Just how committed is uncommitted?

Feb 27, 2024

By Lauren Egan, Eli Stokols 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

President JOE BIDEN could end up regretting his decision to move Michigan up in the primary calendar.

Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, community leaders and activists in the state are urging Democrats to vote “uncommitted” in Tuesday’s primary to protest Biden’s handling of the crisis. The dissatisfaction in Michigan is palpable and could, if manifested in voter turnout, cause massive political headaches for the White House. Ahead of polls closing, West Wing Playbook spoke with LAYLA ELABED, the campaign manager for “Listen to Michigan,” about the push to vote “uncommitted.”

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

What’s the strategy here? What message are you trying to send Biden?

We borrowed this strategy from the 2008 Barack Obama campaign when his name was not on the Michigan primary ballot. As a way to embarrass the [Hillary] Clinton campaign, Obama’s campaign was able to mobilize voters to vote uncommitted.

That is what we’re trying to do with our uncommitted votes — not to embarrass the Biden campaign, but to put pressure on the Biden administration and the Democratic Party to leverage a permanent cease-fire.

There’s been plenty of efforts from activists to force Biden to call for a permanent cease-fire, but he hasn’t done so. Why do you think the Michigan primary could move the needle?

We’re taking this strategy to the ballot box in hopes that President Biden will listen to his core constituency. Eighty percent of Democrats support a permanent cease-fire. But it is going to be up to Biden and the Democratic Party whether or not they want to listen.

What do you say to Democrats who argue that you are weakening Biden’s reelection and thus enabling Trump?

We are trying to save lives right now. This is beyond electoral politics.

Biden is in a position of power to be able to demand a permanent cease-fire and end the military funding that we give unconditionally and unchecked. Although we know that Trump is not a friend, it is Biden who is in power right now.

Our communities do not vote in a monolith, but if it were to come down to Biden and Trump in November — if Biden does not listen to his core constituency, and we do not have a permanent cease-fire — then it is going to be on the Biden administration, Biden himself and the Democratic Party to answer to why they literally handed the White House to Trump.

So the message here is that the burden is on Biden, not Democratic voters?

When we put our local electeds in seats of power to do the best for our communities, and they don’t do that — we don’t reelect them. I don't know why the president believes that he is untouchable in that way.

A huge majority of his core constituency is demanding that he stop this genocide and it’s just falling on deaf ears. The answer that we keep getting is, ‘Well, you know, this is a better option than Trump.’ Voters, especially young voters, are really tired of the narrative of choosing the lesser of two evils.

The ‘cease-fire’ write-in effort in the New Hampshire primary was not very successful. Does that worry you?

We’re going to see more success in Michigan. We have all the right ingredients. We have the “uncommitted” option already on our ballot. And we have a community that is directly affected by what is happening in the region. And these communities have traditionally voted in the Democratic primary.

Do you have post-primary plans for the campaign? What role do you want to play in the general election?

The campaign will most likely dissolve after the primary. We’re not going to be asking voters to vote in any way except to vote their conscience in November.

Let’s say it’s November and Biden has not called for a permanent cease-fire. How would you personally vote?

It will be really, really hard to put my support behind either candidate. Without having a permanent cease-fire… I’d probably just skip the top of the ticket.

MESSAGE US — Are you REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-Mich.)? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com.

Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!

SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, the newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world, including WEF in Davos, Milken Global in Beverly Hills, to UNGA in NYC and many more. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW.

POTUS PUZZLER

Famed architect I.M. PEI designed whose presidential library?

(Answer at bottom.)

The Oval

BIG FOUR MEETING BECOMES A GANG UP: President Biden’s Oval Office meeting Tuesday with the four congressional leaders saw everyone agree on the need to avoid a government shutdown, with funding due to run out at midnight Saturday. But when the conversation turned to the delayed supplemental funding bill — and the billions in defense aid for Ukraine that the House has refused to consider — the meeting turned into “one of the most intense” Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER said he had ever experienced.

