POLITICO Playbook: DEMS FEEL TRUMP PINCH: Firms want to balance convention gifts, so may shun both – PULITZER spoiler

Good Monday morning. AND WE HAVE A WINNER ... ? Washington Post national reporter Wesley Lowery jubilantly told friends at a party this weekend that he and a Post team (or perhaps the paper institutionally) will win a Pulitzer Prize today; he worked on the team project "Fatal Force," about deadly police shootings. Pulitzers (to be announced at 3 p.m.) used to be shrouded in secrecy. Lowery explained that Pulitzer sources gave an informal heads-up to some winning organizations so they can order champagne, and then editors told him. Lowery says the N.Y. Times also won.

--See a graphic of the 990 people The Post found were "shot dead by police in 2015." https://wapo.st/1Spa9o3 ... The Post is building a 2016 database and has found "287 people have been shot and killed by police." https://wapo.st/1VxACka ... Pulitzer announcement info https://bit.ly/23RxAZ7

By Mike Allen (@mikeallen; [email protected]) and Daniel Lippman (@dlippman; [email protected])

**SUBSCRIBE to Playbook: https://politi.co/1M75UbX 

TOP TALKER -- "Why Trump may be costing Democrats millions for their convention: The GOP is struggling to raise cash from corporate donors, and now Democrats are feeling the pinch," by Anna Palmer and Brianna Gurciullo: "Several Fortune 500 companies ... are taking a pass on chipping in for the Democratic convention in Philadelphia or ... None of the firms are publicly pointing to Trump as the reason they're staying away. But the GOP's more well-documented struggles appear to be taking a toll on Democrats, since many companies prefer to give to both conventions or neither in order to project an image of balance. Democratic Party officials expect the convention to cost $84 million. 

"The host committee says it has brought in roughly $40 million in pledges and contributions so far. 'It's easier to say 'no' than 'yes' at this point,' said Michael Meehan, a veteran Democratic political operative who worked on John Kerry's 2004 presidential bid. 'Some of our corporate clients have said they are still planning to do both, but reserve the right that we may not send anybody in the end. Come July, their executives might stay home and watch.' ... 

"[S]everal Democratic lobbyists who represent more than a dozen Fortune 100 companies said they've received fewer requests for hotel room packages and tickets for parties than in the past. Top executives, likewise, are not planning to flock to Cleveland or Philadelphia ... 'People are more hesitant this time,' said one the lobbyists, who has worked at previous conventions. 'And the clients that end up going don't want to be featured as a marquee sponsor. Before, you would be fighting for signage. Now it's about, let's not fight [for] any branding.' 

"That hasn't stopped the party committees from publicizing high-priced events for donors. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is organizing a concert reception with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, ... tea time honoring women in the Democratic caucus and a 'political update' with DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.). Top-tier DCCC donors - those who commit to give $210,000 to the party committee for the election cycle, or raise that amount from others - will be eligible for a '1776 Package' that includes two hotel rooms, DNC credentials, access to hospitality areas, skybox passes and eight tickets to DCCC events. 

"The DNC also has four fundraising packages - dubbed the 'Rittenhouse Square' level, for the tony Philadelphia neighborhood - for those who raise $1.25 million or contribute $467,000. It includes VIP credentials, photo opportunities, 20 VIP tickets to a welcome party, and finance committee meetings and roundtables with high-level officials." https://politi.co/1Sg6DXq

--WashPost A1, at fold, "GOP fears chaotic conclave; Trump seeks 'showbiz,'" by Phil Rucker and Bob Costa: "Trump ... asserted in an interview that he should have at least partial control over programming, stagecraft and other issues by virtue of his front-runner status - even if he does not have the delegates to secure the nomination beforehand. Trump blasted the GOP's last convention, in Tampa four years ago, as 'the single most boring convention I've ever seen.' ... 'It's very important to put some showbiz into a convention, otherwise people are going to fall asleep ... We don't have the people who know how to put showbiz into a convention.'" https://wapo.st/1Sm6UdD

TOP TWEETS: @davidplouffe: "Trump hemorrhaging delegates all over the map. Epic political malpractice. Just epic" ... @mckaycoppins: "Trump now has to win 67.4% of the remaining bound delegates to clinch the nomination before the convention (!)" ... @realDonaldTrump: "I'll be in one of my favorite places this morning, Staten Island. Big crowd, will be fun!"

