| | | | |  | | 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 and Harris campaign. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren PROGRAMMING NOTE: West Wing Playbook will be off next week but will be back in your inboxes on Tuesday, Sept. 3. We hope absence makes the heart grow fonder. CHICAGO — Modern nominating conventions have turned into a week-long blitz of luncheons, cocktail events and late-night concerts, offering party officials and staffers one last chance to come together to blow off steam before the grueling dash to Election Day. But the week has also morphed into the official kickoff of one of Washingtonians’ most revered pastimes: plotting how to climb the career ladder — and then gossiping about it. The thousands of lawmakers, administration officials and staffers who overtake the host city makes it ripe ground for the rumor mill to start churning. And after missing out on the in-person convention in 2020 due to Covid, Dems were leaning in hard to what we’ve dubbed the “float game.” Self-serving staffers looking to ride their boss’ coattails to higher-profile gigs were not-so-subtly dropping names for senior White House jobs and cabinet positions. Over messy bites of sauced-up Chicago dogs and sips of sugary mixed drinks, Democratic officials made their best attempt to ever so slightly open the door to speculation that they would make a fantastic secretary of state or ambassador to the United Kingdom. The convention week float game is a microcosm of the rat race that defines D.C., where staffers and lawmakers alike are in a perpetual state of elbowing their way into the next best thing under the veil of “working hard on behalf of the American people.” They may publicly assert that they are solely focused on getting KAMALA HARRIS elected and simply cannot think beyond Nov. 5, but the whisper game reveals a different story. There was talk of how Sen. CORY BOOKER (D-N.J.) was whispering — and it’s a good point — about how senators from blue states would be wise picks for cabinet positions since they could easily be replaced with another Democrat (translation: pick me as attorney general). And it’s just a total mystery why everyone was buzzing about Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG becoming U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Even delegates leaving the United Center on Monday evening were groaning about how obvious it was that Commerce Secretary GINA RAIMONDO was angling to be Treasury secretary. Then there was someone going around Chicago suggesting Harris would be smart to tap Sen. MICHAEL BENNET (D-Colo.) as chief of staff (guess the Senate is really that bad, huh?). While we hear that may be unlikely, some Dems made the case that Bennet’s relationship with Harris could put him in the mix for a cabinet post: either Education secretary, given his background as a former school district superintendent in Denver, or, perhaps more to the fancy of a lawmaker with Finance Committee experience, leading Treasury himself. Plenty of Democrats rolled their eyes during after-hour parties at how New Mexico Gov. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM was pitching herself as secretary of Health and Human Services, only to delicately note at breakfast meetings the next morning that their boss just happened to be interested in a, uh, how does one put it … working out of that government building in Foggy Bottom? With Interior Secretary DEB HAALAND expected to run for governor in 2026, there was also conversation about whether Sen. MARTIN HEINRICH (D-N.M.) could be looking to replace her in a Harris cabinet. Of course, not all of the personnel gossiping is out of left field. There are some Harris allies who she would almost certainly want in her administration should she win in November, such as Sen. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO (D-Nev.), who was discussed this week as the potential attorney general or head of the Interior Department. As we’re sure Booker knows, Nevada just changed its law so that Republican Gov. JOE LOMBARDO would have to appoint a Democratic replacement for any Democrat who resigns their seat. (How does “Sen. STEVEN HORSFORD” sound, folks?) Part of the float game is the art of convincing the media that one really isn’t interested in the position, but that it was so flattering to be suggested. “I’m not applying for a job right now or measuring the drapes on anything,” Buttigieg said when asked this week if he was angling for Turtle Bay. Agriculture Secretary (for life) TOM VILSACK told reporters inquiring about whether he was interested in serving in a Harris administration that his focus was on creating “economic opportunity for people” and it would always be his focus “regardless of the capacity of where I might find myself.” Harris campaign co-chair CEDRIC RICHMOND, who has been floated as a potential Harris White House chief of staff, told West Wing Playbook that he did not know why his name ended up in the mix. “I enjoy bringing little Cedric to school every morning in New Orleans,” he said. And to be fair to the former congressman, he was pretty convincing — why would anyone want to leave New Orleans? MESSAGE US — Are you WALLY ADEYEMO? 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!
| | What tech meltdown did MICHELLE OBAMA have at her 2008 DNC speech? (Answer at bottom.)
| | | | 
Vice President Harris celebrates after accepting the Democratic presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday. | Getty Images/Andrew Harnik | | | | SHOTS FROM A HISTORIC WEEK: Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist DAVID HUME KENNERLY was on the ground in Chicago this week, capturing images that encapsulate the final stage in the Democratic vibe shift, as our CALDER McHUGH writes. “This is like going to Woodstock — it’s like a giant lovefest without the bands,” Kennerly said (obviously forgetting the upside-down drummers who took the stage). “One of the things I’ve been trying to do is capture the vibe of it all … A vibe is a human emission. This really feels good.”
