| | | | |  | | By Myah Ward, Eli Stokols, Lauren Egan 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 When campaign aides in Wilmington presented an early cut of a new KAMALA HARRIS bio ad to the vice president’s team, staffers quickly spotted a minor error about her short stint working at the country’s most popular fast food chain. The ad’s narration asserted that Harris worked at McDonald’s to “pay her way” through college. But that wasn’t quite right: She really took the summer job just to earn a bit more spending money. The ad was quickly re-cut, just another wrinkle to iron out amid a fast-moving presidential campaign that has reconstituted itself around a new nominee. But the mix-up aside, aides agreed about what they saw as a small but important piece of Harris’ backstory: They wanted voters to know she worked at McDonald’s. Harris worked at a McDonald’s in California in the summer between her freshman and sophomore years at Howard University, according to her campaign. She worked on fries, ice cream and as a cashier. It’s a very small piece of her bio that her campaign believes young people and working-class voters can connect to. And they plan to use it to draw a sharp contrast with DONALD TRUMP, as they try to convince voters that Harris is the candidate working to help the middle class. The vice president mentioned it in several speeches last week, presenting herself and Minnesota Gov. TIM WALZ as two “middle-class kids,” one who had a “summer job at McDonald’s” and the other who grew up “working on a farm.” In an ad released last week, a narrator says, “Determination is how Kamala Harris went from working at McDonald’s to prosecutor, state attorney general, U.S. senator and our vice president — in only one generation.” Another ad said she “worked at McDonald’s while she got her degree. Kamala Harris knows what it’s like to be middle class.” Her McDonald’s job was also mentioned in an ad this week from pro-Harris super PAC Future Forward. It comes as Harris is scheduled to roll out the first piece of her economic agenda in North Carolina on Friday. It’ll mark the first major policy initiative since her campaign launched almost a month ago. “Vice President Harris’ middle-class roots are a big reason why she’s fighting so hard to strengthen the middle class, lower the cost of living and ensure every American has the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead,” principal deputy campaign manager QUENTIN FULKS said in a statement, adding that it’s a “stark contrast” to Trump and his economic agenda. Walz also appears to be a big fan of the McDonald’s bit — and to no one’s surprise, has already found his go-to riff. He was out on the trail solo on Tuesday and repeated the new line not once, but twice. “You knew Vice President Harris grew up in a middle-class family, picked up shifts at a McDonald’s as a student,” Walz said at the AFSCME convention. “I keep asking this to make a contrast here. Can you simply picture Donald Trump working at a McDonald’s trying to make a McFlurry or something?” The McDonald’s nugget isn’t a new one for Harris as a candidate. She joined striking McDonald’s workers in Las Vegas during her 2019 presidential campaign. And earlier this year, it came up during her interview on DREW BARRYMORE’s show, when Harris was asked the most important question of all: What’s her go-to order? “I would probably do a quarter-pounder with cheese and fries,” Harris said, adding that her favorite sauce for McNuggets would be barbecue. Respectable order, though West Wing Playbook is a bit split on the sauce choice. Also, where’s the McFlurry??? OK, since you asked, here are our go-to McDonald’s orders. Myah: Big Mac or McNuggets with fries and a Coke. Sweet and sour sauce, always. Lauren: Classic McDonald’s burger, fries to dip in an Oreo McFlurry (duh). Eli: Double cheeseburger (one or two, depends on the day), fries, Diet Coke Who are we kidding? Eli only eats at Tatte. Ben: 4-piece McNugget Happy Meal. And vanilla ice cream cone if the machine is working. Holly Otterbein contributed to this report. MESSAGE US — Are you THE HAMBURGLAR? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. DNC COUNTDOWN: Are you headed to the 2024 Democratic convention in Chicago? Join POLITICO in Chicago for live, in-person conversations with the Democratic Party’s biggest newsmakers. Sign up here to get notified once registration opens. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!
| | | | During unprecedented times, POLITICO Pro Analysis gives you the insights you need to focus your policy strategy. Live briefings, policy trackers, and and people intelligence secures your seat at the table. Learn more. | | | | | | | | | Which former president suited up for a minor league baseball team during his time as vice president? (Answer at bottom.)
