Biden’s coming Trump stump

Aug 19, 2022 View in browser   By Sam Stein, Alex Thompson and Max Tani Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice.  Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Max  If you've been following any number of Democratic operatives on Twitter the past few days, you likely encountered a particular genre of boast. It goes something like this. In the span of a less than a year, President JOE BIDEN managed to achieve the main policy pursuits that DONALD TRUMP chased at various junctures but never accomplished. The basis of the claim is that Trump talked about passing infrastructure reform, reducing the cost of prescription drug prices, enhancing U.S. competitiveness with China, and even pursuing modest gun regulation. Biden, following the signing of the major health and climate bill this past week, has checked off all that and more. But the boast, which has been echoed by the White House, is not actually an attempt to co-opt the Trump policy legacy. No one at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. believes Trump had some sort of youthful, wonkish enthusiasm for these ideas. Nor do they give him any credit for them. Many have been standard, bedrock Democratic pursuits for decades. Trump's novelty was that he was the Republican president who triangulated around them. But the boast still is notable because it further illustrates the advantageous political climate in which the White House believes it now finds itself. Not only does the party — and Biden specifically — have legislative accomplishments to run on, it has ready-made rejoinders for its critics. We are not in the age of hostile town hall meetings like the ones that confronted Democrats in the summer of 2009. "Obamacare was immediately underwater and unpopular," said JOHN ANZALONE, one of Biden's top pollsters, who helped poll BARACK OBAMA's health care initiative during its own tortuous path towards passage. "There was at least a quarter of a billion spent against it," he speculated of the opposition to the Affordable Care Act. "The fact is, the Biden agenda…. every component of it was popular in the high 60s and low 70s. Americans could digest it. The ACA was a complicated concept and easy to demonize." The current White House certainly feels that way. Already, the outlines of their counter-offensive have taken shape. The billions of dollars that the Inflation Reduction Act sends to the IRS? That's support for law enforcement.  The $370 billion it offers for climate change? Tax credits and technological innovation are the alternative to government-authored climate regulations Republicans rejected.  The feds negotiating the price of a handful of prescription drugs? This is what Trump himself wanted. Here's a video clip to prove it.  In the end, these arguments — alongside the larger debate over the Inflation Reduction Act — may be largely immaterial to the midterm landscape. Inflation remains the main crux of the Republican opposition to Biden. And, if anything, there's evidence to suggest that any recent uptick in the president's standing is due to falling gas prices rather than a public reaction to legislative momentum. Tweet by Conor Sen | Twitter But one thing that's become apparent this past week is that Republicans are not certain in how to respond to the law Biden has signed. And for that, the current president can thank his immediate predecessor, who upended the modern Republican policy planks. For every Sen. RICK SCOTT (R-Fla.) plan calling for entitlement reforms, there is a BLAKE MASTERS tweet arguing that Democrats failed families by stripping out more government programs from the final bill they passed; or a MITCH MCCONNELL (R-Ky.) disavowing it all. "The modern Republican Party is allergic to policy proposals," is how MATT BENNETT, the senior vice president for public affairs at the Democratic centrist think tank Third Way put it. "And, on top of that, these policies are popular.… No one is marching in the streets to protest subsidies to go to certain industries and policies to make prescription drugs cheaper." MESSAGE US — Are you DONALD TRUMP? We want to hear from you! And we'll keep you anonymous if you'd like. Or if you think we missed something in today's edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com.   STAY UP TO DATE WITH CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO's platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE.     POTUS PUZZLER This one is from Allie. Who is the only president buried at the Washington National Cathedral? (Answer at the bottom.) Cartoon of the Week Cartoon by Kevin Siers | Courtesy TGIF! Every Friday we feature a cartoon, and this one's by KEVIN SIERS. Our very own MATT WUERKER also publishes a selection of cartoons from all over the country. View the cartoon carousel here. The Oval [QUEEN LATIFAH VOICE] U-N-I-T-Y SUMMIT: The White House announced Friday the president will host a unity summit Sept. 15, dubbed "United We Stand Summit," aimed at addressing hate-crime and hate-related violence following attacks across the country. The president is slated to deliver a keynote speech. AP's ZEKE MILLER has more details. