White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

  • Home
  • About
  • WHC Garden Brunch
  • Washington Insider
  • Archives
  • Contact

Volta Insider: Art and Activism at the RNC and DNC

September 6, 2016 By WHC Insider

image1

Rachel Greenberg at the DNC, Photo Courtesy of Volta Insider

As the political forces of the Democratic Party descended on Philadelphia for the 2016 Democratic National Convention, activists, protesters, artists, and performers, converged on the streets of downtown Philly to entertain, provoke, and raise awareness for their issues. Rachel Greenberg, host of the Volta Insider podcast, went to the DNC to find out why those from outside the world of politics come to the national conventions.

Greenberg caught up with artist Andrew Purchin to discuss the DNC, his hopes for the election, and the intersection of art and politics.

image

Rachel Greenberg with Andrew Purchin, Photo Courtesy of Volta Insider

Andrew Purchin brought his interactive project “The Curious End to the War Against Ourselves” to both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions this year. The piece, a 144-foot linen scroll, is designed for passerbys who stop by to contribute. Purchin describes the project as “a guided art-making meditation”. His goal with the work is to connect with people across the political spectrum and get them to collaborate in the same space with people who share dissimilar views, be it social or political. This apolitical work is an attempt at reconciling what Purchin calls “the infighting both within our heads and with each other”.

To watch Greenberg’s interview with Andrew Purchin click here. You can find more Volta Insider episodes here.

To find out more about Andrew Purchin’s art and his project visit his website here.

Filed Under: Volta Insider Tagged With: DNC, Rachel Greenberg, RNC, Volta Insider

Zignal Labs Charts Response to Hillary’s DNC Speech, Tammy Haddad Interviews Zingal’s Michael Venet

July 29, 2016 By WHC Insider

Haddad Media CEO Tammy Haddad caught up with Zignal Labs’ Michael Venet on Facebook Live, who demonstrated their famous smartboard, which charts social media mentions graphically. You can check out their conversation below.

Zignal Labs tracked millions of mentions on Twitter during this year’s RNC and DNC. According to Zignal’s Anthony York, Zignal “tracked about 6.4 million media mentions of the RNC, compared to more than 9.7 million mentions of the Democratic Convention,” making the DNC the drew much more interest online than the RNC.

Zignal created a chart that shows the most mentioned moments of the DNC:

DNCTotalIssues

They also calculated which DNC-related Tweets were the most popular:

Screen Shot 2016-07-28 at 8.49.15 PM

Filed Under: News Media Tagged With: DNC, Michael Venet, RNC, Tammy Haddad, Zignal Labs

Volta Insider: Rachel Greenberg Reflects on RNC 2016

July 24, 2016 By Rachel Greenberg

RNC Reflection (rachel)

When I landed in Cleveland last week, I had 14 pages left of Game Change.

I didn’t know what to expect, had never been to a convention before, and while the collective conjecture of a “total shitshow,” was amusing, it was not helpful. That prediction proved accurate for the first 48 hours, then escalated in the final two days, even before Ted Cruz took the stage Wednesday night.

It was mid-afternoon when a crowd assembled around the entrance of the Q, Cleveland, Ohio’s center of gravity during the RNC. I abandoned my laptop and armed myself with a camera, running outside to see what all the commotion was about. At first it was just the media, aiming their massive black cameras over each others heads and inching closer and closer to a supposed protesters. Then there was the cops, a – of them, yelling for the press to move back and some sort of liquid was sprayed, forcing those in front of me and behind me to press backwards without dropping their equipment. I ducked out of the way after the man in front of me stepped on my foot.

The crowd had grown at this point, but maintained a humble volume. There was no roaring chant, no clear message. I looked around, wondering what the point of this demonstration was. I stood on my toes, trying to read the signs placed in front of the entrance.

They read:
“REVOLUTION – NOTHING LESS.”
“AMERICA WAS NEVER GREAT.”

I heard whispers of an attempted flag burning. But where was the smoke?

27906240443_16a93800b0_k

Protestors at the RNC, Photo courtesy of Haddad Media

Behind me a train of police swept by, escorting three men with three-tiered signs. Sporting phrases like “The Pope is the Antichrist!” On their tail was a much shorter man holding up a piece of canvas which had “End the War on Drugs” sprayed in red and black ink.

