| | | | |  | | By Eli Stokols, Lauren Egan and Ben Johansen | Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren There is a line in the movie “Bull Durham” where CRASH DAVIS, the sage journeyman catcher played by KEVIN COSTNER, tells “NUKE” LaLOOSH, the young fireballer portrayed by TIM ROBBINS, that you never, uh, mess with a winning streak. The same holds true in politics. Vice President KAMALA HARRIS has been on a remarkable heater ever since replacing President JOE BIDEN atop the Democratic ticket, raising ridiculous amounts of money, meeting massive, euphoric crowds wherever she’s gone and instantly rising in the polls. It continued on Tuesday night when she took the stage for the first time alongside her newly chosen running mate, Minnesota Gov. TIM WALZ, as the revamped Democratic ticket offered themselves up as optimistic avatars of a new, inclusive American future. The raucous crowd inside the arena in Philadelphia ate it up. And so did the cable networks, three of which carried the event live and uninterrupted for roughly 80 minutes, starting with another strong and closely watched speech from Pennsylvania Gov. JOSH SHAPIRO, the runner up for Harris’ vice president nod. The free publicity — or “earned media,” as operatives call it — is worth millions, and it was reminiscent of the way cable networks carried countless hours of then-candidate DONALD TRUMP’s campaign rallies in 2016. Eight years later, things have changed. Trump, now making his third run for the White House, is delivering his well-worn routine at rallies that only sporadically get live network coverage (the “Right Side Broadcasting” YouTube channel doesn’t count). Now, Harris is the new, exciting thing in the race, her rallies delivering left-leaning MSNBC some of its highest ratings in weeks. And preliminary numbers showed that Tuesday’s rally brought the network an audience that was more than double its four-week norm in the 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. hours. The Harris camp is hoping to ride the wave as long as it can. So there is little worry about the candidate avoiding something else that has long been required of presidential nominees: taking questions from the press. While some reporters and columnists have started to grumble about that, JD VANCE, Trump’s running mate who is bracketing Harris and Walz on the road this week, tried on Wednesday to draw more attention to the matter. When Air Force Two landed on the tarmac in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the Ohio senator walked over to what he called “my future plane” and, standing in front of news crews waiting to capture Harris’ arrival, said he wanted to ask her “why does she refuse to answer questions,” a line he repeated in a post on X. (His claim that she’s running a basement campaign, however, seemed at odds with the reality of him shadowing her across the Midwest all day). Harris’ last formal television sit-down interview was on June 24, when she joined MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to mark the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that ended federal protections for abortion. Three days later, she appeared on CNN and spoke one-on-one with anchor ANDERSON COOPER less than an hour after Biden’s disastrous debate performance, acknowledging that “it was a slow start” but confidently suggesting that the country should assess his performance in the office over three and a half years, not “90 minutes on a debate stage.” For a vice president who arguably damaged herself most gravely with her June 2021 interview with "NBC Nightly News" anchor LESTER HOLT, Harris’ determined on-air defense of Biden three years later — which she came up with independent of the campaign team — offered a template Biden and others would use to try to stop the political bleeding. While Biden’s closest aides also viewed that interview as a true show of loyalty, some in Harris' orbit saw her confident and forceful responses to Cooper as proof of how far she’s come. Ever since Biden passed Harris the baton, news organizations have been pushing the vice president’s team for a sit-down interview. According to two people familiar with the campaign’s thinking, there are ongoing discussions about a joint interview with Harris and Walz prior to the convention, which begins on Aug. 19 in Chicago. But on the whole, Harris’ top communications aides are deeply skeptical, as Biden’s inner circle was, that doing big interviews with major TV networks or national newspapers offer much real upside when it comes to reaching swing voters. One longtime Harris ally suggested to West Wing Playbook that Harris could hold off on big interviews until after Labor Day. “There’s really no need,” the person said. “The voters that she needs are at the local level. They’re not reading the national press.” Walz, whose viral cable TV appearances helped propel him onto the ticket, could be deployed on television more liberally than Harris in the coming months, the two people said. But it’s also quite possible both candidates will focus much of their media outreach on podcasts, influencers and other platforms outside the traditional news media. So far, Harris’ rally speeches, delivered via teleprompter, have been well received. And she has routinely interacted with the reporters that travel with her — but on her terms. She often visits with the press pool seated at the back of her plane (something Biden did just twice in more than three years), but speaking only off the record. And when she has chosen to comment on the record on something in the news, Harris has spoken to the pool on the tarmac, making statements but not taking questions. “What is the incentive for her [to take more questions]?” said another person close to the campaign who was granted anonymity to share how Harris’ team views the matter. “She’s getting out exactly the message she wants to get out.” Eugene Daniels contributed to this report. MESSAGE US — Are you KIRSTEN ALLEN? We want to hear from you (for real though, check your voicemail). And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. DNC COUNTDOWN: Are you headed to the 2024 Democratic convention in Chicago? Join POLITICO in Chicago for live, in-person conversations with the Democratic Party’s biggest newsmakers. Sign up here to get notified once registration opens. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!