NEW GLENN THRUSH "OFF MESSAGE" PODCAST - "Gillibrand's tearful plea to Bernie: Give up your guns: New York's junior senator ... says that Sanders lacks the 'sensitivity' to understand how gun violence devastates families," by Glenn in Albany: "Sanders is known for sticking to his guns - literally - and that might be his undoing in big, bullet-strafed states like New York. Sanders ... enters Tuesday's critical primary here lagging badly behind Hillary Clinton among black voters. A significant drag on his popularity in violence-ravaged African-American neighborhoods remains his refusal to back a Democratic bill that would hold weapons manufacturers liable for gun violence." https://politi.co/1VwEelI ... Listen and subscribe https://apple.co/1KRm0m0 

** A message from PhRMA: ICYMI: New IMS Health report found net prices for brand medicines increased just 2.8 percent in 2015 and overall cost trend slowing due to competitive marketplace for medicines. Despite this, insurers are increasing patient cost sharing more than benefit costs are rising, new Kaiser Family Foundation study finds. Read here. **

VALLEY TALK -- "The digital Gilded Age: DC faces Silicon Valley's riches - and ever-growing power," by The Guardian's Nellie Bowles in San Francisco: "These efforts represent a new united front of tech titans pitted against the old establishment of Washington - an industrial force many American historians say hasn't been seen since the Gilded Age." https://bit.ly/1qAEvqM

-- "New Poll Finds Americans Strongly Support Encryption Out of Concern for Privacy & Data Security": "In the wake of the Apple-FBI case, ACT | The App Association commissioned Purple Insights to conduct a benchmark poll being released today that finds U.S. voters strongly support encryption technology ... [A]lmost 9 out 10 voters believe backdoors could be exploited by hackers and criminals." https://bit.ly/1NwC2Tq ... Toplines https://bit.ly/1NhNRlV

SPOTTED: Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, on Saturday in Kramerbooks, perusing the nonfiction section, with particular interest in "Strategy," by Lawrence Freedman, "The Revenge of Geography," by Robert Kaplan, and "Infinite Jest," by David Foster Wallace. What did Draghi buy? "How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness," by Russ Roberts. 

... Doug Band and Cheryl Mills Saturday night at the Montage hotel in Laguna Beach, Calif., in deep conversation "both in formal evening wear" ... Boston Globe's Annie Linskey at "Hamilton" on Saturday night with a friend - pic https://bit.ly/1WAmcyz ...

--SEND YOUR SPOTTINGS to [email protected]

THE MAP -- "Clinton allies quietly shape general-election map: By hoarding ad space in battleground states, they hope to keep Republicans on defense, no matter who is their nominee," by Gabe Debenedetti in New York: "The 2016 electoral map being drawn by pro-Clinton forces, according to ad reservations and interviews with high-level strategists and pollsters on both sides of the aisle, begins with a core group of familiar presidential swing states at the center of the fight - Florida, Ohio, New Hampshire, Nevada, Iowa, Virginia, and Colorado - with roughly a half-dozen other states on the periphery. 

"Those other states - which include Wisconsin, New Mexico, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, all perceived to be leaning toward the Democrats, and North Carolina, where the GOP is likely to begin with an edge - are thought to be competitive, though not yet at the point where they stand likely to flip their 2012 presidential vote in November. ... Clinton's allies are for now putting their money on the traditional battlegrounds - not the rust-belt states where Trump insists he can steal Democratic votes, or traditionally red, but diverse, states like Arizona and Georgia where Clinton's allies say she'd have a better shot with Trump as the GOP standard-bearer. 

"Democrats - led by Priorities USA Action, the biggest pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC - have already started spending heavily on ad reservations in strategically placed markets in the seven core states, investing early to maximize air time while rates are still low." https://politi.co/1YCj2ZP

HOT VIDEOS - @danmericaCNN: "Sanders supporters outside Clinton's Clooney fundraiser in LA shower her motorcade in $1,000." https://bit.ly/1Te5m5A

--"Hillary Clinton dances on stage with NY officials" - CNN video: "While campaigning in Washington Heights, New York, Hillary Clinton danced on stage to Latin music with State Sen. Adriano Espaillat and State Assemblyman Keith Wright." 1-min. video https://bit.ly/1VxiN4P

