| | | | |  | | By Adam Wren, Eli Stokols and Lauren Egan | 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 The waiting is the hardest part. When it comes to the interregnum between long-list mentioning and short-list winnowing in the Democratic veepstakes, no one is more acquainted with that fraught waiting than EVAN BAYH. After all, the former governor and senator from Indiana went through it twice: once in 2000, as a possible running mate for AL GORE and again more seriously in 2008 alongside BARACK OBAMA. “I've likened it to having a colonoscopy performed, but they use a telescope to do it — the Hubble Telescope,” Bayh told West Wing Playbook in an interview this week. Both times, of course, he came up short — but not without going through the same excruciating waiting game the rest of the political world is now enduring. Bayh went through nearly three months of vetting in 2008, and passing the time while keeping his mind off becoming potentially the second most powerful person in the world took real effort. He’d immerse himself in his now-adult sons NICK and BEAU BAYH’s tennis or lacrosse matches or a football game. “Just being a dad was my way of getting away from it,” he said. At one point, Bayh had multiple television stations camped outside his home. One morning, he was watching MSNBC when then-anchor KEITH OLBERMANN zeroed in on Bayh while he was in the kitchen putting some yogurt in a dish, and then topping it with granola and fruit. “I have the TV on, listening as I’m doing this,” Bayh said. And then, in what he says was a “surreal experience,” Bayh heard Olbermann narrate his actions in real time: Oh, there’s Sen. Bayh now, he recalls Olbermann saying. That yogurt sure looks good. “And so I turned to my wife and said, ‘Sweetheart, I think we need to think about drawing the blinds here at the house.’” Bayh recalls having to fill out a questionnaire that asked him if he was ever unfaithful to his then-wife Susan, who passed away in 2021 of a brain tumor. “I was pleased to inform my wife that I was able to answer with a one-word ‘No’ to the have-you-ever-committed-adultery question. She was pleased with that part of the background check,” Bayh said. Bayh was among the very first vice presidential candidates to go through a vet in the social media age. Eagleton-esque rumors swirled online that he had sought psychological help, and Obama’s team inquired about them (they were, he told them, untrue). Deep into the process, Obama aides summoned Bayh to St. Louis for a three-hour interview over cheeseburgers in Obama’s hotel suite after a day of campaigning. Aides had hustled Bayh up a freight elevator so he wouldn’t be spotted. Obama pointed to a towering stack of papers, including Bayh’s tax and medical records, interviews with his father and his wife, and his son’s social media profiles. “And he said, ‘I’ve gone through it.’ He said, ‘Nothing in there bothers me,’” Bayh recalled. “‘But if there’s anything our team missed, you need to tell me because it’s going to come out.’” “And I said, ‘Well, your team did a thorough job, but there are probably two or three things I should mention to you.’ And I did. And he looked at me and he said, ‘That's it?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, that’s it.’ And then he said, ‘Well, you haven’t led much of a life, have you?’” Surprisingly, perhaps, Bayh said he hasn’t heard from any of his fellow Democrats on KAMALA HARRIS’ shortlist asking for advice, though he has lunched in the last year with fellow Hoosier PETE BUTTIGIEG, the Transportation secretary. (“He just makes so much sense,” Bayh said. “Straightforward, common sense. Very articulate. He can make solid points against the opposition, but do it in a non-nasty way.”) “It was about two and a half months,” Bayh said of his 2008 turn atop the veepstakes, which led to Obama telling him he was going to go in a “different direction,” choosing JOE BIDEN over Bayh and then-Virginia Gov. TIM KAINE. Of this year’s finalists, who will go through a truncated vetting period, Bayh said: “It’s gonna be about two and a half weeks. So it’s exhilarating. It’s nerve racking. It will be kind of like riding a roller coaster that’s on fast forward.” MESSAGE US — Are you HALEY ADAMS, senior policy adviser at the National Economic Council? 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!