| | | | Breaking News Briefing: Where Tim Walz Stands on the Issues — The Democratic ticket is set now that Vice President Kamala Harris has named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Join POLITICO Pro on Friday Aug. 9 for a detailed discussion with specialist reporters on what Walz's track record says about the policies he and Harris will embrace in the final stretch of the 2024 presidential campaign. Register for the Briefing | | | | | | | | | Who broke the news of JOHN KERRY tapping JOHN EDWARDS to be his running mate in 2004? (Answer at bottom.)
| | STUMPING IN EAU CLAIRE: For their first full day as the Democratic ticket, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz hit the campaign trail, speaking at a rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Wednesday to a sea of thousands of supporters. The turnout for Harris and Walz rivaled the type of enthusiasm seen largely at Donald Trump rallies and for BARACK OBAMA’s 2008 campaign. Traffic was backed up a mile and a half to get into the venue, with some attendees ditching their cars to run over to the rally. The duo is expected to hit three more states in the next few days: Michigan later tonight (where JD Vance will hold his own dueling event) followed by Arizona and Nevada. LOCKING DOWN BIG LABOR: Ahead of her rally in Detroit Wednesday night alongside the United Auto Workers, it's clear that Harris has rapidly consolidated the support of the nation’s most powerful labor unions, reassuring leaders that she will continue Biden policies that have made him the most labor friendly president in modern history. As our ADAM CANCRYN reports, she did it with a flurry of phone calls and by choosing to address the American Federation of Teachers in one of her first speeches as a presidential candidate. And her pick of Walz, who was backed by the big unions, helped convey her seriousness about the relationship. “It’s hard to win the ‘Blue Wall’ without a robust voter mobilization effort amongst the unions themselves,” said CHUCK ROCHA, a Democratic strategist with close ties to the labor movement, referring to the states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. “And to do that, you have to have bona fides, and you have to have a proven track record.” IS TURKEY REALLY MEAT? There has been an endless amount of Walz content circulating on X in the past week, including this clip with his daughter, HOPE WALZ. The two spent a day last year at the Minnesota state fair, where Hope took her dad on the Slingshot, making for some classic footage of the governor fighting for his life. But before the ride, Walz had a boomer-coded dad joke for his daughter’s vegetarianism. “We’re going to go get some food — corndog?” Walz asked his daughter. “I’m vegetarian,” she hit back. “Turkey then,” Walz compromised. “Turkey’s meat,” Hope clarified, with a disappointed look on her face. “Not in Minnesota. Turkey is special,” the governor of the nation's top turkey-producing state concluded. The exchange resonated with PATRICK DILLON, senior adviser in the Department of Commerce, when it came to his wife, Harris campaign chair JEN O’MALLEY DILLON. “This is 100% the first Walz clip I specifically show to vegetarian @jomalleydillon,” he wrote on X. RELATABLE AF: Tim Walz's relatability was further underscored after Axios’ DAN PRIMACK dug up the governor’s financial records. According to the disclosures, which were confirmed by a Walz spokesperson, he and his wife don’t own a single stock. Walz’s disclosures, both from his final year in Congress and time as governor, show no mutual funds, bonds, private equities or other securities. He also has no book deals, speaking fees or crypto or racehorse interests. No real estate either for the governor. The Walzes sold their Mankato, Minnesota, home after moving to the governor’s mansion for below the $315,000 asking price. Their only investment assets are via state pensions, including teacher pensions. MO' MONEY: In the 24 hours after Vice President Harris announced Tim Walz as her running mate, the campaign raised $36 million, deputy campaign manager ROB FLAHERTY announced on X. Of the cash raised from the approximately 450,000 donors, one-third were donating to the campaign for the first time and the top profession was teachers. ActBlue, a major Democratic fundraising platform, reported over $35 million raised in the 13 hours post announcement Tuesday. TIME TO PARTYYYYY: The Chicago 2024 Host Committee announced on Wednesday that it will hold three big events in the leadup to the Democratic National Convention, starting with a volunteer appreciation rally at Wrigley Field, where guests will be able to stand on home plate and take a photo with the 2016 World Series trophy. (Someone please invite Eli to this so he can chill out about finding time to go to a Cubs game.) The media welcome party will be on the Saturday before the convention at Navy Pier followed by the delegate welcome party the next night at the same location. If you’re hosting a DNC party, send us an email with the details so we can feature it in the newsletter (and add us to your invite list, of course)!
