WHAT CAN BE — On the heels of the first major ads going up today against VP KAMALA HARRIS, as we detailed in Playbook this morning, the Harris campaign is launching its own first big TV spot. The minute-long ad, “Fearless,” projects a mostly positive message introducing Harris as a fighter — from prosecutor to VP — against criminals, big banks and Big Pharma. It closes with a knock against DONALD TRUMP over tax breaks for corporations and the Affordable Care Act, and then Harris’ new mantra that “we are not going back.” The spot is the first in a $50 million ad campaign, running on TV and online with a significant Olympics footprint. What’s especially striking is that right now, both campaigns are focused on Harris — this morning on Philly TV, literally every single presidential ad was either for her or attacking her. That’s a big shift for Democrats, who spent most of this year hoping to focus voters’ attention on Trump instead of the unpopular incumbent administration. With President JOE BIDEN out of the race and the campaign upended, both sides clearly see defining the VP as the No. 1 priority, at least for the moment, as NYT’s Reid Epstein and Nicholas Nehamas write. As Republicans focus on Harris’ immigration policy role (which was not “border czar”), Reuters’ Ted Hesson, Mica Rosenberg and Kristina Cooke have a helpful look at the complicated reality of her impact. Harris is trying to marshal her momentum on the campaign trail in Atlanta today. Democrats hope she’ll improve the party’s standing with Black voters and put Georgia back in play, as NBC’s Nnamdi Egwuonwu captures. CNN’s Ronald Brownstein also notes that Harris’ candidacy also offers a chance to shore up support from pro-abortion-rights voters, where Biden had been slipping. Harris has reinvigorated big donors, per Hailey Fuchs and Jessica Piper, and today was endorsed by hundreds of climate advocates, per WaPo’s Maxine Joselow. And we’ll know her running mate soon: Reuters’ Jarrett Renshaw and Nandita Bose scooped that they’ll campaign together next week. The latest polls: In one of the best recent surveys for Democrats, Susquehanna finds Harris up by 4 points in Pennsylvania, while Democratic Sen. BOB CASEY leads by 5. In Florida, the University of North Florida has Trump leading by 7 and GOP Sen. RICK SCOTT up by 4. Meanwhile, Nate Silver’s model is back on and gives Harris just a 38 percent chance of winning. More Harris reads: “Rising from Biden’s shadow, Harris faces crucial test on foreign policy,” by WaPo’s Michael Birnbaum and Missy Ryan … “Fact check: Harris campaign falsely claims 2021 video shows Vance endorsing Project 2025,” by CNN’s Daniel Dale … “In Harris, business leaders tired of Biden see a potential friend,” by CNN’s Matt Egan ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT FALLOUT — Testifying in the Senate today, acting Secret Service Director RONALD ROWE JR. and Deputy FBI Director PAUL ABBATE provided shocking new details about what went wrong at Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania, rally. Abbate revealed that authorities have found a social media account they think (but have not confirmed) belonged to shooter THOMAS CROOKS from 2019 and 2020, which had “antisemitic and anti-immigration themes.” Rowe said he’d gone to Butler and laid on the roof in the same position as Crooks to understand his lines of sight, and “what I saw made me ashamed,” he shared in his opening remarks. “I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured.” Rowe said that in the 30-ish seconds between when local cops saw Crooks on the roof and when he started shooting, the radio communication of the information got “stuck” and didn’t make it to the Secret Service. He said problems with connectivity hamstrung the Secret Service’s counter-drone operations, which weren’t working when Crooks flew a drone earlier in the day. And he said the Secret Service’s radio communications from that day were not recorded — which he’s set a policy to reverse going forward. WaPo’s Samuel Oakford, Shawn Boburg, Jonathan Baran, Jarrett Ley, Evan Hill and Devlin Barrett also revealed today that as soon as a local SWAT officer started firing at Crooks, he stopped shooting. But overall, Rowe foisted a lot of the blame onto local law enforcement for not securing the building where Crooks accessed the roof. The Secret Service’s biggest problem was a “failure of imagination” in not expecting their partners’ shortcomings, he said. More from Josh Gerstein Good Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com. WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT — Trump today agreed with an interviewer that second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF is a “crappy Jew” and “horrible Jew,” and he made the obviously untrue claim that Harris “doesn’t like Jewish people.” HEADS UP — VA Secretary DENIS McDONOUGH intends to leave his role when Biden’s term ends, regardless of who wins the election, Bloomberg’s Brody Ford, Riley Griffin, and Fiona Rutherford scooped.
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