I stepped back to the sidewalk to try to get a clear shot of what was going on. The masses were evenly matched with police, who maintained all the composure of a statue. Patient but firm, they sought order in squads of 5 or 6. A loud crack tore a hole in the murmurs and whistles as one of the signs snapped and fell two feet from where I stood. I discarded the recovery of the asset for the sound of some SJWs who looked like they hadn’t showered in at least 5 days.

“Go home you nazi scum! Go home you nazi scum!” They cried.

At this point, I was just confused. The flag burners were communist and the evangelicals, however dramatic, were far from anti-semitic nationalists. I learned later that the lady who had attempted to burn the flag had accidentally set herself on fire. It had to be the most ineffective protest I had ever witnessed.

I also found that this convention celebrated an ineffective use of language. The speeches lacked clarity, having resembled poorly written high school essays in both accuracy and flow. It was as if the whole convention had adopted Trump’s staccato speech pattern and on-the-spectrum scream. The only speeches that didn’t fit into this category were those of his children, Tiffany, Don Jr., Eric, and Ivanka. His children strike me as closeted democrats, or maybe they’re just normal republicans. I might have too much faith in language and fail to understand the appeal of these “outsider” tactics aimed at the disillusioned. But is “dumpster fire” the kind of locution the American voter wants to hear from a potential president?

28490238986_e3045c5e29_k

Police outside of the Quicken Loans Arena, the site of the RNC, in Cleveland, Ohio, Photo courtesy of Haddad Media

In Niccolo Machiavelli’s book The Prince, he questions if it is better to be feared or loved.
“A prince should inspire fear in such a fashion that if he do not win love he may escape hate.” He writes.

I don’t think Donald Trump has read this book, and if Paul Manafort has, he certainly isn’t applying that principle to Trump’s campaign.

On Monday morning, I sat in on a Bloomberg breakfast hosted by Al Hunt, where 15 reporters sat around a table and asked Mr. Manafort about the week ahead. He talked circles around each question brilliantly. His plan followed a disregard for the numbers; their plan to gain the loyalty of the Republican base and bring in people who have never voted before does not seem realistic for the general election. Trump will sway almost no Bernie supporters, maybe a few independents, but millennials and college educated women still despise him.

They can paint Donald Trump as a savior in a dark, dark world, like the light at the end of the establishment-built tunnel, but a win for the Trump campaign just isn’t very likely.

When I landed back home in Washington two days ago, I was happy to find the White House was somehow still standing. And I resumed to add a copy of Double Down was sitting in my Amazon cart.

I guess this ineffective, confusing, “dumpster fire” of a world will just keep spinning, no matter what happens.

You can catch more of my reporting from the conventions for my podcast, Volta Insider here.

Filed Under: Volta Insider Tagged With: Donald Trump, Rachel Greenberg, RNC, Volta Insider

Masters in Politics: Alex Castellanos Announces Pro-Trump Super PAC TV Ad Buy

July 22, 2016 By WHC Insider

Tammy Haddad and Betsy Fischer Martin, co-hosts of Bloomberg’s Masters in Politics podcast caught up with GOP political strategist and regular CNN contributor Alex Castellanos, advisor to the pro-Trump Super PAC Rebuilding America Now, about the convention and his plans for the PAC in the coming weeks. “A little bit of breaking news here, we’ll be getting up after this convention in 3 swing states: Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. It will be on national cable, it will be a multi-million dollar buy, and we’re gonna stay on it till the election and try to rescue America from Hillary Clinton and try to make America great again by electing Donald Trump.”

Castellanos also revealed that Donald Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort gave the Rebuilding America Now PAC his blessing. “We had a meeting Wednesday with contributors and Paul Manafort called in, gave our contributors a briefing on the state of the campaign and let folks know that there’s no better way to help elect Donald Trump than to support our PAC Rebuilding America Now. Marty Obst, who is running the Mike Pence VP operation, also came and Governor Pence is going to be giving us part of his schedule to attend some events where we’ll be having an opportunity to raise a few dollars for the PAC. I don’t think any other PAC is getting that kind of encouragement.”

You can listen to the full podcast here.

Filed Under: Masters in Politics Tagged With: Alex Castellanos, Donald Trump, Paul Manafort, RNC

Tammy Haddad Speaks With Former Trump Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski

July 20, 2016 By WHC Insider

Screen Shot 2016-07-20 at 9.55.39 PM

Tammy Haddad, President and CEO of Haddad Media and co-host of Bloomberg’s Masters in Politics podcast caught up with Corey Lewandowski.

When asked about his plans for the convention Lewandowski says, “I’m just here to sit back and take it all in and enjoy it,” adding “I’m really excited for the Trump team and the Trump family tonight.”