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| | I’M SORRY, TRUMP SAID WHAT? Former President DONALD TRUMP, attempting to pivot to attacking Democrats’ new presidential nominee, suggested during a live interview on Wednesday at the National Association of Black Journalists that Vice President Harris “was Indian all the way and then all of the sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person.” As Eli reports, the comment — a reminder that Trump, weeks after his assassination attempt, is the same person he’s always been — drew broad and bipartisan condemnation and, interestingly, a response from the White House podium. Press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE responded sharply after being informed of the GOP nominee’s comment during the briefing. “As a person of color, as a Black woman in this position … what he just said, what you just read out to me is repulsive, it’s insulting,” Jean-Pierre said. “No one has any right to tell someone how they identify.” WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by the WaPo’s DANIELLE DOUGLAS-GABRIEL about how the Biden administration is emailing student loan borrowers to inform them how they can take advantage of the president’s debt relief programs. It's the latest in a series of moves to work around the Supreme Court’s ruling striking down his sweeping debt cancelation plan. “Biden’s debt relief policies are sure to take center stage as the election nears, despite the president’s departure from the campaign. Vice President Harris, the likely Democratic nominee, has heralded the administration’s efforts to clear the ledgers for millions of borrowers and said she would continue the policies if elected,” Douglas-Gabriel writes. Just about everyone in the West Wing shared the piece on X, including chief of staff JEFF ZIENTS, communications director BEN LaBOLT and deputy communications director JENNIFER MOLINA. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece from our URSULA PERANO, JOSH GERSTEIN and ADAM CANCRYN about how Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER stopped short of endorsing Biden’s plan to overhaul the Supreme Court — a sign that Democrats may not be so inclined to back the president’s new policy battles this late in his term. Schumer said he’s still reviewing Biden’s ideas on term limits for justices, enforceable ethics regulations and a reversal of the court’s presidential immunity decision: “We’re going to look at all the various proposals.” Though Schumer and other Senate Democrats have previously called for SCOTUS reform, the leader’s noncommittal response reveals they may not have the votes to pursue such a controversial issue (that House Speaker MIKE JOHNSON said was “dead on arrival”) just months before the election. WORDS OF WISDOM: An official in President RONALD REAGAN’s administration wrote in last night in response to West Wing Playbook’s piece about how a potential “friendly” presidential transition would go down if Harris wins the election. The official said that when then-Vice President GEORGE H.W. BUSH won the 1988 election, most Reagan appointees “assumed they would stay on” and were “quite shocked when they received the request for voluntary letters of resignation.” The former official described the exodus of Reagan appointees — even at the agency level — as a “massacre.” “Being good at your job (as a political appointee) was not a deciding factor in who was retained. It was just those who had ties. Taking a leave of absence to join the campaign (a drastic step for most) was one way to have a claim to be on the new team,” the person recalled. “The pragmatic (as opposed to egocentric) advice to appointees: look at the bigger picture and understand that Harris’ election may lose you your current job, but it will create a better job market for you than if she loses,” they added.
| | TECH BROS LINE UP BEHIND HARRIS: ELON MUSK move aside; the liberal VCs have entered the chat. More than 100 of them — including REID HOFFMAN, VINOD KHOSLA and MARK CUBAN — pledged Wednesday to vote and fundraise for Vice President Harris. It’s the most public pushback to the right-wing tech leaders who’ve been dominating the political conversation and have endorsed Trump, NYTs’ THEODORE SCHLEIFER, MIKE ISAAC and ERIN GRIFFITH report. And it comes as Harris seeks to organize and pay more attention to Silicon Valley leaders than Biden’s campaign did. “We are pro-business, pro-American dream, pro-entrepreneurship and pro-technological progress,” the group of investors said Wednesday in a statement posted to its website, VCsForKamala.org. “We also believe in democracy as the backbone of our nation.” CAROLINA IN PLAY? Trump’s campaign on Wednesday placed new TV ad spending in North Carolina, a response to Harris’ campaign hitting the air with an ad there. It’s a clear sign that Harris has improved Democrat’s electoral chances dramatically, as several operatives noted. “Two weeks ago, the Trump campaign was bragging about New Jersey,” DAN PFEIFFER wrote in a post on X. “Now, they are playing defense in North Carolina.” BATTLE OF THE ... GOLF CARTS? A shocking Saturday scene in The Villages: Hundreds of “Harris for President” golf carts paraded through the Florida retirement community that has been a stronghold for Trump’s MAGA movement for years. The turnout surprised both organizers and paradegoers, likely marking the largest golf cart caravan for a Democratic candidate in nearly a decade, vice president of the Villages Democratic Club DENNIS FOLEY told WaPo’s PRAVEENA SOMASUNDARAM. The club expected to see around 250 people. Double that showed up, with drivers cheering, honking their horns and riding around town for hours. They were met by a dozen Trump supporters, counter-protesting with signs (and the next day, The Villages MAGA Club announced it would host a counter-caravan for the Trump-Vance ticket). “This was kind of like, ‘Okay, what in the world is going on?’” TOMMY JAMIESON, who helped start the MAGA Club in 2022, told the Post. “Democrats having a golf cart rally, it’s just come out of nowhere.” THE VEEP’S VEEP SEARCH COMES TO AN END: Vice President Harris is expected to announce her running mate by Tuesday, when she will hold her first rally with her pick in Philadelphia, our HOLLY OTTERBEIN and EUGENE DANIELS report. The campaign said not to read into the fact that the rally is in the home state of Gov. JOSH SHAPIRO, one of the top contenders currently being vetted. Make of that what you will. But for whatever it’s worth, Sen. MARK KELLY said in an interview with MSNBC this morning that he planned to be in Arizona next week.
