| | | | |  | | By Bethany Irvine | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | SAD DAY IN PATERSON — “Bill Pascrell, fiery New Jersey Rep., dies at 87,” by Dustin Racioppi and Matt Friedman: “The 14-term [BILL PASCRELL JR.] was poised to become the oldest House member in 2025. … Pascrell was a voluble presence at home in New Jersey or in Washington. Whether it was a press conference to restore a popular tax deduction or making the case to impeach former President DONALD TRUMP, Pascrell could be counted on to deliver an enthusiastic — and usually lengthy — speech.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — The DNC has tapped JAMES GOLDSTON, former president of ABC News, to build on his work for the House Jan. 6 Committee by creating two new short films airing during the convention in primetime tonight: the first on the "Big Lie," and the second on Jan. 6 itself.
|  Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz faces a critical introduction to voters tonight. | AP | WALZ (NO. 2) — Minnesota Gov. TIM WALZ will take the stage tonight in Chicago to formally accept his nomination as KAMALA HARRIS’s pick for vice president — and introduce himself to voters on a scale like no other. It’s a critical introduction. While a subsection of the internet has embraced Walz as a “midwestern dad” figure, about 4 in 10 Americans say they still don’t know enough about the former geography teacher to form a strong opinion of him, AP’s Linley Sanders reports. Though he ranks high in favorability generally with Democrats, he’s still lacking with several key Democratic coalitions. “About 4 in 10 women don’t know enough to have an opinion of him, and about 4 in 10 young adults under age 45 say the same. About half of Black adults and roughly 4 in 10 Hispanic adults don’t know enough to say whether they like him, either. … Many lower-income adults and those without college degrees also don’t have a view of Walz.” What to expect … Walz — who reportedly told Harris' vetting team that he had never used a teleprompter before — is set to deliver the closing address late this evening following speeches by former Speaker NANCY PELOSI (D-Calif.) and former President BILL CLINTON. He’s slated to be formally nominated for the vice presidency by Sen. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-Minn.) and former student and neighbor BEN INGMAN. Follow along for live updates He’s likely to use his address to connect with voters, telling personal stories similar to his first rally appearance with the campaign. According to the Harris campaign, Walz will speak on how his small-town upbringing and values shaped “his service in the National Guard and as a teacher, football coach, member of Congress and governor,” NBC News’ Monica Alba and Summer Concepcion report: “Walz will also lay out what Harris will do for working families and call on the American people to work together to elect her as president.” A question of valor … The campaign notes that several videos will play before his address, including one that “will focus on Walz’s record of military service and commitment to improving the lives of veterans and their families.” Alba and Concepcion report. That suggests that Democrats are not shying away from Walz’s 24-year history as a National Guardsman amid politically charged questions about his service history. Meanwhile, Republicans see those questions as an opportunity to define the Minnesotan, Natalie Allison reports, as a liar who “abandon[ed[ the men and women under [his] leadership” by choosing to retire ahead of a possible Iraq deployment in 2005. “You have violated the trust of our brothers and sisters in arms,” reads a letter signed by 50 congressional Republicans who served in the military. “Until you admit you lied to them, there is no way you can be trusted to serve as Vice President.” Of note … As our colleague Dave Brown notes, at the end of the letter, which criticizes Walz “for (among other things) saying he retired as a command sergeant major, [Rep. RONNY JACKSON (R-Texas)] calls himself a retired Navy rear admiral, which he is not.” More DNC reads: “The Convention’s Happiest Democrats? The ‘Pretty Psyched’ Minnesotans,” by NYT’s Katie Glueck … “At DNC, influencers battle journalists for space and access,” by Reuters' Stephanie Kelly … “GOP using DNC to target vulnerable House Democrat,” by Ally Mutnick BRINGING BUBBA BACK — “Free Bill Clinton,” by Jonathan Martin: “Running what’s effectively a snap election with a ticket that, between them, has competed in a single, Covid-shaped national campaign, the party has an incentive to summon every possible asset to fend off Donald Trump. … Those who have seen Clinton up close this year say he has aged noticeably and may not be able to sustain a robust schedule. The master communicator, some fear, is not what he once was. … But the urgency, bordering on desperation, to stop Trump has many Democrats saying without hesitation that it’s worth the risk to Free Willie.” Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at birvine@politico.com.