DEEP DIVE - Shane Goldmacher in S.F. for Politico Magazine, "How the Hyper-Liberal Enclaves of America Could Pick the GOP Nominee: From Berkeley to the Bronx, the Republican Party's most isolated members are getting the last laugh: "Roughly 70 percent of the Republican delegates have already been allocated, but more than half of the 100 most liberal districts in America - including 39 in California, Maryland and New York alone - have not yet voted. And those 39 districts are worth a combined 117 delegates - more than the state of Florida. They could very possibly be the difference between Trump sealing the nomination and not." https://politi.co/23GKpsv

COMING ATTRACTIONS? "Could Trump Be Impeached Shortly After He Takes Office? -- It's highly improbable, but everyone from law scholars to political junkies are speculating about it," by Darren Samuelsohn in Politico Magazine: "[T]ravel on the POLITICO time machine to the summer of 2017 ... On talk radio and cable news, the #NeverTrump movement has morphed into #DumpTrump: Limbaugh thunders from the right that it's time to hand the keys to Vice President Jeff Sessions ... Though impeachment is officially a legal process, American history suggests that above all, it's always been a political move." https://politi.co/1XE0Gr1

FIRST LOOKS - "Key Newspapers in States with April Contests Endorse Hillary Clinton" - Forthcoming campaign release: "In Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Inquirer endorsed Clinton, calling her 'not only thoroughly qualified for the presidency but also historically unprecedented by the long line of men who have occupied it.' In New York, the Albany Times Union gave Clinton a 'decisive edge' on 'details, their approach to governing, and their experience,' and the Syracuse Post-Standard called her the 'better choice.'" 

--"Republican Tax Plans: A Huge Mistake," by DNC research director Lauren Dillon in a Tax Day post on Medium: "Remember the Bush years? Tax breaks largely benefited the wealthy and helped turn a budget surplus into a deficit. Don't get me wrong-even in my darkest moments, I don't want to go back there. But reading the tax plans from the present-day GOP's presidential candidates does force you to acknowledge that there are Republicans who make George W. Bush look downright fiscally responsible." https://bit.ly/1SMPN1K

--"On Tax Day, Former Treasury Officials Urge Secretary Lew to Reconsider Decision to Curb Inversions": "The former officials [including former Secretary George Shultz] wrote, 'Current rules regarding corporate inversions don't need revision. Instead, we urge you to focus your attention on addressing the competitive disadvantages that are harming capital investment, employment, and economic growth in the United States.'" https://bit.ly/1qSRFA2 ... The letter https://bit.ly/1NwX5p2

HAPPENING TODAY -- At the Newseum this morning, Results for America will be joined by OMB Director Shaun Donovan as the group unveils its 2016 Federal Invest in What Works Index, which establishes a new standard for measuring progress in the use of evidence in federal decision making. Read the Index https://bit.ly/26anx3i ... Livestreams at 10 a.m. https://bit.ly/1SUHC3Q

SUPER PACS, INC. -- "Correct the Record ... Wins Gold at Pollies": "CTR took home the gold for Most Original/Innovative Collateral Material for its 'Complete Guide to the Benghazi Select Committee,' which was released in advance of Secretary Clinton testifying before the Benghazi Select Committee. ... The book and rapid-response efforts received extensive earned media coverage [including 30 mentions on TV], shifting the narrative of the 11-hour testimony to the content of Correct The Record's guide and, consequentially, the facts about the politically-fueled investigation."

TRANSITIONS -- "Change.org hires Sara El-Amine to launch new global foundation": "The Change.org Foundation will incubate and accelerate movements to empower some of the world's most marginalized people to have their voices heard on the planet's most pressing issues. ... Sara joins the Change.org Foundation from Organizing for Action where she has been executive director and is a leading figure in U.S. grassroots advocacy." https://bit.ly/1SMPe8l

-- "New Partners Snags Alexandra Fetissoff, Charlie Poster - Strengthening 'The North" Operations': Fetissoff, a Hillary 2016, Al Franken, and Jon Tester alum, will be VP of Strategy and Communications in the firm's Minneapolis office. "Poster served as Assistant Commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture for the past five years." https://bit.ly/1NiaExL

OUT AND ABOUT - Friends and puppies up for adoption gathered at Juleanna Glover's house Saturday night to toast Humane Society president Wayne Pacelle's new book, "The Humane Economy: How Innovators and Enlightened Consumers Are Transforming the Lives of Animals." Although Wayne is a vegan, that didn't stop sushi from being served. $16.45 on Amazon https://amzn.to/269WR2L

GOOD LUCK to Lizzy Guyton, Gov. Charlie Baker's press secretary, running in today's Boston Marathon (her first one).