|  The Maryland (left) and Arizona delegations cheer during the roll call on the second night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, on Aug. 20, 2024. | David Hume Kennerly | THAT'S THE END OF ... THAT: Longshot independent candidate ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., who has promoted anti-vaccine and 9/11 conspiracies, suspended his campaign on Friday, endorsing DONALD TRUMP for president. In a rambling press conference this afternoon, Kennedy took aim at Vice President Harris, the Democratic National Committee and the press, which he said “didn’t alone cause the devolution of American democracy,” but “could have prevented it." Kennedy is removing his name from the ballot of 10 states in which he concluded would be a spoiler vote. He urged supporters to vote for him in blue states, in case neither Harris or Trump get 270 electoral votes. In a joint statement, five of Kennedy’s siblings who have been continued critics of his campaign denounced the endorsement of Trump. “Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear,” the statement read. “It is a sad ending to a sad story.” LOSER TOWN. POPULATION: ONE. Maybe it was the “Kamala” or “We ❤️ Joe” signs. Or maybe you were able to snag your state’s delegation sign! Everyone grabbed some sort of merch while in Chicago. For West Wing Playbook, we know one co-author who made sure he got his fair share of Cubs merch while in the city (for the children!). But clearly PATRICK DILLON, senior adviser in the Department of Commerce, wasn't having it when his kids wanted to sneak back some balloons. “‘No you absolutely cannot pack the balloon in your luggage to take home as a souvenir’ is a thing I just said to an 11 year old,” Dillon wrote on X last night.
| | ON CLYBURN’S BIDEN CALL: This smart piece from NOTUS’ JASMINE WRIGHT, who catalogs the history Harris has made on a continuum that goes back to FANNIE LOU HAMER and SHIRLEY CHISHOLM, included a notable quote from Rep. JIM CLYBURN (D-S.C.) describing a call he made to President JOE BIDEN on July 21, the day he dropped out. “When Joe Biden called me that morning, read me his statement, I said to him at the time, ‘There’s something missing in this statement.’ And he knew what I meant. And he said to me at the time, ‘I will be issuing a second statement within the hour.’ And that was the statement endorsing her,” Clyburn said. But the White House pushed back on the idea that Clyburn’s remark was what prompted Biden to quickly back Harris, who was able to almost immediately lock down support from across the party. Communications director BEN LaBOLT wrote on X that Biden “planned to (and did) endorse @KamalaHarris that day immediately after withdrawing from the race. This wasn’t a planted seed - it was his clear view on how to move forward and something he briefed the team on when he informed us of his decision.” SOME WELCOMING NEWS: Federal Reserve Chair JEROME POWELL on Friday said rate cuts are coming, signaling confidence that the U.S. can avoid a recession, our VICTORIA GUIDA reports. In remarks at the central bank’s annual conference, Powell said “the time has come” for the Fed to cut interest rates, as his confidence has grown that inflation is cooled. His goal now is safeguarding the job market amid signs that it is slowing. “We will do everything we can to support a strong labor market as we make further progress toward price stability,” Powell said. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by NPR’s SCOTT NEUMAN, who reports that gas prices are down to some of the lowest levels since 2021. The national average for a gallon has fallen more than 20 cents since May and is now at $3.38 — about 47 cents lower than this time a year ago. Experts say the trend is likely to continue in the coming months, possibly leading to $3-a-gallon gasoline for the first time since 2021. Although presidents have very little impact on how much consumers pay at the pump — and instead relies entirely on supply and demand — it’s an issue that every presidential candidate latches on to to score political points. Deputy communications director HERBIE ZISKEND shared the piece on X. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by our JOSEPH SCHATZ, who writes that Democrats not only sent Biden off into the sunset on Monday night — but, over the next three days, they ditched his campaign playbook. BILL CLINTON’s instruction about how to attack Trump — “don’t count the lies, count the I’s” — seemed like an admonition of Biden, who spoke of the GOP nominee’s lies whose campaign tried, mostly in futility, to convince voters that Trump was an existential threat to American democracy. And a number of other speakers seemed to follow Clinton’s template, mocking Trump’s vanity and smallness while offering a more upbeat vision of the future.
| | | | CATCHING UP: National Security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN will travel to China next week to meet with Chinese foreign minister WANG YI, NYT’s MICHAEL SHEAR reports. Sullivan’s trip will be his fifth face-to-face meeting with Wang, but his only trip to Beijing since the start of the Biden administration. It will also be the first time a national security adviser traveled to China since SUSAN RICE did so in 2016. The officials will discuss potential areas of cooperation, including efforts to curb the spread of fentanyl, as well as areas where the two countries are locked in disputes, such as the future of Taiwan.
| | REALPAGE? MORE LIKE FAKEPAGE: The Department of Justice said it filed an antitrust lawsuit on Friday against the real estate software company RealPage, alleging its software enabled landlords to collude to raise rents across the country, NYT’s DANIELLE KAYE, LAUREN HIRSCH and DAVID McCABE report. The suit, which was joined by eight other states, accuses the company of facilitating a price-fixing conspiracy that boosted rents beyond market forces for millions of people. It’s the first major civil antitrust lawsuit where the role of an algorithm in pricing manipulation is central to the case, DOJ officials said.
| | | | Kamala Harris Gave the Best Acceptance Speech I’ve Ever Seen (NY Mag’s Jonathan Chait) The astonishing metamorphosis of Kamala Harris (FT’s Edward Luce) Harris Leans on Memory of her Mother, as She Reintroduces Herself (NYT’s Katie Rogers)
| | | Her teleprompter broke! In her 2022 book, "The Light We Carry," Obama admitted that she overcame a teleprompter mishap during her first major live televised speech at the 2008 DNC. “I was standing there on live television, knowing I was supposed to speak for 16 minutes straight,” Obama wrote. “There was no pausing the show or calling for help. For a second, I felt wildly alone — and also wildly exposed.” Luckily for her, she spent the whole week rehearsing the speech and had it completely memorized. 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. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