| | SAVE THE DATE: Tim Walz gave his nod of approval to CBS News’ invitation to debate JD VANCE on Oct. 1 in New York City in a post on X Wednesday afternoon. Unclear yet whether the Vance team will sign off on that date. CBS said in a social media post that they offered one of four consecutive Tuesdays for the debate and were waiting to hear back from both sides. “Gov. Walz looks forward to debating JD Vance — if he shows up,” a Harris campaign official said. TENSIONS RUN DEEP: President JOE BIDEN is frustrated that BARACK OBAMA wouldn’t tell him to his face that he should drop his reelection bid, views NANCY PELOSI as “ruthless” and is peeved at CHUCK SCHUMER for the role he played, too. Our JONATHAN LEMIRE, URSULA PERANO, DANIELLA DIAZ and RYAN LIZZA report this morning that even though the president is coming to terms with his decision, he still holds resentment toward senior members of his own party who he believes ushered him out the door. Pelosi, who’s been the face of the movement, is currently on an extensive book tour where she’s been publicly explaining her reasons for nudging Biden to leave the race. And the president has told people close to him that he grudgingly respects the former speaker’s actions. “She did what she had to do” in order to give Democrats the best chance to win in November, Biden told one of the people, adding that Pelosi “cares about the party,” not about feelings. PENNSYLVANIA VIBIN’: In a new Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters in Pennsylvania, Vice President Harris has a slight, three-point edge over Donald Trump, 48 percent to 45 percent. Of the two nominees and their running mates, Tim Walz has the highest net favorability rating at +7, with Harris trailing at -2, Trump with -9 and JD Vance at -10. “The long-term impact is speculation, but the math is clear: Walz helps Harris a lot more than Vance helps Trump,” said Quinnipiac Polling Analyst TIM MALLOY. KAMALA-CON IN CHI-TOWN: No, we’re not talking about the actual convention. The DNC’s free-to-the-public dayside programming taking place at the McCormick Center will include free manicures, friendship bracelet making and campaign training, as the committee laid out for WaPo’s MICHAEL SCHERER. Several Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.) and Rep. MAXWELL FROST (D-Fla.), are scheduled to appear. YOU WANT MY BRIEFCASE?? NYT’s JOSEPH BERNSTEIN has a piece out this morning on GWEN WALZ, the “coolheaded and ultracompetent counterpart” to the Minnesota governor. One nugget we found interesting was the choice of the couple’s first date. Tim, a ninth-grade geography teacher at the time, took Gwen, who was teaching English at the same school, to see MICHAEL DOUGLAS’ “Falling Down” in 1993. Really, really interesting movie to go to on the first date. Gwen didn’t seem too impressed: “In a 2019 profile in the Star Tribune, Ms. Walz said she rebuffed a kiss afterward,” Bernstein wrote.
| | WHAT JAKE SULLIVAN IS READING: In a new essay for Foreign Affairs, pre-released online on Wednesday, former Carnegie Endowment for International Peace President JESSICA T. MATTHEWS takes stock of Biden’s foreign policy record in full. Although she criticized his protectionist trade policy and asserts that he has misread the Middle East, Matthews recognizes Biden’s successes in Asia, revitalizing of the transatlantic alliance and reduction of America’s military footprint. “In a deeply divided country, four years is too little time to establish a foreign policy doctrine,” she writes. “Much of what Biden has achieved could be quickly erased by a successor. Yet his legacy to date suggests the lineaments of a new approach well suited to today’s world. Most important among them is a resolve to eschew wars to remake other countries and to restore diplomacy as the central tool of foreign policy. That diplomatic revival has not been without flaws: it has not fostered a coherent global economic strategy, and it has lacked a strong commitment to nonproliferation and arms control. But it has presented to the world a country that has unambiguously left behind the hubris of the ‘unipolar moment’ that followed the Cold War, proving that the United States can be deeply engaged in the world without military action or the taint of hegemony.” HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN: After a grim morning at the White House where technical problems persisted into a third straight day, the afternoon brought relief: Cable news was back on in-house TV monitors and, right around 2:30 p.m., the press wifi network was restored. Credit to the General Services Administration: You’re at least faster than the District of Columbia’s 311 line. But someone should really give the grass on the North Lawn a fresh mowing. It’s looking shockingly weedy. YOU GUYS GOT ANY JOB OPENINGS IN FIVE MONTHS? President Biden hosted 100 digital content creators and influencers on Wednesday for its first conference about the “creator economy,” a sector that has boomed as social media companies make it easier for creators to profit off their content. Biden had some fun with it, taking a couple selfies before chatting the group up. “I think you’re going to change the entire dynamic of the way in which we communicate,” he said, before joking, “That’s why I invited you to the White House, because I’m looking for a job.” (That got a healthy round of applause.) WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: The latest consumer price index reading, which found overall inflation at 2.9 percent in July on a yearly basis, the first time inflation has slipped below 3 percent since March 2021. As NYT’s JEANNA SMIALEK reports, while it still exceeds the 2 percent it was prior to the Covid pandemic, today’s reading is much lower than the 9.1 percent peak in 2022. Core inflation, which strips out food and fuel prices, dropped to 3.2 percent, the lowest since April 2021. The report further paves the way for Fed officials to cut interest rates at its meeting next month, which has been at a relatively high 5.3 percent the past year. Everyone at the White House posted the news. