Black firms feeling neglect from Biden

Jun 21, 2024

By Lauren Egan, Eugene Daniels and Eli Stokols

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As President JOE BIDEN’s reelection campaign tries to shore up its support with Black voters, some Democratic strategists have a piece of advice for the campaign: hire more Black political operatives.

Prominent Black strategists say the Biden campaign is falling into the long, problematic pattern among Democrats of relying on the same, mostly white shops for lucrative election-year contracts.

The strategists who spoke with West Wing Playbook said the campaign is missing an opportunity to elevate and invest in a part of the political class that is more reflective of the party’s base. They worry that without the right people on Biden’s team to craft messaging and ads that will resonate with Black voters, it will make it more challenging for the president to win back segments of the electorate who have become disillusioned with his candidacy.

“It doesn’t make any sense if you’re trying to reach Black voters,” said a Democratic consultant close to the Biden campaign, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “This is like Hillary Clinton 2.0.”

Some Black operatives also lamented that too few Black staffers were empowered within the campaign to make critical decisions.

“They need a historic, messaging and communication push with this Black and brown audience. And it’s got to be different from what it’s been in the past, and it’s got to start earlier than it has done in the past. That means that not just the Biden campaign, but the whole progressive political industrial complex has to empower more people of color,” said CORNELL BELCHER, who was a pollster on BARACK OBAMA’s campaign. “So what you’re really talking about is, in many ways, upsetting the historically pretty darn white and male political, industrial, economic complex because it needs an infusion of color.”

Biden’s defenders argue that the campaign has made an effort to build a diverse staff, tapping operatives such as QUENTIN FULKS to serve as principal deputy campaign manager and MICHAEL TYLER as communications director. The campaign has also built out its African American outreach team, and it has prioritized more community-based events such as showing up at music festivals — an option they did not have as Covid disrupted the 2020 race.

“From the very beginning of this campaign we have tapped experienced, trusted and insightful Black operatives to lead key departments. From pollsters, to consultants we’ve brought on as Senior Advisors, those [staffers are] leading our efforts across key battleground states, in addition to our entire communications portfolio,” Fulks said in a statement. “We have never wavered in our understanding that we must build a campaign that reflects the diversity of the Biden-Harris coalition.”

The Biden team this month also announced a $50 million paid media campaign designed to reach Black, Latino, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander voters. And at least some of the campaign's money is going to Black-led political firms, such as Truxton Creative — which was founded by TERRANCE GREEN, who was instrumental to Biden’s 2020 African American paid media operation. Federal Election Commission data shows that Truxton Creative is one of the highest paid media firms so far this cycle, receiving $8.2 million from the Biden campaign.

Even still, Black operatives say that $8.2 million is just a drop in the bucket for what is on track to be the most expensive presidential race in history. Other firms, such as Gambit Strategies, have pulled in at least $17.7 million from the campaign.

“There is a real issue about how money is moving and where money is moving to,” said the executive director of a Black polling firm, who was also granted anonymity to speak freely.

“Money is being held up going to one or two places,” the person added. “Why isn’t the money going to groups actually prepared to [fix the issues they have]?”

Biden’s challenges with Black voters are well documented. They’re also bigger than whom he has put on his payroll. A perfectly crafted ad alone will not wash away voter apathy, nor will it assuage concerns about the economy and inflation.

But CLIFF FRANKLIN, CEO of Fuse Advertising, the African American advertising agency for Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns, said that there are clear benefits to working more directly with Black firms — and clear downside to not. When the right people don’t have a seat at the table, he said, the messaging is going to be off.

“I think there’s been just purely a lack of creativity in political advertising as a whole,” Franklin added. “Your eyes almost glaze over when you hear an ad.”

Jessica Piper contributed to this report.

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POTUS PUZZLER

Which president was the first to ride in an automobile to his inauguration?

(Answer at bottom.)

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

Four people wearing Boston Celtics gear are pictured.

Our own Ben Johansen (second from left) with three pals at Friday's parade for the world champion Boston Celtics, the franchise's 18th (but the first Ben is old enough to remember). | Photo courtesy of Ben Johansen

The Oval

THINGS YOU BETTER SAY ABOUT YOUR WIFE FOR $800, ALEX: Second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF describes his wife, Vice President KAMALA HARRIS, as “the toughest person out there,” in an interview with RITA BRAVER that will air on CBS News Sunday Morning. But, frankly, what’s he gonna say, “Eh, she could use some thicker skin”?

The network provided this short clip as a teaser of the interview in which Emhoff says criticism of Harris “comes with the territory” for anyone in her position. And this illuminating transcript:

EMHOFF: She’s the toughest person out there.

BRAVER: She’s tough?

EMHOFF: She’s so tough … it just bounces right off her.

GONE TO CAROLINA: The president’s post-debate schedule is coming into view, with the Raleigh News & Observer’s DANIELLE BATTAGLIA reporting that Biden will rally with supporters in the Raleigh area next Friday, a day after his first debate with former President DONALD TRUMP at CNN’s studios in Atlanta. First lady JILL BIDEN will also take part in the event.