| | | | A message from USAFacts: Want to know the facts on immigration, taxes and spending? Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft CEO and owner of the LA Clippers, shares facts and data, you make up your mind! | | | TODAY AT THE CNN-POLITICO GRILL — 2:40 p.m.: Sen. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-Ill.), with Anne McElvoy … 3 p.m.: JEN O’MALLEY DILLON, Harris-Walz campaign chair, with Eugene … 3:30 p.m.: Mayors ERIC ADAMS of New York, ANDRE DICKENS of Atlanta and BRANDON JOHNSON of Chicago, with Suzanne Lynch … 4:30 p.m.: Acting HUD Secretary ADRIANNE TODMAN, with Victoria Guida … 4:50 p.m.: Rep. SUZAN DelBENE (D-Wash.), DCCC chair, with Sarah Ferris … 5:30 p.m.: Sen. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-Ga.), with Brakkton Booker … 6:15 p.m.: Sen. TINA SMITH (D-Minn.), with Rachael … 6:30 p.m.: Pennsylvania Gov. JOSH SHAPIRO, with John Harris (all times CDT) … Watch live on YouTube … Follow the POLITICO DNC liveblog
| | 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | | 
JD Vance said that former President Donald Trump's comments about firing striking employees were about Twitter employees who "use their power to censor American citizens." | Alex Wong/Getty Images | 1. A TALE OF TWO VEEPS: As the White House’s sweeping infrastructure law comes into focus on the campaign trial, Democrats are rushing to point to Walz’s home state of Minnesota as the shining example of the Biden administration’s clean energy push, Josh Siegel, Catherine Morehouse and Kelsey Tamborrino report: “Minnesota has so far directly garnered $410 million in announced federal grants from the [Inflation Reduction Act] … putting it roughly in the middle of the pack nationally and behind various other red and blue states.” Meanwhile in Ohio … A steel plant highlighted in JD VANCE’s memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” faces an uncertain future should Trump retake the White House in November, Scott Waldman reports from Middletown, Ohio. Though the plant was given a $500 million in federal funding from the sweeping infrastructure law, “Both Trump and Vance have attacked the Inflation Reduction Act as a ‘green new scam’ and promised to repeal or weaken it. The Middletown plant could become collateral damage if they attack the legislation broadly and if funding for the project has not been distributed by early next year.” 2. FED UP: With the Fed officials set to convene in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for their annual meeting on Friday, Bloomberg’s Amara Omeokwe and Michael Mackenzie lay out the state of play for Chair JEROME POWELL, who’s on track to announce the first interest rate cuts since the pandemic next month. Cutting rates just seven weeks out before a presidential election is a “precarious task,” they write: “The rationale for cuts will have to be strong enough to address the political pressures surrounding the Fed in this election year. That could involve pointing to a slowing jobs market and softening growth.” The high stakes meeting comes as the Labor Department issued revised estimates today on job numbers for the 12 months through March that point to more cracks in the labor economy, CNN’s Alicia Wallace reports: “The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ preliminary annual benchmark review of employment data suggests that there were 818,000 fewer jobs in March of this year than were initially reported. … The preliminary data marks the largest downward revision since 2009 and shows that the labor market wasn’t quite as red hot as initially thought. However, job growth was still strong.” 3. THE STARK REALITY: “Tough U.S. Sanctions Packages Are Here to Stay—Whether It’s Harris or Trump,” by WSJ’s Richard Vanderford: “Imposing sanctions is in many ways an easy choice for Washington — they have far lower direct costs than other foreign-policy tools, such as sending military aid, and effectively deputize banks and other actors in the private sector to serve on the front line of their implementation. … [T]he next president will inherit the fruits of dramatically expanded multilateral cooperation among the U.S. and its allies. … The next president will also step into a climate of mounting speculation about the limits of sanctions as a means to respond to Chinese ambitions related to Taiwan.”
| | | | Follow ongoing storylines on how the election will shape policy debates beyond 2024. Our nonpartisan insights prepared our subscribers to navigate a changed political landscape. Learn more about POLITICO Pro. | | | | | 4. OH, CANADA: A labor dispute between Canada’s top two railroads and the Teamsters union could lead to a worker lockout as soon as tomorrow morning, potentially snarling “deliveries of cars, timber, petroleum products, grains and other crucial supplies” in the U.S., WaPo’s Lauren Kaori Gurley reports: “Canadian Pacific Kansas City advised over the weekend that starting Tuesday, it would stop all shipments that start in Canada, as well as those originating in the United States headed for Canada. The U.S. railway Union Pacific has said a shutdown would sideline more than 2,500 railcars from crossing the border each day.” 5. BACK TO SCHOOL: Mackenzie Wilkes dives into the struggle that K-12 schools face as they stare down the end of the $190 billion in pandemic aid that is set to run out next month: “High-poverty schools and urban districts, which generally received larger amounts of relief money, will feel the harshest effects of the disappearing dollars, forcing them to shrink staff and slash programs to balance their budgets … And districts that spent their one-time relief dollars on ongoing expenses like pay raises, more staff and new programs — even though they knew these funds were going to disappear — are now having to cut back.” 6. AD WARS: “Harris-Walz campaign releases first ads targeting Asian Americans in battleground states,” by NBC News’ Kimmy Yam: “The two spots, shared first with NBC News, are airing both digitally and on television and are part of a larger $90 million media buy across several battleground states. … [The ads] are airing across Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada among other swing states. They will run on apps including Snap, Youtube and iHeart Radio, and also on ethnic media outlets in the U.S. like The Filipino Channel, 3HmongTV, SBS Television Korea and Zee TV.” 7. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: “Key mediator Egypt expresses skepticism of Gaza cease-fire proposal as more details emerge,” by AP’s Samy Magdy: “Officials in Egypt, in its unique role as both a mediator and affected party since it borders Gaza, told The Associated Press that the Hamas militant group will not agree to the bridging proposal for a number of reasons — ones in addition to the long-held wariness over whether a deal would truly remove Israel forces from Gaza and end the war.”
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