mr. Costos his ambassador to Spain in 2013 and Mr. Smith immediately redesigned the residence in Madrid, primarily with his own money. The decorator wanted American guests to be in hyper-European rooms, not unlike the fun sets for Lucille Balls European travels in I Love Lucy.

Mr. Smith and Mr. Costos were on board with Joe Biden early and eagerly, while others in Hollywood shopped around, and are raising money for him. Weve known Joe for a long time and we like him, Mr. Smith said.

Not many years before, if a president was hosted by an openly gay couple, it would have been a huge press story, he said about the Obamas crashing at his house in California. And by the time the Obamas stayed with us, it never occurred to anyone that it was news.

He said the secret to not being too nervous when the president stays with you is not to look down.

You consciously look out, he said. Because if you look down, you realize theyve closed the street and towed all the cars away and theres a 50-car motorcade with ambulances.

And, of course, you cant be upset when Secret Service agents rearrange the furniture. Theyd come and do this sweep of the house, and they would move every pillow and open every curtain and do the search. And I would have to be like, you know, Could you just put the pillow back where it was?

In redoing the White House, Mr. Smith echoed the spirit of Mrs. Obamas high-low fashion sense, mixing priceless antiques with Pottery Barn candle holders, Crate & Barrel decorative cushions and a couple Walmart chests of drawers.

He added comfy couches that their dogs could jump on and decorated the daughters bedrooms festively, mixing their Hannah Montana posters with Rauschenberg lithographs.

Mrs. Obama requested alarm clocks when she realized the girls had cleverly figured out how to ask for wake-up calls from the White House operator.

Far from wanting to kick the little ones Sister Parish-style, Mr. Smith writes, I will always have a soft spot for Sasha and her incredibly savvy, pragmatic view she slept in just half of her bed after realizing it would then take half as long to make it in the morning. And she was only 7 years old.

His choice of a Shaker wooden bowl filled with apples for the coffee table in the Oval showed that he understood what he calls the Obama mind-set: distilled utility with an appreciation of the classical.

Hes incredibly, infinitely more poised than almost anyone I know, Mr. Smith says.

He only tangled twice with Mr. Obama on White House design. He wasnt keen on a canopy bed, but Mr. Smith loves canopy beds a retreat within a retreat so the president deferred, saying, If Michelle wants it, then we can have it.

A tiger-maple four-poster was adapted to king size, covered in a down mattress cover and fitted with cotton sateen sheets. I prefer linens with a satin finish and a light sheen to them; they feel so cool when you slide into bed, writes Mr. Smith, who admits to being enormously focused on his clients beds. He told me, I felt an almost patriotic duty to make sure we had a president whos slept, right?

At Mr. Obamas request, they moved the Whistler, Nocturne, from his side of the bed to the mantel where he had a better view of it.

It was integral to my entire narrative of them moving into this historic building that we create a romantic, private space for them to be alone as a couple, Mr. Smith writes.

And, he told me, hes always mindful how his clients move through space. If you get up at 3 in the morning to eat chocolate ice cream or answer the red phone I want to make sure that the path from your bed to where youre going is clear, that youre not going to fall down a flight of stairs.

(The house Mr. Smith is renting in Los Angeles, once owned by Tyrone Power, was famously the scene of such an accident, when David Nivens wife fell down the stairs and died, after they played a party game, Sardines, in the dark.)

The other moment that left Mr. Obama exasperated was the debate about the barn red drapes that Mr. Smith wanted for the Oval.

I think he described me as strident about it, which is just funny, the decorator said. Hes a convener, right? I think Valerie Jarrett thought they should be white. And somebody else thought they should be blue. Committee is always a sand trap. And I was really determined that they should be red because there was this heroic aspect. The Washington portrait, the Lincoln portrait, both have a piece of red fabric in the background. I just think its a very impassioned backdrop, and very classical. The iconography of his background should not be dulled down. He should be portrayed as a person who had deep conviction.

Mr. Smith, who can be relentless in creating what he calls flattering portraiture to frame peoples lives, won the day.

Donald Trump, of course, wanted his backdrop to be gold, so he pulled Bill Clintons gold curtains out of storage and replaced the red ones. Mr. Trump also had no interest in Mr. Obamas embroidered rug with the Teddy Roosevelt quote The Welfare of Each of Us is Dependent Fundamentally Upon the Welfare of All of Us. He again went for the gold, recycling Ronald Reagans gold sunburst rug.