On Eric Trump’s primetime speech he said, “It’s going to be a fantastic speech.”

You can watch the full clip here.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Corey Lewandowski, Masters in Politics, RNC, Tammy Haddad

Making Lobbying Great Again at Heather Podesta’s RNC Breakfast

July 19, 2016 By Rachel Greenberg

One of the most famous names in democratic politics, lobbyist Heather Podesta, hosted a busy breakfast this morning at Mabel’s BBQ. As this convention proves comparatively bleak, the red stickers which read “MAKE LOBBYING GREAT AGAIN” were an exceptionally amusing accessory. Invitees resembled traditional Washington, D.C. demographics: lobbyists, legislators, and off duty press. Including Congressman John Ratcliffe, Indian Ambassador Arun K. Singh, Dede Lea, Andi Fisher, Betsy Fischer Martin, Rachel Pearson. HBO Film Executives Len Amato, Tara Grace and reporters Ruth Marcus, Daniel Lippman and Megan Wilson.

Check out the photos here!

Filed Under: News Media Tagged With: Heather Podesta, Lobbying, RNC

Masters in Politics: Roger Stone Calls John Kasich a “Pathetic Stoner” and a “Sore Loser”

July 19, 2016 By WHC Insider

 

The host of Bloomberg Masters in Politics podcast Tammy Haddad and Betsy Fischer Martin are in Cleveland, Ohio this week for the Republican National Convention and they spoke with longtime GOP operative Roger Stone, who has worked on the presidential campaigns of both Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Stone is a longtime friend and adviser to Donald Trump and hosted a pro-rally Trump rally on the first day of the RNC. He spoke to Haddad and Martin about Ohio’s governor and Trump’s rival during the primaries, John Kasich, calling him a “pathetic stoner who will never be elected President of the United States,” and “a sore loser.”

According to Stone, “As far as John Kasich is concerned, he signed a pledge to endorse the candidate.” Referring to the document each candidate signed early in the Republican primary battle that asked each candidate to pledge support for the eventual nominee.

Roger Stone also promised a different sort of convention from the ones we have seen in previous years, “I think that what you’re going to see over the next couple of days will be far preferable than a bunch of cigar-chomping politicians talking from the podium, and politics is entertainment. So I do not think we are going to present a boring convention of career politicians going on and on about their nine-point plans for America that they never have any intention of implementing.”

He also made some predictions for Trump’s cabinet picks if he were to become president. “So I would not be shocked to see Newt Gingrich as a policy advisor in the White House, or the Secretary of Defense, or any number of other jobs for which he would be extremely well qualified.”

You can check out the full interview here.

Filed Under: Masters in Politics Tagged With: Betsy Fischer Martin, Donald Trump, Masters in Politics, RNC, Roger Stone, Tammy Haddad

VOLTA INSIDER: RNC Day One With Jon Ward

July 18, 2016 By WHC Insider

Screen Shot 2016-07-18 at 5.07.51 PM

Volta Insider podcast host Rachel Greenberg is at the Republican National Convention this week covering the goings on during the hotly anticipated event, where Donald Trump will assume the mantle as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate. As the delegates, journalists, and politicos swarm Cleveland, Ohio on the RNC’s first day, Greenberg has the scoop on what’s happening on the ground.

Greenberg spoke with Jon Ward, Senior Political Correspondent for Yahoo News., who has been reporting on the election and has been covering the convention floor today during the contentious vote between delegates, the Stop-Trump Movement and Donald Trump supporters, to force a vote to throw out the rules package that was approved last week. You can read his report here.

Jon Ward discussed covering Donald Trump from a journalistic perspective and the importance of magazine and print journalism in a world so full of content.

You can find the latest episode of Volta Insider here.

You can follow Jon Ward on Twitter @jonward11.

Filed Under: Volta Insider Tagged With: Jon Ward, Rachel Greenberg, RNC, Volta Insider

RNC Day 1: Speakers to Focus on National Security to “Make America Safe Again”

July 18, 2016 By WHC Insider

Photo Courtesy of Haddad Media: CEO of the Creative Coalition Robin Bronk, actor Harry Hamlin, actress Wendie Malick, and Politico's Daniel Lippman

Photo Courtesy of Haddad Media: CEO of the Creative Coalition Robin Bronk, actor Harry Hamlin, actress Wendie Malick, and Politico’s Daniel Lippman

The long awaited Republican National Convention, where Donald Trump will be named the party’s nominee, kicks off today, July 18 in Cleveland, Ohio and runs from Monday through Thursday, July 21.