WEEKEND WEDDINGS -- "Jessica Schumer and Michael Shapiro: A Real West Wing Romance," by NYT's Vincent Mallozzi: "Schumer, 31 ... is the chief of staff of the Robin Hood Foundation ... [S]he was the chief of staff and general counsel to the Council of Economic Advisers in Washington. She graduated cum laude from Harvard and received a law degree from Yale. Her father, a Democrat, is the senior senator from New York. Her mother is the [COO] of the New York Public Library and was New York's commissioner of transportation under Mayors Rudolph W. Giuliani and Michael R. Bloomberg from 2000 to 2007. ...

"Shapiro, 29, is an economic-policy adviser for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. He graduated summa cum laude from Princeton, and is studying for a law degree at Yale. ... Ms. Schumer and Mr. Shapiro met in January 2011 while working together at the White House for the National Economic Council, where they began as policy advisers. ... [T]heir relationship began heading in a romantic direction in September 2014, when Mr. Shapiro drove from law school in New Haven to celebrate Ms. Schumer's 30th birthday with mutual friends at a bar in Washington." With a pic https://nyti.ms/1VcBZnJ

POOL REPORT: "After getting good luck with sunny weather and temperatures in the high 60s, Jessica Schumer married Michael Shapiro at the Liberty Warehouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn, overlooking New York Harbor on Sunday ... They were joined by many friends and family from New York, Connecticut, and Washington, and as far away as Ukraine. After the ceremony, they celebrated in and outdoors, including a robust hora led by Senator Schumer and Iris Weinshall. 

"Their wedding cake was cheesecake served by Juniors, which is located a few blocks from their apartment in Brooklyn. Their former colleagues from the National Economic Council, Gene Sperling, Danielle Gray, Brian Deese, and Jason Furman rejoiced with the couple, with Gene performing a Hamilton-themed rap about how they met working outside his office in the West Wing at the rehearsal dinner. The couple is taking a short 'mini moon' in upstate New York where they plan to relax -- but also canvass near Poughkeepsie for Hillary Clinton before the New York primary on Tuesday." Pic https://bit.ly/1XDZxj9

-- Melissa Sellers, newly-departed chief of staff to Gov. Rick Scott and former top spokesman for Gov. Bobby Jindal, got married in Tallahassee on Saturday to Alan Stone, a small businessman who owns a company that builds and landscapes. Melissa recently launched her own communications company. The two governors both attended the wedding, along with lots of folks involved in politics. On Message's Curt Anderson said the reception was at "an old converted fire station. Fun and wild reception spilling out into the street and the night. Bride and groom left in an old fire truck." Pic https://bit.ly/1YCEduC

--@SenJohnMcCain: "Wonderful time [Saturday] night celebrating our son Jim and his new wife Holly. Welcome to the family!" With family pic https://bit.ly/1VvSETi

--Politico alum Dan Eldredge, now of CEB, got married on Saturday to the Smithsonian's Ashley Deese in Pinehurst, N.C. "Dan and Ashley met in college, at North Carolina's Methodist University in Fayetteville, where Dan doggedly pursued Ashley. Ashley really made him work for it, and his persistence paid off." Picshttps://bit.ly/1MCp5N2 ... https://bit.ly/1WaV74C

--Jerri Ann Henry, alum of many GOP campaigns and now campaign manager of the Campaign for Platform Reform and the public advocate for Protect Internet Freedom, on Saturday married teacher Dawn Eagan in a ceremony in southern Maryland. Following a cocktail hour, complete with a corn hole game and Texas-themed hors d'oeuvres, guests two-stepped the night away to the Wil Gravatt Band. Pic by wedding guest and WashTimes' Dave Boyer https://bit.ly/1VvUcg4 ... Pics with their Insta hashtage #bootsandboatshoeshttps://bit.ly/20PifpT

ENGAGED: Joanne Peters , deputy director for press operations in the Office of Communications at USDA, and alum of Mark Warner 2014, HHS (ACA open enrollment year 1), and the DNC, to Nate Denny, deputy associate administrator for intergovernmental affairs at GSA The couple celebrated last night at Cap Lounge (photo attached). They both went to UNC and are lovers of all things North Carolina. Pic https://bit.ly/1S4AQwc

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Jackie Whisman of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (h/t Samantha Greene)