The Trumps made other changes, including switching to separate bedrooms and having two additional TVs installed in the presidents bedroom.

In Politico, Peter York wrote that President Trumps aesthetic described by his biographer Tim OBrien as Louis XIV on acid would fit right in to Mr. Yorks book Dictator Style, with its brassy, gaudy theme of success, wealth and winning.

Although Mr. Trump called David Axelrod, the Obama strategist, when President Barack Obama was in office, and offered to build a ballroom in the White House (but didnt mention paying for it), he hasnt built one for himself.

Mr. Trump, who was reported to have told some golf partners that that White House is a real dump after he moved in (he denies it), likes to do some of his own designing. He added a lot more flags and eagles with talons.

He selected his own gray damask Oval Office wallpaper a Trump staffer dismissively told a reporter that the Obama striped wallpaper was too stained to keep and seems to be doing some revenge decorating.

In July, CNN reported that the official portraits of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were yanked from the grand foyer of the White House and replaced with portraits of Teddy Roosevelt and William McKinley.

Clinton and Bush were relegated to the old family dining room, which is now sometimes used to store tablecloths and furniture, CNN said.

Until 2015, the old family dining room was not a room seen by the public. With funding from the nonpartisan White House Historical Association, Mrs. Obama and Mr. Smith chose colorful art and stately furniture from all eras, and added the room to the public tour of the State floor.

When Mrs. Obama unveiled it for Jenna Bush on Today the former first daughter seemed delighted with the room, reconceived in the Obamas eclectic, more modern, un-fuddy-duddy style, featuring an optimistic painting called Resurrection by Alma Thomas, a renowned African-American abstract artist who worked out of her home in D.C., blocks from the White House. She was the first Black woman whose work was in the permanent collection.

Now, CNN said, the Trump Administration has returned the room to its lesser status off the public tour, as almost a utility flex space.

I ask Mr. Smith how our time languishing in quarantine has changed design sensibilities. It has made people more hyper-aware of their homes, he said, more focused on comfortable beds and outdoor spaces.

When he talks to millennials, he finds that their tastes are simpler. Theyre interested in things that dont have too much stimuli, he said.

He writes in the book that he would have liked to get his paws on Camp David and give it a little Ralph Lauren fairy dust.

As a decorator, can you ever top yourself after the White House?

Id love to do Buckingham Palace, but Im probably not going to get to do that, he said, dryly.

Maybe you could do Harry and Meghans new $14.7 million Montecito crib, I say, comforting him. Or you could tackle the super-weird replica of the Oval Office that the Republican pollster Frank Luntz has built in his Los Angeles house.

Mr. Smith shakes his head.

As we part, he has a final plea: Make me sound thin.

[Dont you want a Confirm or Deny needlepoint throw pillow?]

Maureen Dowd: You own Frank Sinatras golf cart at the Thunderbird country club in Rancho Mirage.

Michael Smith: I own one of many Frank Sinatra golf carts. Isnt it more interesting than an orthodontists golf cart?

You dont play golf.

Yes, I just drive it fast through my neighborhood and pretend Ive gone for a jog.

You watched Air Force One on Air Force One.

Confirm. Harrison Ford is a client.

Youre single-handedly responsible for the Suzani trend.

Deny.

You love bunches of books sold by color.

Please, deny. Please.

Ceilings are a missed opportunity.

Oh my God, I thought you said feelings. I liked it better when I thought you said feelings. Ceilings have to be very subtle, but they can say volumes.

A rug tells you everything you need to know about a person.

You mean like a toupee? Or a real rug? Deny. Its like vintage clothing. A rug might be evocative of somebody elses traits, not your own.

At a White House party, you watched President Obama and Usher have a Gangnam-style dance-off.

Yes, absolutely.

Vanessa Williams sang Happy Birthday to you on an important night.

Yes, my 50th birthday in Madrid. She came to Madrid to sing Happy Birthday and she sang Save the Best for Last, which is kind of epic at the end of a party.

You serve ginger tea after every meal.

Thats a confirmation. Ginger-lemon-turmeric tea.