The RNC’s first-day theme will be “Make America Safe Again,” a play on Donald Trump’s famous campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.” Tonight’s speakers will highlight immigration policy, defense, and counterterrorism policy.

Monday’s speakers include Melania Trump, Rudy Giuliani, actor Scott Baio, Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson, former Texas Governor Rick Perry, Benghazi survivors, Joni Ernst, and Tom Cotton. Pat Smith, the mother of the Benghazi embassy attack victim Sean Smith, will also be speaking as well as survivors Mark Geist and John Tiegen.

Soap-opera actor and model Antonio Sabato, Jr. will be speaking about religion. U.S. Reps. Michael McCaul (R-TX), Sean Duffy (R-WI), and Ryan Zinke (R-MT) also have speaking slots along with Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), and Joni Ernst (R-IA).

You can live stream the entire RNC coverage here.

Filed Under: News Media Tagged With: Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Rick Perry, RNC, Rudy Giuliani

Fox News Praised for Tough Questions in First GOP Debate, Candidates Vie for Attention on Crowded Stage

August 7, 2015 By WHC Insider

Debate PicRepublican candidates gathered together Thursday night for a highly anticipated first debate of the primary season in Cleveland, Ohio. Fox News anchors hurled tough and ambitious questions to candidates with Donald Trump starting things off by refusing to commit to not launching a third party bid, possibly undermining the future Republican nominee.

Moderator Megyn Kelly set the evening’s tone by confronting Trump about his past misogynistic comments on women, to which he responded he didn’t “have time for total political correctness.” Kelly asked Governor Scott Walker whether he could win a general election while possessing viewpoints out of the mainstream on abortion. Moderator Bret Baier confronted Senator Rand Paul on why he is “so quick to blame” his own party on foreign policy, which later incited a heated exchange between him and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on phone data collection and national security.

“When you’re sitting in a subcommittee, just blowing hot air about this, you can say things like that,” Governor Christie fired at Senator Paul, who seconds later accused the governor for fundamentally misunderstanding the Bill of Rights and hugging President Obama. Christie looked presidential in his response that the hugs he remembered are with families who have lost loved ones in the September 11 attacks.

With such a crowded stage, fighting for time to speak was an inevitable factor. According to the Washington Post, the order of minutes spoken from most to least begins with Donald Trump at 10.31 minutes spoken, former Governor Jeb Bush with 8.47, Governor John Kasich with 6.56 minutes, former Governor Mike Huckabee with 6.50 minutes, and followed by Senator Marco Rubio, Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Governor Chris Christie, Governor Scott Walker, and Senator Rand Paul.

When addressed for the second time, Ben Carson stated, “Well, thank you, Megyn, I wasn’t sure I was going to get to talk again.”

Ohio Governor John Kasich, who barely squeaked into the debate reserved for the top 10 polled Republican candidates, refused to be buried and presented himself as a formidable challenger. Placed on the far right side of the stage, due to his last place polling, Governor Kasich spoke to a more moderate leaning compassionate conservative. He said he would love his daughters unconditionally, even if they were gay, and defended his decision to expand Medicare in his home state. “Everybody has a right to their God-given purpose.”

The debate wrapped up around 11 pm, after a series of concise and rehearsed closing statements from the candidates.

The “Happy Hour” debate, which consisted of the seven Republican candidates who did not make the top 10 cut, took place earlier at 5 pm. Carly Fiorina received praise for her performance from multiple experts in Politico Magazine.

The next Republican debate will be hosted by CNN and Salem Radio at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California on Wednesday, September 16. The first Democratic debate will be held on October 13 in Nevada, hosted by CNN.

Filed Under: 2016 election, Event Coverage, News, Uncategorized Tagged With: Cleveland, Fox News, Presidential Election 2016, Republican Presidential Debate 2015, RNC

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »

Search WHCInsider

2022 WHC Garden Brunch

About White House Correspondents Insider

Exploring “behind the scenes” of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

We track the White House Correspondents’ weekend and all the activities around it, from journalists and media companies to the White House and politicos.

Tammy Haddad is Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief of WHC Insider and CEO of Haddad Media.

White House Correspondents Insider is not affiliated with or approved by the White House Correspondents’ Association, which is a registered trademark of the WHCA.

Cone of Silence Podcast

WHCA Seating Chart

Connect

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Flickr
  • Apple
  • Google
  • Instagram

Copyright © White House Correspondents Insider

 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.