| | IKE’S ITALIAN BUFFETS HARDEST HIT: JORDAN FINKELSTEIN, a veteran of Biden’s 2020 campaign and senior member of the White House communications shop, is set to depart the White House in the coming days, Eli reports. Finkelstein is expected to follow senior adviser ANITA DUNN to the super PAC Future Forward. A number of senior aides, including Dunn and MIKE DONILON, praised Finkelstein’s work, as did several others who’ve worked with him. “Jordan is the glue that held the operation together across teams, made our culture strong and individual contributions be recognized,” communications director Ben LaBolt said in an email. “There aren’t enough ‘get shit done’ people in politics, but Jordan is one,” said IAN SAMS, spokesperson for the White House counsel’s office. And deputy Harris campaign manager ROB FLAHERTY texted praise of Finkelstein’s understanding of new and traditional media. “He’s sort of a perfect Robin to Anita’s Batman, whether he’s weighing in on email copy or doling out Anita’s various baked goods,” Flaherty said. THANK YOU, CHEF: After nearly three decades in the job, CRIS COMERFORD has resigned as the White House executive chef, AP’s COLLEEN LONG and DARLENE SUPERVILLE report. Comerford, the first woman and person of color to hold her job, has cooked state dinners for five presidents and a host of visiting leaders. “I always say, food is love,” first lady JILL BIDEN said in a statement. “Through her barrier-breaking career, Chef Cris has led her team with warmth and creativity, and nourished our souls along the way. With all our hearts, Joe and I are filled with gratitude for her dedication and years of service.” THIS IS ALL WE’VE EVER WANTED: Actress and comedian MAYA RUDOLPH will return to “Saturday Night Live” next season and reprise her portrayal of the vice president, CNN’s ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER reports. And thanks to Harris’ ascension, Rudolph’s role just got a lot bigger. As soon as Biden announced he was ending his reelection bid and endorsed Harris, there was immediate interest from SNL producers, a source tells Wagmeister. Saturday nights are going to get a lot more interesting — but no word yet on who’s playing Trump in the upcoming season. We’re expecting an even better debate sketch ... assuming we get an actual Harris-Trump debate in real life.
| | F-16S, FINALLY: The first delivery of F-16 fighter jets from NATO allies has arrived in Ukraine, a long-awaited move that may boost the war-torn nation’s ability to repel Russian attacks, Bloomberg’s JENNIFER JACOBS, ANDRA TIMU and ALBERTO NARDELLI report. The deadline for the transfer of the U.S.-made warplanes was the end of this month and it has been respected, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke under condition of anonymity. The number of jets is small, they said. Fewer than a dozen pilots, who have been training for months in Denmark, Britain and the U.S., could be ready to fly them in combat this summer. THE FED’S OPTICS ISSUE: Federal Reserve Chair JEROME POWELL appears ready to start cutting interest rates this fall, our VICTORIA GUIDA reports. But the optics of doing so right before the election could be dicey. “If the Fed follows through on an expected cut in September, any political fallout might not be immediately apparent,” Guida writes. “But it’s less clear what might play out if Trump is reelected.” Republicans are already accusing the central bank of political bias — including former President Trump, who said in an interview with Bloomberg that cutting rates just weeks ahead of the November vote is “something that [central bank officials] know they shouldn’t be doing.” In the same interview, Trump said he would allow Powell to serve out his term, but added, “especially if I thought he was doing the right thing.” AND ON THE OPIOID CRISIS: President Biden is calling for larger penalties for drug smugglers and stricter controls on pill presses and importers in an effort to tackle the opioid crisis, Reuters’ TREVOR HUNNICUTT reports. The move comes as fentanyl overdoses have become the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45, with over 107,000 Americans dying from drug overdoses in 2023.
| | Who’s Afraid of Josh Shapiro? (The Atlantic’s Yair Rosenberg) What’s in Kamala Harris’s laugh? (WaPo’s Maura Judkis and Kara Voght) An Anonymous Democratic Donor on Pressuring Biden to Step Down (Rachel Sugar for New York Magazine) The Uneasy Alliance Between Kamala Harris and Volodymyr Zelensky (Time Magazine’s Simon Shuster)
| | SUSAN FORD hosted the Holton-Arms School senior class for prom at the Executive Mansion on May 31, 1975, according to The White House Historical Association. President GERALD FORD and first lady BETTY FORD were in Europe for a NATO summit meeting, so Susan’s aunt, JANET FORD, and the school staff served as chaperones. Dancing took place in the East Room. 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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