Tom Ford used your dining room in L.A. in a movie.

Yes, he shot the party scene from Nocturnal Animals there.

You threw Jane Fondas 80th birthday party.

Yes, true. Her son, Troy Garity, brought a D.J. who was so great, everyone, including the waiters, were dancing.

Celebrities love to take selfies in the leopard-upholstered bar of the house youre renting in L.A.

Yes, the house was built by Paul Williams, an amazing African-American architect, for Tyrone Power. And I temporarily covered the walls with leopard.

See the original post here:
Michael Smith, Decorator of the Obamas' White House, Has New Book - The New York Times

If youre longing to escape to a time when the Peoples House was not akin to a militarized island surrounded by tall metal fencing, consider the new book about the interior design of President Barack Obamas White House, publishing September 1.

Written by Michael S. Smith, the designer that Barack and Michelle tapped for the decorating job (with help from Margaret Russell, former editor-in-chief of Architectural Digest),Designing History: The Extraordinary Art & Style of the Obama White House takes readers room by room through Smiths overhaul of the former First Familys private residence. Michelle Obama wrote the books foreword.

Though Smith, of course, goes into detail about wallpaper and textile selections, art choices, and furniture sourcing, the book also includes a fair amount of White House history and behind-the-scenes trivia.

Here are some of the most interesting tidbits.

*Smith got the interior design gig thanks to Desire Rogers, the longtime friend of the Obamas who served as White House social secretary. A close friend and client of Smiths lived in the same Chicago apartment building as Rogers, and made the connection.

*Nancy Reagan was a confidante leading up to the redesign, spending hours on the phone with Smith, walking him through various aspects of the White House. One four-hour call took place in the middle of the night for Smith, since he was in Paris and Reagan was in Los Angeles.

*About a month before Barack Obamas inauguration, Smith got to take a trip to the fabled White House support facility where unused furnishings and decor are stored. Its location is a secretSmith writes that he intentionally never learned the address. He had big expectations. Alas, he writes that it was a disappointment: Isoon realized that nearly everything of great quality or historic value is actually already inside the White House.

*Though the real redesign wouldnt take place until after the Obamas had moved in, it was up to Smith to at least get the essentials in place on Inauguration Day, during the tight window of time that the family was out of the White House. He writes that the final thing he did that day was place a gardenia in a bowl of water on both Michelles and Baracks bedside tables. He thought the scent might help calm them, and remind them of Hawaii.

*The Obamas paid for the decoration of the family quarters themselves, using royalties from the Presidents two books. Smith tried to consolidate as many furniture shipments as possible as a cost-saving measure.

*Though the redesign included plenty of high-end and custom pieces, Smith also turned to some familiar, budget-friendly sources. He incorporated ikat print throw pillows from Crate & Barrel, candleholders from Pottery Barn, accessories from Anthropologie in Sasha and Malias rooms, and even playroom furniture from Walmart.

*Speaking of the Obama daughters: After the family settled in, Smith got a call from Michelle, asking if he could quickly send her alarm clocks for the girls. Shed discovered that theyd been requesting wakeup calls from the White House operator. The girls were also expected to make their own beds every morning. Smith writes: I will always have a soft spot for Sasha and her incredibly savvy, pragmatic viewshe slept in just half of her bed after realizing it would then take half as long to make it in the morning.

*Though Smith focused largely on overhauling the Obamas private residence, he also updated some of the White Houses public areas. One of the first additions he made to the Oval Office: the wooden American Shaker bowl on the coffee table. Smith writes that he asked the staff to keep it filled with apples: Not only were they healthy, but the bowl was beautiful, the gesture was welcoming, and there was a sense of utility to it. It reflected the Obama mindset. Indeed, the apple bowl became something of an icon of the Obama Oval.

*The Obamas were frequent guests at Smiths own house in Rancho Mirage, California. The home is in a double-gated community, near the top of a mountain, so privacy and security were no problem. Rumors even circulated that the Obamas were shopping for their own house in the area, but Smith says that was never true.

Join the conversation!

Senior Editor

Marisa M. Kashino joined Washingtonian in 2009 as a staff writer, and became a senior editor in 2014. She was previously a reporter for Legal Times and the National Law Journal. She has recently written about the decades-old slaying of a young mother in rural Virginia, and the brazen con of a local real-estate scion. Kashino lives in Northeast DC with her husband, two dogs, and two cats.