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by NPR’s BRIA SUGGS, who reports on how young Black voters are becoming increasingly more conservative than previous generations. CHRISTOPHER TOWLER, an associate professor at California State University, Sacramento and the principal investigator of the Black Voter Project, is looking into how many young Black voters feel disconnected from politics. He thinks that a lot of Black Americans who are less likely to vote, or vote less consistently, aren’t seeing what politicians and parties claim as “wins” for the Black community impact their lives concretely. “People may not see more opportunities for themselves, as are often touted by the Biden Administration, including lowering Black unemployment or increasing Black small business loans and grants,” Suggs writes. According to a survey conducted by Towler, the highest percentage of Black voters who say they are voting for Donald Trump is among the 18- to 29-year-old age cohort, with about 22 percent saying they’ll support the Republican nominee. WHO DAT?? While in New Orleans on Wednesday, President Biden stopped in Metairie’s Drago’s Seafood Restaurant for dinner with first lady JILL BIDEN and campaign co-chairs CEDRIC RICHMOND and MITCH LANDRIEU. During the 90 minutes at the restaurant, owner TOMMY CVITANOVICH said the group shared charbroiled oysters — a Drago’s specialty — and Shrimp Fleur de Lis and alligator for appetizers. But that was a bit outside the comfort zone for our president. “Biden, a bit chagrined, asked Cvitanovich if he could order a cheeseburger,” the Times-Picayune’s CHELSEA SHANNON and TYLER BRIDGES reported last night. “I make a great cheeseburger, Mr. President,” Cvitanovich replied.
| | LIVE AT THE CNN/POLITICO GRILL: If you’ve already hit us up about how to get passes for the CNN/POLITICO Grill next week, you may just be seeking our company, or perhaps the free food and drinks. But you’ll also run into a number of Democratic elected officials and party insiders. Among the headliners announced on Wednesday: Illinois Gov. JB PRITZKER, North Carolina Gov. ROY COOPER, Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG and Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York, DICK DURBIN of Illinois, TINA SMITH of Minnesota, DEBBIE STABENOW of Michigan and LAPHONZA BUTLER of California. PERSONNEL MOVES: KETEDREA BRANHAM is now director for international engagement at the Council on Environmental Quality at the White House, our DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. She most recently was chief of staff for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. — ANDREA M. O'NEAL has been promoted to be special assistant to the president for racial and economic justice at the White House's Domestic Policy Council, Lippman has also learned. She most recently was senior policy adviser for racial and economic justice.
| | MPOX IS BACK: The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that the rapid spread of mpox, formerly called monkeypox, in African countries constitutes a global health emergency. It’s the second time in three years that WHO has designated an mpox epidemic as a global emergency after doing so in July 2022, NYT’s APOORVA MANDAVILLI reports. The previous outbreak went on to affect nearly 100,000 people across 116 countries, primarily gay and bisexual men, and killed about 200 people. However, as Mandavilli writes, the threat this time around is deadlier.
| | The Myth of Female Unelectability (The Atlantic’s Jerusalem Demsas) The Saudi Crown Prince is Talking About An Assassination. His Own. (POLITICO’s Nahal Toosi) Scout Walz Is Man’s (And Maybe America’s) Best Friend (Vogue’s Elise Taylor) The toddler book tolerability index. (LitHub’s Emily Temple)
| | | While serving as RONALD REAGAN’s vice president, GEORGE H. W. BUSH played in an “Old Timers Game” for the Denver Bears in 1984 with some MLB legends. It was by sheer coincidence that he was in Denver during the game, and after some convincing by the former players staying in the same hotel as Bush, the future 41st president dusted off his baseball prowess from his days as a member of the Yale Bulldogs team. Bush got two chances at bat — and came through on both. The then-VP hit a pop-up to the infield on former lefty pitcher WARREN SPAHN and then a grounder up the middle, just out of reach of Spahn’s reliever. Some other greats playing in the game were ERNIE BANKS, BROOKS ROBINSON and JOE DiMAGGIO. 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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