Biden and the other three leaders pleaded with Speaker MIKE JOHNSON to act immediately on an aid package that may determine whether Ukraine can continue to hold off Russian forces. The president, according to a White House readout, spoke about “how Ukraine has lost ground on the battlefield in recent weeks and is being forced to ration ammunition and supplies due to Congressional inaction.” CIA Director WILLIAM BURNS was there with a detailed report backing that up, the White House said. Schumer said the other Republican in the room, Senate Minority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL, led the charge on Ukraine — and then left Johnson to address the press alone. And the president pressed him further in a one-on-one meeting after the other leaders.

But as our BURGESS EVERETT, Eli and OLIVIA BEAVERS report, it’s not clear Johnson, who continued to demand action on border security (despite being the one who refused to consider a bipartisan border bill) was swayed.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by CNN’s MATT EGAN on how DONALD TRUMP is once again predicting the stock market will crash if voters don’t send him back to the White House. But, as Egan writes, there is no evidence to support his claim, and market veterans are scoffing at the former president’s warnings. “It’s just ludicrous,” one investor put it. “Whenever a president tries to attach any effect over the market, it’s just a waste of time. It gets even more laughable for a former president to do that.”

Campaign director of rapid response AMMAR MOUSSA shared the piece on X.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This Gallup survey, which found a significant spike in public concern on immigration. Twenty-eight percent of Americans view immigration as the most significant issue facing the country compared to 20 percent in January, Gallup’s JEFFREY M. JONES writes. It’s the first time since 2019 that immigration has ranked as the single biggest issue in Gallup’s poll.

PAST HIS (AND OUR) BEDTIME: The president’s “surprise” appearance on “Late Night with SETH MEYERS” did not replicate the lively Biden viewers saw 10 years ago on the show’s debut. But, he still took some swings at Donald Trump, while debuting a new defense of concerns about his age: “You gotta take a look at the other guy. He’s about as old as I am but he can’t remember his wife’s name,” Biden chirped. “It’s about how old your ideas are… This is a guy who wants to take us back.”

Joined next to bestie, Parks and Recreation co-star AMY POEHLER, Biden touched on an array of issues — one being the conspiracy theory that he’s deployed TAYLOR SWIFT as a psyop, which he called “classified.”

HARRIS TO SELMA: Vice President KAMALA HARRIS will travel to Selma, Alabama, this Sunday to commemorate the anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," the 1965 attack by police officers on marchers walking to the state capital in Montgomery that became a turning point in the civil rights movement. It also just so happens that Alabama is the state where a court ruling endangered in vitro fertilization, a decision the administration and Biden’s campaign has been eager to seize on.

HIS TURN: Biden will meet with the influential Teamsters union on March 12 as members weigh their endorsement strategy, our NICK NIEDZWIADEK reports. The meeting at the union’s D.C. headquarters will come weeks after Donald Trump held a roundtable with Teamsters leadership and rank-and-file members. The historically Democratic stronghold recently donated $45,000 to the RNC and has received criticism internally and from other members of the organized labor movement for courting Trump.

“We realize that President Biden’s time is limited and we appreciate that he is making it a priority to meet with Teamsters,” Teamsters president SEAN O’BRIEN said. “Our rank-and-file members and leadership are eager to have this conversation about the future of our country and the commitments that working people need from our next President.”

CAMPAIGN HQ

WILMINGTON ADDS: The Biden campaign is rounding out its political team, elevating ALANA MOUNCE to serve as its political director, Lauren and our ELENA SCHNEIDER report. Mounce had previously been serving as the campaign’s ballot access director and was the 2020 Biden campaign’s Nevada state director. The campaign also brought on ROOHI RUSTUM to serve as the national organizing director and MEREDITH HORTON as national director for voter protection and access.