| | | A LOWER STAKES INTERVIEW FOR POTUS: President Biden recorded an interview with CBS’ BOB COSTA this afternoon at the White House that will air on Sunday, April 11, on "CBS News Sunday Morning." It’s the first interview with the president since his historic decision to not seek reelection. CAN’T GO FIVE FULL DAYS WITHOUT GETTING BACK TO WILMINGTON: The president is returning to Wilmington on Thursday to pay a visit to staff at campaign headquarters, WaPo’s TYLER PAGER scooped. Sorry, President Trump — he’s not regretting his decision and taking his campaign back. The visit is just to thank staff who were working on his campaign before shifting gears to help elect Harris. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by E&E News’ EMMA DUMAIN, who reports that 18 House Republicans are pleading with Speaker MIKE JOHNSON not to gut the clean energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act if the GOP wins a governing majority in Washington next year. In a letter to Johnson, the House Republicans say that repealing the tax credits, particularly those that were used to justify developments that already broke ground, “would undermine private investments and stop development that is already ongoing.” The letter was spearheaded by Rep. ANDREW GARBARINO (R-N.Y.), who told POLITICO that there are many aspects of the IRA he disagrees with, but it’s wrong to “throw the baby out with the bathwater.” Deputy press secretary ANDREW BATES and deputy communications director HERBIE ZISKEND shared the piece on X. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This op-ed from American Economic Liberties Project’s MATT STOLLER for NYT, who argues that Vice President Harris’ record on taking on corporate power has been largely unaddressed. Stoller, who is a proponent of breaking up large monopolies, points to several signs that he considers “worrisome.” Several people close to the campaign, including TONY WEST, Harris’ brother-in-law, and DAVID PLOUFFE, newly anointed senior adviser to the campaign, have backgrounds in the corporate world. The commercial strategies of West’s employer, Uber, where he works as chief legal officer, “are based in part on controlling markets and undercutting labor standards,” he writes. And another key supporter of Harris, REID HOFFMAN, the billionaire co-founder of LinkedIn, has called for the firing of FTC chair LINA KHAN. Harris’ silence on the topic is “hardly an endorsement of the campaign to check corporate power,” Stoller argues.
| | RAHM STANDS BY ISRAEL: Ambassador to Japan RAHM EMANUEL is skipping Friday's atomic bombing memorial service in Nagasaki because it was “politicized” by the decision not to invite Israel, the embassy said. AP’s MARI YAMAGUCHI reports that Emanuel will instead honor the victims of the Nagasaki atomic bombing at a buddhist temple in Tokyo. At the daily briefing Wednesday afternoon, press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE said she was not tracking the issue and could not say whether Emanuel’s decision to skip the event represented a larger administration policy. FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK: GINA METRAKAS is now chief of staff at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, our DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. She was previously the agency’s chief operating officer. NATALIA VANEGAS is the new assistant secretary for public affairs at HUD. She has served as acting assistant secretary since this February. And DIANE SHELLEY is the new principal deputy assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity. She was previously the regional administrator for HUD’s Great Lakes region. MORE PERSONNEL MOVES: MALBERT SMITH is leaving the Labor Department, where he was adviser for the assistant secretary of the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs, Lippman has also learned.
| | EATING UP THOSE TAX CREDITS: More than 3.4 million American families claimed $8.4 billion in tax credits in the first full year of the Inflation Reduction Act, our KELSEY TAMBORRINO reports for Pro subscribers. According to data gleaned from 2023 tax filings released by the Treasury Department on Wednesday, more than 1.2 million families claimed $6.3 billion in credits for residential clean energy investments on their tax returns. Those credits went toward installing solar electricity generation, solar water heating and battery storage, among other technologies, and averaged about $5,000 per family. More than 750,000 families claimed investments in rooftop solar, totaling more than $20.5 billion.
| | Despite new criticism, Trump told Walz in 2020 he was ‘very happy’ with his handling of George Floyd protests (ABC News’ Lucien Bruggeman and Katherine Faulders) Harris Chooses Comfort Food: Will America Bite? (POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin) Why Walz Matters (The.Ink’s Anand Giridharadas) Having a Chance Has Changed The Democrats (The Atlantic’s Stephanie McCrummen)
| | Airline mechanic BRYAN SMITH happened to leak the selection after seeing Kerry-Edwards decal being affixed to the campaign’s plane. Smith went home and posted this message on an aviation website: “John Kerry's 757 was in hanger 4 pit tonight. John Edwards VP decals were being put on engine cowlings and upper fuselage.” And that was nearly 12 hours before Kerry made the official announcement. A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it! Edited by Steve Shepard and Rishika Dugyala.
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