See the article here:
The Obamas Decorated with Finds from Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, and Anthropologie, According to a New Book About Their White House -...

MILWAUKEE Long before the coronavirus pandemic, the economic downturn and the recent protests over racial inequality, the Black men of Milwaukees North Side had experience with crises converging all at once.

In one ZIP code of mostly Black residents 53206 more than half of the children live in poverty. The neighborhood records terrible health outcomes, according to experts. And among Black men, one study estimated that from 2000 to 2017, about 42 percent of those ages 25 to 34 were incarcerated or on probation.

The men in the area who are eligible to vote can expect long lines and strict voter identification laws at the ballot box. Still, many vote consistently, calling it an electoral act of defiance in an imperfect democracy.

Ive voted in every election, said Charles Huley, 75, a church elder who lives on the North Side. What changes is who I can convince to come with me.

For Democrats, who rely on Black voters to power their electoral advantages in Americas urban centers, the difference between good and great Black voter turnout is often dependent on how many Black men go to the polls.

Black women are the partys most loyal demographic base often referred to as its backbone but motivated Black male voters were a crucial distinction between former President Barack Obamas record-setting Black turnout in 2008 and 2012 and the diminished performance of Hillary Clinton in 2016.

In states like Wisconsin, which was decided in 2016 by less than 23,000 votes, that dip was one of the causes of a Democratic night to forget, proof that the nominee had problems motivating the base, not just among swing voters.

In deep-blue Milwaukee County, where statewide Democrats run up the score to offset more conservative rural areas, Mrs. Clinton had one of the largest drop-offs in raw votes of any county in the country, earning more than 40,000 fewer votes than Mr. Obama did four years earlier. Pew Research estimated that in 2016, 64 percent of eligible Black women said they had voted compared with 54 percent of eligible Black men, a much larger gender gap than for white or Hispanic voters.

Four years later, as Joseph R. Biden Jr. seeks to build the coalition Mrs. Clinton could not, he operates with several personal and structural advantages.

In interviews with a dozen Black men in Milwaukee during the recent Democratic National Convention, and with several of the states most visible Black male elected officials, they predicted that Black turnout in November would look more like it did for Mr. Obamas victories than for Mrs. Clintons loss, fueled by a leap in enthusiasm from Black men.

Little of this is because of Mr. Bidens personal appeal, they said, though he benefits from his close relationship with Mr. Obama and an absence of the sexism that many women running for office face.

The interviewees isolated other, more important factors: the constant chaos of President Trumps administration, a backlash to the presidents demonization of minorities to win over white suburbanites and even Mr. Bidens selection of Senator Kamala Harris of California as his running mate.

Four years ago, I dont think a lot of Black men felt directly connected to that campaign, said Mandela Barnes, who became Wisconsins first Black lieutenant governor in 2019. But in 2020, he said, people are more desperate people need solutions and need answers.

Cavalier Johnson, the president of Milwaukees Common Council, the citys version of a City Council, said another advantage for Mr. Biden was that his campaign and voters were less likely to take victory for granted.

There was this strong assumption based on the past presidential elections about this blue wall that was impenetrable, said Mr. Johnson, who is known as Chevy, referring to the commonly repeated fact that Mrs. Clinton did not hold an in-person event in Wisconsin during the run-up to the general election.

He said that courting turnout from Black men was the same as for any other group: You have to come out and you have to ask. And then you have to address the issues that are of concern to them.

The die is not cast, however, and Mrs. Clintons fate still holds warning signs for Mr. Biden and his campaign. They are both Washington insiders who struggled with younger Black voters in the primary a key demographic in Mr. Obamas general-election coalition but won older Black voters handily en route to the nomination.

Throughout her race, Mrs. Clinton faced skepticism for her association with the 1990s expansion of the federal prison system, an overhaul that Mr. Biden helped craft. He has recently embraced the language of acknowledging systemic racism, and released a sweeping policy meant to close the racial wealth gap and improve education in Black communities. Still, as with Mrs. Clinton, the matter of trust remains.

In November, it could be Mr. Bidens improvements with white voters throughout the state not his prowess with motivating infrequent Black voters that powers his electoral success.

