SQUARING UP: In about two hours, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will face each other for the first time as presidential rivals in Philadelphia — and California will likely figure into their debate in a big way. As our own Dustin Gardiner reported today, Trump has leaned on GOP caricatures of Harris’ deep-blue home state as a lawless dystopia rife with tent encampments and shuttered retail stores — the result of failed Democratic policies. A President Harris would bring that hellscape to the rest of the nation, he argues. But while Harris has talked proudly of her middle-class childhood in the Bay Area, don’t expect her to rally to her home state’s defense. She’s more likely to focus on her record as a California prosecutor who locked up rapists and cartel members. Her team has also been more focused on touting the Biden administration’s accomplishments, including defending abortion rights, passing a historically large infrastructure bill and helping the country recover from the Covid pandemic. Fed-up California Republicans have encouraged Trump’s campaign to bring attacks on their home state to the debate stage. As Dustin reported, Trump could hit Harris by trying to tie her to sanctuary cities for immigrants and San Francisco’s homelessness, as well as Proposition 47, which relaxed tough sentencing laws. To help you stay alert to all the potential Golden State buzzwords thrown out during tonight’s debate, we’ve created a handy California-centric bingo card. Download it here or even print it out if you like the old-school method. Here are a few topics that might come up … WILLIE BROWN: Trump has tried to undermine Harris’ career success by bringing up her previous romantic relationships. This includes her connection to former San Francisco mayor and Assembly speaker Willie Brown, whom she dated in the 1990s. Bringing up Brown may be ill-advised for Trump, given that he recently appeared to confuse the San Francisco politician with former Los Angeles city council member and state senator Nate Holden when telling a story about a tumultuous helicopter ride. But we wouldn’t be surprised if Trump, being Trump, goes off-script. PROSECUTOR HARRIS: Harris will likely continue playing up her stints as San Francisco district attorney and state attorney general to present herself as a foil to Trump’s convicted felon status. “In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds,” Harris said during a campaign staffer meeting in July. “Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump's type.” However, Trump could counter with his own characterization of his rival’s time in office. A post on his campaign website claims Harris was “the most liberal prosecutor in California.” “Kamala Harris is a pro-criminal radical,” the post says. “Kamala makes Barack Obama look like Joe Arpaio,” referring to the former Republican sheriff in Arizona. SAN FRANCISCO “DESTROYED”: Trump has blamed Harris for the so-called “destruction” of San Francisco, a place Republicans love to target as a liberal panacea overrun with drugs and homelessness. However, Trump has also said San Francisco was “the best city in the country, one of the best cities in the world” 15 years ago — that’s when Harris was the district attorney and Gov. Gavin Newsom was mayor. And, as Dustin reported, a discussion on homelessness could actually work in Harris’ favor, giving her a chance to tout her plan to boost home construction. IT’S TUESDAY AFTERNOON. This is California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check on California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to lholden@politico.com.
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