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: That state unemployment numbers went down. JESSE LEE, the senior adviser for communications to the National Economic Council, highlighted one figure in a tweet Friday morning: "22 states below 3%. What??? A new record." WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN'T WANT YOU TO READ: Biden may have gotten some of his policy goals through but Democrats are still not sure the 79-year-old ought to seek a second term. Even in liberal California, 46 percent of Democrats think he should run again and 46 percent are opposed, according to a new Berkeley IGS poll.  If Biden doesn't run, Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM is also leading Vice President KAMALA HARRIS, 13 percent to 10 percent in a California primary, that poll finds. NEWS FOR YOUR EARS: Listen to RYAN LIZZA 's exclusive interview with chief of staff RON KLAIN in today's Playbook Deep Dive. VIRAL VIDEO: What do Fatboy Slim, Joe Biden, and CHRISTOPHER WALKEN have in common? You have to click to find out. THE BUREAUCRATS FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK: ZACH LEIGHTON, the chief of staff to the office of the White House staff secretary, will be the new senior adviser to the ambassador to Germany, AMY GUTMANN. MORE PERSONNEL MATTERS: DAVE NOBLE will be the next director of White House management and administration, the administration announced Friday. Noble previously served as the chief of staff of the Peace Corps. Reuters' has more details on the move. — PAULA GARCIA TUFRO will be starting in mid-September as senior director for development, global health and humanitarian response at the National Security Council, a White House official told DANIEL LIPPMAN. She currently is the chief of staff at the Millennium Challenge Corporation and has worked in international development, trade and investment in both the public and private sectors for almost two decades. Agenda Setting I'M WARNING YOU! FOR REAL: In a letter to airlines, Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG wrote that the agency is "contemplating options for rulemaking that would further expand the rights of airline passengers who experience disruptions." Buttigieg and the FAA have been criticized repeatedly over the many airline delays this summer. Our ORIANA PAWLYK has more details.  TO DEAL OR NOT TO DEAL: Although the U.S. and Europe are still working on negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, AP's MATTHEW LEE notes that recent events — including the attack on novelist SALMAN RUSHDIE and the indictment of an Iranian who had an assassination plot to kill former national security adviser JOHN BOLTON — are bringing new obstacles to the table. What We're Reading An Ex-Microsoft Executive Got An 'Astonishing' Ethics Hall Pass To Join The Biden Administration (HuffPost's Molly Redden) China must show it's not an 'agent of instability' on Taiwan, US Ambassador to China says (CNN's Selina Wang, Sandi Sidhu and Simone McCarthy) Dead migrants recovered floating in Rio Grande as border death tolls climb (Houston Chronicle's Elizabeth Trovall) Think the Economy Is Hard to Predict? Try the Midterms. (NYT's Jeff Sommer) What We're Watching Energy Secretary JENNIFER GRANHOLM on Fox News Sunday at 9 a.m. EST The Oppo Book The aforementioned Granholm has some pretty stark advice for women looking to get into politics. "I would say to young women: marry well," she told Rewire News Group back in 2012. "That is, choose a partner that celebrates you and is willing to make decisions about who is the primary caretaker based not upon your plumbing but on your competencies." POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER President WOODROW WILSON was buried "in Bethlehem Chapel in the crypt of the Cathedral; his tomb was moved to the nave in 1956, the centenary of his birth," according to the Washington National Cathedral website.  "The tomb and the surrounding bay include remembrances of President Wilson's life and legacy. The tomb itself features a crusader's sword to symbolize his valiant battle for peace following World War I. Three seals symbolize major points in his public career — as president of Princeton University, governor of New Jersey, and president of the United States." A CALL OUT — Do you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents with a citation and we may feature it. Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.   INTRODUCING POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY.       Follow us on Twitter Alex Thompson @AlexThomp Maxwell Tani @maxwelltani Allie Bice @alliebice   Follow us

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