AND IF YOU’RE WONDERING … why North Carolina? WSJ’s TARINI PARTI has a new report on why Biden’s campaign is pouring resources into a state that hasn’t gone blue since 2008. Biden has spent $5.2 million in the state already, while Trump has spent … nothing. North Carolina is viewed as an insurance plan of sorts in case Biden loses one of the “Blue Wall” states in the upper Midwest. It is still, based on polling, a longshot. But an influx of educated professionals offers some opportunity, and it doesn’t hurt that Republicans are running an extreme gubernatorial candidate who has consistently trailed his Democratic opponent.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This coverage by AP’s FATIMA HUSSEIN of administration efforts to highlight a milestone stemming from the 2021 American Rescue Plan: the rescue of 1 million workers’ and retirees’ pensions from proposed cuts to their retirement savings. In a statement, Biden touted the inclusion of the Butch Lewis Act in the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill. “Workers who earn a dignified retirement through decades of hard work and sacrifice should never see their benefits cut due to broken promises or policies that favor the wealthy over working families,” Biden said.

White House communications director BEN LABOLT and deputy press secretary ANDREW BATES reposted the piece.

AND THIS! AP’s REBECCA SANTANA writes that arrests on the southern border have dropped 25 percent since Biden’s new asylum restrictions took effect. May’s arrest total was the third lowest of any month since Biden took office, and preliminary figures released Thursday “show encounters with migrants falling even more in the roughly two weeks since” enforcement of Biden’s new rules began. LaBolt (a busy tweet day for him) and assistant press secretary ANGELO FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ both shared the story on X.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by our BRAKKTON BOOKER for POLITICO Magazine outlining Biden’s drop-off in support among Black voters in Milwaukee. From pro-Trump barbers to Biden-backing Democrats, a shared view emerges that Biden hasn’t yet done enough to win over a community concerned about immigration, frustrated over the war in Gaza and, in many cases, unaware of the administration’s accomplishments. “It’s an upstream swim right now in many ways,” said former Lt. Gov. MANDELA BARNES, a Milwaukee-bred Democrat who was the first African American to hold the office. “That should be a motivating factor for the campaign.”

CAMPAIGN HQ

TRUMP ERASES BIDEN’S CASH ADVANTAGE: It’s not that the Biden campaign doesn’t like running against a convicted felon, but they sure don’t like this aspect of it: Trump’s 34 guilty verdicts last month juiced his fundraising to the point that Biden’s months-long advantage on the money front is basically gone. Trump’s campaign hauled in $70 million in the 48 hours after his conviction, essentially doubling his monthly fundraising total. His and the RNC’s combined $141 million in May surpassed Biden and the DNC’s $81 million monthly haul.

As our JESSICA PIPER and MADISON FERNANDEZ report, Trump ended the month with more cash on hand ($116.6 million) than Biden ($91.6 million). In an email Thursday night, the Biden campaign’s AMMAR MOUSSA questioned whether all of the money Trump was bringing in was going to campaign expenses, suggesting much of the haul would go to pay off his legal bills.

I HATE IT HERE: Influencers will be getting the same level of access and information as traditional media at the Democratic National Convention this August, WaPo’s DYLAN WELLS reports. Given that “influencer” is a loosely defined term, there will be a credential request process aimed, we can only assume, at weeding out the folks from Project Veritas and others. The move is part of a broader effort to reach younger voters, who likely don’t consume traditional media and whose feelings about Biden and the upcoming election are … well, they have a lot of feelings.

The Biden campaign put out a video on their new content creator credentialing program that's giving airline safety video vibes and begs the question: Did they not turn to actual content creators for this?

THE BUREAUCRATS

BIG DEPARTURE AT STATE: ANDREW MILLER, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for Israeli-Palestinian affairs, told colleagues Friday that he has decided to leave his job, WaPo’s JOHN HUDSON scooped. Miller, the most senior official focused on Israeli-Palestinian issues to resign since the war began, said the conflict now in its eighth month has left him little time to spend with his family.

But one official told Hudson that Miller was “ahead of the curve from the beginning” in questioning the administration’s approach to Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU and, Hudson writes, “is said to have believed that the leverage the United States has over Israel as its biggest military, economic and political backer could have been used more effectively.”

Agenda Setting

EVEN SCOTUS IS LIKE, YEAH, WE THINK THIS GUN LIMIT MAKES SENSE: The Supreme Court has upheld the federal government’s power to ban possession of firearms by alleged domestic abusers, signaling limits to the high court’s recent expansion of gun rights, our JOSH GERSTEIN reports.

In a statement, Biden commended the 8-1 decision, where Justice CLARENCE THOMAS was the lone dissenter: “No one who has been abused should have to worry about their abuser getting a gun,” the president said. “As a result of today’s ruling, survivors of domestic violence and their families will still be able to count on critical protections, just as they have for the past three decades.”

LOOK, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO WEST WING TIE TO THIS: But we felt compelled to share this footage, dug by Heartland Signal, of Oklahoma Department of Education officials explaining that they can’t access their own website because the person who had the password left … two years ago. The Veep music basically plays itself.

What We're Reading

As Ukraine Expands Military Draft, Some Men Go Into Hiding (NYT’s Constant Méheut)

The Trump Running Mate Who Threatens the Blue Wall (Michael LaRosa for NYT Opinion)

MAGA, the Next Generation (The Atlantic’s Stephanie McCrummen)

NATO hopes to Trump-proof the alliance with new chief Mark Rutte. It could backfire. (POLITICO’s Miles Herszenhorn)

POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER

WARREN G. HARDING. On March 4, 1921, Harding went to and from his inauguration in a Packard Twin 6 supplied by the Republican National Committee.

Thanks to the White House Historical Association!

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 Sam Stein and Rishika Dugyala.

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