These people locked up a lot of my brothers, you know, Adi Armour, 49, said, adding that he did not vote for Mrs. Clinton in 2016 but planned to vote for Mr. Biden in 2020. He called the decision a tough one.

Itll be more of a vote to get Trump out of there than a vote for Biden to get in, he explained.

Mr. Trump and his Republican allies have zeroed in on the importance of Black male voters in swing states like Wisconsin, and have made some concerted efforts to pry them away from Democrats.

Their efforts are twofold: to argue that Black voters loyalty to Democrats has not been rewarded effectively asking them, in Mr. Trumps famous words last election cycle, What do you have to lose? And to focus less on persuading Black men to vote for Republicans and more on creating an environment for low turnout over all.

In a leaked audio recording recently published by Politico, Mr. Trump said days before his inauguration: Many Blacks didnt go out to vote for Hillary cause they liked me. That was almost as good as getting the vote, you know, and it was great.

He has said similar things publicly, and allies have argued that the administrations restrictive immigration policies could appeal to some Black voters who share a nativist instinct that outsiders are to blame for their communitys woes.

State Representative David Bowen, a Democrat from Milwaukee, said he was confident that Mr. Trumps campaign efforts would not take root, considering how much the president had done to inflame racial tension. Mr. Bowen said he worried more about the pandemics effects on reaching infrequent Black voters, as normal canvassing tools like door knocking and registration drives become more difficult.

The in-person organizing that would be there, and that the Black community is used to, isnt at the same level, Mr. Bowen said. Being on the safe side is important. But how do we balance that with the need of meeting people where they are? Because thats important, too.

Mr. Bowen is part of a cohort of Black leaders and activists who have protested racial inequality for more than 85 days straight, an effort that began after George Floyd was killed by the Minneapolis police in late May. Mr. Bowen said the group had shown no signs of slowing, and wanted to sustain its momentum and force Democrats including Mr. Biden to be more responsive to its concerns.

He said that although Mr. Biden could win without robust young voter turnout, a Democratic Party that was not responsive to the current flood of activism risked creating a disaffected generation for years to come one that includes Black men.

Younger voters supported that Bernie Sanders agenda because they wanted big change, Mr. Bowen said. Older Democrats are more moderate, and some of them feel like incremental change is enough right now. But the people who are closest to the pain are the younger ones, and theyre calling for substantial change in agenda. They have real demands.

According to the Pew data from 2016, Black men vote at comparable rates to other minority groups. Even for Mrs. Clinton in 2016, Black turnout returned to its levels during the pre-Obama Democratic Party, not a drop-off that was historically unprecedented.

In recent weeks, several political organizations have announced initiatives targeted at improving the political process in Black communities, and at motivating less frequent Black voters to come to the polls. More Than a Vote, a collective of athletes headlined by the basketball star LeBron James, said it would invest millions to try to recruit poll workers in Black communities. The N.A.A.C.P. announced a campaign called Black Voices Change Lives, which will seek to expand peer-to-peer organizing in Black communities. Its stated target is a 5 percent increase in Black voter turnout in the general election from 2016.

Gaulien Smith, who owns Gees Clippers, a barbershop in Milwaukee, said he thought sexism had played a role in some Black male apathy for Mrs. Clinton. He posited that there had been a different reaction to Ms. Harris on the ticket, because she is seen more as someone who understands the Black experience and can be a champion for Black men.

In her, we see history, Mr. Smith said.

At Gees Clippers, on the citys Near North Side, the health crisis might have changed the social nature of the barbershop, but it could not destroy it. With people wearing masks and chairs spaced apart, a gaggle of Black men watched an afternoon game of the N.B.A. playoffs, hours before Mr. Biden was to accept the Democratic nomination.

The flow of customers and barbers stretched the gamut of the citys Black male electorate: businessmen, church elders, teenagers and activists. And while there was universal distaste of Mr. Trump, even from some who said they had expressed interest in his candidacy four years ago, there was a sense that 2020 was not 2016 a mantra that has been reflected in polling, fund-raising and other measures of a countrys political health.

Even if Kamala wasnt the vice-presidential candidate, I still feel that we will come out in droves because of what weve experienced these last four years, Mr. Smith said.