BIRTHDAYS: Rick Kaplan ... Evan Ryan, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (h/ts Tony Blinken, Julie Mason) ... Kelsey Donohue, East Wing press assistant and social media guru, is 25 (h/t birdies in the East Wing) ... Ben Chang, new managing director in Burson-Marsteller's U.S. public affairs and crisis practice, D.J. extraordinaire and a State, NSC, Podesta, Albright Stonebridge, SBA, and L.A. Times alum, and proud Hoya (h/t FiscalNote's Tom Guthrie) ... Susan Faludi is 57 ... Conan O'Brien is 53 ...Politico's Burgess Everett ... Ryan Sager, a Time Ideas, WSJ and N.Y. Sun alum ... Grant Saunders, deputy COS to Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) and a Team Boehner alum ... John "Mordecai" Podhoretz, editor of Commentary magazine and columnist for the N.Y. Post, is 55 (h/t Jewish Insider) ...

... USA Today's Donovan Slack, a Boston Globe and Politico alum ... Trey Grayson, CEO of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and Harvard IOP alum ... Zimbabwe is 36 on its Independence Day (h/t @BCIU) ... Oscar Walter Burton (hat tip: Mom and Dad, Laura and Bill) ... Tracy Spicer, principal at Avenue Solutions and Sen. Kennedy alum (h/t Jon Haber) ... Politico Florida's Christine Sexton (h/t colleague and Florida Playbook author Marc Caputo) ... 

... Reps. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), Bob Latta (R-Ohio) and Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.) ... Robert Silvers, who just finished his first week on the job as assistant secretary for cyber policy at DHS, is 36, celebrating by working and spending it with his wife and 3-year old son ... Greg Cuneo, a Commerce and Obama field alum and avid Arsenal fan ... N.Y. state senator Bill Perkins ... Ed Molina ... Caleb Crosswhite of House Ag and the pride of McKinney, Texas ... writer Karol Markowicz ... 

... Houston Chronicle alum Elizabeth Clancy, now a marketing consultant based in Kampala, Uganda Rachel Burns ... John Fogarty, Heritage's group VP for development ... Evan Philipson ... Charlie Baker (not the governor) ... Kristine Euclide ... Jonathan Epstein ... Theresa Verbic ... Bret Manley ... Robert Feinschreiber ... Jeff Goldblatt ... Brian Huseman ... Melody Himel Scalley ... Susan Faludi ... Jill Habig ... Matt Kravitz ... actor James Woods is 69 ... Lisa Locicero ("General Hospital") is 46 ... TV chef Ludovic Lefebvre is 45 ... Kourtney Kardashian is 37 ... actress Chloe Bennet is 24 ... singer Nathan Sykes (The Wanted) is 23 ... actor Moises Arias is 22 (h/ts AP)

** A message from PhRMA: A new report from IMS Health demonstrates how a competitive biopharmaceutical marketplace is working to control costs. The report found that net prices for brand medicines increased just 2.8 percent in 2015, down from 5.1 percent the prior year, as discounts and rebates negotiated by payers continue to rise sharply. The report also projects medicine spending growth will continue to moderate to 4 to 7 percent through 2020, in line with overall health care cost growth. Unfortunately, patients are not always benefiting from the discounts that insurance companies negotiate. A new report from Kaiser Family Foundation found that insurers are increasing patients' out-of-pocket costs, including coinsurance and deductibles, more than they are paying in medical benefits - underscoring the need for policy solutions that empower and engage patients. Read more here. **

SUBSCRIBE to the Playbook family: POLITICO Playbook https://politi.co/1M75UbX ... New York Playbook https://politi.co/1ON8bqW ... Florida Playbook https://politi.co/1JDm23W ... New Jersey Playbook https://politi.co/1HLKltF ... Massachusetts Playbook https://politi.co/1Nhtq5v ... Illinois Playbook https://politi.co/1N7u5sb ... California Playbook https://politi.co/1N8zdJU ... Brussels Playbook https://politi.co/1FZeLcw ... All our political and policy tipsheets https://politi.co/1M75UbX

To view online:
https://www.politico.com/playbook/2016/04/91-days-to-cleveland-204-days-to-election-dems-feel-trump-pinch-firms-want-to-balance-convention-gifts-so-may-shun-both-sneak-peek-at-dnc-dccc-packages-pulitzer-spoiler-bdays-rick-kaplan-evan-ryan-213804

To change your alert settings, please go to https://www.politico.com/registration