— The campaign is also beefing up its rapid response team, tapping JAMES SINGER to serve as rapid response adviser and spokesperson and SARAFINA CHITIKA as senior spokesperson for rapid response. Singer previously worked at USAID as a senior communications adviser and Chitika was formerly the DNC national press secretary.

THE BUREAUCRATS

BIDEN VET DEPARTS: White House deputy press secretary OLIVIA DALTON, a long time Biden aide dating back to his days in the Senate, is leaving her post for a role at Apple, Reuters’ STEVE HOLLAND scooped late Monday.

Within hours it was reported that the company was killing off a multi-billion dollar initiative to build an electric self-driving car. Coincidence????

MORE PERSONNEL MOVES: RACHEL HEGARTY has been promoted to director of advance at the Environmental Protection Agency. She most recently was a senior advance lead at the EPA and worked on both the Biden primary and general campaigns.

Agenda Setting

PEN PALLING: Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN on Tuesday said that she has personally urged Israel Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU to reestablish economic engagement with the West Bank, arguing its importance for the well-being of Israelis and Palestinians, NYT’s ALAN RAPPEPORT reports.

In a letter sent to Bibi on Sunday, Yellen expressed her most explicit public concerns over the economic impact of the war. She also addressed the potential consequences of the erosion of basic services in the West Bank, and urged Netanyahu to reinstate work permits for Palestinians.

RENEWABLES INVESTMENT: The Biden administration is tapping $366 million to fund 17 projects across the U.S. aimed at expanding access to renewable energy on Native American reservations and other rural areas, AP’s SOPHIE AUSTIN reports. The plan will fund solar, battery storage and hydropower projects in areas where access to electricity can be costly and unreliable.

What We're Reading

OK, WHO DOESN’T HAVE A BOOK OUT TODAY? Maybe it’s random, or maybe late February is just a good time to release books, but it feels like everyone in Washington who wrote a book last year settled on Feb. 27, 2024, as pub day (except our ALEX WARD, who’s book: “The Internationalists” is on shelves now. Shameless plug.)

Congratulations to KATIE ROGERS, whose book on modern first ladies we previewed last week, as well as CARLOS LOZADA, KARA SWISHER, BYRON TAU, BARB MCQUADE and MELISSA MURRAY and ANDREW WEISSMANN.

Six books all published on Feb. 27.

The Oppo Book

Any fan of “The Office” probably recognizes a JIM HALPERT in their lives: the office workmate who is a great time and totally capable but just really lacks motivation. Little do most fans know, the real life Jim Halpert has been here all along serving as general counsel in the office of the national cyber director. Seriously!

The Biden administration’s Jim Halpert has been best friends with The Office’s creator GREG DANIELS since before kindergarten. They grew up together in New York City and, as of 2015, vacationed together with their families. Halpert is not the only one with an Office character named after him — ANDY BERNARD was a friend of both Halpert and Daniels.

Asked if he was anything like the on-screen Halpert, the real-life Halpert told the Post: “Nothing at all like Jim, no. But I’m very much in an office. I have a sense of humor. But I don’t play pranks, and I’m not as tall or good looking.”

Shoutout to our very own Daniel Lippman who sent us this story and is a self-proclaimed “big fan of the show.”

POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER

Pei designed the JOHN F. KENNEDY Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. Though relatively unknown at the time, Pei was selected by JACQUELINE KENNEDY from a list of candidates of some of America’s best-known architects.

“He seemed to her so filled with promise and he had the imagination and temperament to create a structure that would reinforce her vision of the goals of the library,” according to the library.

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 Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.

YOUR GUIDE TO EMPIRE STATE POLITICS: From the newsroom that doesn’t sleep, POLITICO's New York Playbook is the ultimate guide for power players navigating the intricate landscape of Empire State politics. Stay ahead of the curve with the latest and most important stories from Albany, New York City and around the state, with in-depth, original reporting to stay ahead of policy trends and political developments. Subscribe now to keep up with the daily hustle and bustle of NY politics.