Kenny Paskel, 24, sat silent in a corner. When prompted, he said that Mr. Biden would probably be his choice, but that a felony conviction on his record since the age of 17 prevented him from voting. He cannot vote in this election, or any election in his lifetime, unless state law changes.

I guess I dont know what Im missing, he said.

See original here:
Biden Wants Black Voter Turnout Similar to Obamas. Hell Need Black Men. - The New York Times

The service announced that series creator Aaron Sorkin and the cast would unite for a staged theatrical presentation of the "Hartsfield's Landing" episode from the Emmy-winning drama's third season.

According to HBO Max, the event -- which will be shot in a Los Angeles theater over several days in October -- will be directed by Thomas Schlamme, who masterminded the White House drama's walk-and-talk style. The program is expected to air on an as-yet-unspecified date prior to the election in November.

Sorkin also has a theatrical background, including the play "A Few Good Men" and the acclaimed recent Broadway revival of "To Kill a Mockingbird." He's writing additional original material as part of the special.

"The West Wing" aired on NBC but was produced by Warner Bros. Television, which, like CNN, is a unit of WarnerMedia, which will make a donation to When We All Vote in conjunction with the effort. When We All Vote is a nonprofit organization, created to inspire increased voter participation in every election.

Rob Lowe, Dul Hill, Allison Janney, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, Bradley Whitford and Martin Sheen will reprise their roles for the special, which will include additional guest appearances and a message from co-chair Michelle Obama.

Originally broadcast in 2002, the episode focuses on a tense moment in US-Chinese relations over Taiwan, while Whitford's character, Josh, worries about a small town in New Hampshire whose voting results are believed to predict who will win the state's primary.

The full seven-season run of "The West Wing," which premiered in 1999, is currently available on Netflix. But all the studios have used their own libraries to beef up their streaming services, and the series is expected to shift to HBO Max at some point in the future.

Visit link:
'The West Wing' cast will reunite to benefit Michelle Obama's When We All Vote - CNN

A new tell-all book about First Lady Melania Trump includes several surprising allegations, including one about how she demanded showers and toilets used by President Barack Obama's family be replaced before the Trump family moved into the White House. The book, written by Trump's former senior advisor and close friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, also details the icy relationship with President Donald Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump. That relationship came to the forefront on Thursday night when a video of Melania scowling at Ivanka went viral.

In Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady, Winston Wolkoff claimed that one reason why Trump stayed in New York City was that she waited for the White House bathrooms to be renovated, reports The U.S. Sun. A book insider told the outlet that Trump "just flat our refused" to move to the White House until it was "completely redesigned and revamped," adding that Trump "was not prepared to use the same bathroom as the Obamas or anyone else for that matter - it wouldnt matter if it was the Queen of England." Trump reportedly believed that as the wife of a president she did not "expect she should have to make do with second hand or previously used facilities."

One of the main themes in Winston Wolkoff's book is the relationship between Trump and Ivanka. She claims Trump did not want Ivanka's face to be seen in photos of President Trump taking the oath of office, a plan they called "Operation Block Ivanka." Another source told Politico Trump was "not a fan of Ivanka trying to make the East Wing a family office." Another White House source disputed this though, saying Ivanka "always wanted to be in the policy office of the West Wing between the Domestic Policy Council and the National Economic Council."

Winston Wolkoff worked as a fashion and society party planner before she was asked to help plan President Trump's inauguration. She left the White House in February 2018 following a New York Times report about her role in the event. She said the two often had lunch together until a falling out two years ago and no longer speak, reports Politico. Trump's chief of staff Stephanie Grisham called Winston Wolkoff's book "wildly self-aggrandizing" and "just not truthful." The book will be released on Tuesday.

The book includes details on the inauguration planning. She claims President Trump told her to "make it look like North Korea" with "tanks and choppers." She wrote, "He really wanted goose-stepping troops and armored tanks? That would break tradition and terrify half the country." White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere called this claim "absolutely not true." The Apprentice creator Mark Burnett approached the Trumps with the idea of lighting the "sky with drones," which were not used.

Read this article:
Melania Trump Allegedly Demanded Showers and Toilets Used by Obamas Be Replaced Before She Moved Into White House - PopCulture.com