| | | | |  | | By Lauren Egan, Ben Johansen and Eli Stokols | | Presented by |  | | | 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 It may be hard to fathom: a president, in their 80s, who has all of D.C. wanting more. But for the last week or so, that’s been the reality — for MARTIN SHEEN. Less than a month of after his last appearance in town — a speech in character as President JED BARTLET to a teary-eyed crowd at the Sixth & I synagogue — the acting-family patriarch was at the stately residence of the Irish ambassador last Thursday, preaching to staffers as they sipped pints of Guinness and snacked on bites of prosciutto and lemon-dill shrimp.
|  Martin Sheen signs a copy of “WHAT’S NEXT: A Backstage Pass to The West Wing, Its Cast and Crew, and Its Enduring Legacy of Service” for Irish Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason. | Courtesy of Melissa Fitzgerald | | Later that night — following a three-course meal of brioche-crusted crab cakes, poached salmon and coconut rice pudding at the McLean home of White House Historical Association board member ASHLEY DABBIERE — Sheen was once again holding court, captivating the roughly 20 dinner guests that included White House press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, British ambassador KAREN PIERCE and chief of staff to the second gentleman JESSICA KILLIN as he recited an Irish poem. Sheen’s D.C. tour has been to promote a new book — “WHAT’S NEXT: A Backstage Pass to The West Wing, Its Cast and Crew, and Its Enduring Legacy of Service” — written by his former cast members MELISSA FITZGERALD and MARY McCORMACK. And it’s also to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the hit TV show, which first aired almost exactly 25 years ago on Sept. 22, 1999. We all know that person in D.C. who is quick to slam “The West Wing” as unrealistic and idealistic, as if thinking so was a personality trait — failing to grasp that the fantasy of how political problems are solved under a Bartlet presidency was, in fact, the point. But now, most political nerds are choosing to embrace the earnestness, unembarrassed to admit that AARON SORKIN’s imagined version of what Washington could be was in part what inspired their generation of do-gooders to get into politics. Political staffers have shamelessly stopped Sheen on the street to ask for a selfie. They’ve struck up conversations with Fitzgerald and McCormack at cocktail events, asking them to sign a copy of their book. One well-known Democratic operative was spotted geeking out after bumping into Sheen on an Amtrak from New York to D.C. “Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere,” was how Fitzgerald — who played CAROL FITZPATRICK, assistant to press secretary C.J. CREGG — described the frequency of Sheen getting approached by fans in D.C. last week. “You could just give up getting anything done, because he is going to give everybody their time. He loves people. He’s interested in people. You have to just give over to it.” It will surprise no one that TONY P, who attended the Irish ambassador’s reception, admitted to us that he has watched all 156 episodes of “The West Wing” five times, including a five-day binge when he was weighing the decision to move to Washington from Boston. “I think the joy that I have for this city, I got a good leg up from the show because I already came here loving it,” he said. The spate of “West Wing” events reached a crescendo on Friday, when first lady JILL BIDEN hosted a Rose Garden celebration in honor of the show’s 25th anniversary. Administration officials and Democratic staffers sipped on specialty cocktails such as “The Jackal” — bourbon and ginger ale with bitters, garnished with an orange wedge — as cast members stood under the portico, beaming out at the crowd. “Having a lasting impact in terms of public service and in Washington, D.C. … for me, it’s the most meaningful feeling in the entire world,” Fitzgerald told West Wing Playbook. “To have an opportunity to work on a show that had such a lasting social impact, is just truly such a gift.” TAMMY HADDAD stood to the side of the Rose Garden, filming speeches from Biden, Sheen and Sorkin on her iPhone. GENE SPERLING, former Biden White House adviser who recently joined the Harris campaign, sheepishly grinned as Sorkin gave him a shoutout for being part of a group of political professionals who would reach out and “pitch ideas and passionately argue the dramatic and emotional potential of stories about the census.” (Sperling, unfortunately, did not respond to West Wing Playbook’s inquiry about which scenes were his ideas.) The fan-girling has gone both ways. “The West Wing” cast members, who still keep in close touch via a group chat (Sheen, who at 84 years old lacks some technology skills, is not a part of it), reveled in being able to meet President JOE BIDEN and tour the Oval Office. RICHARD SCHIFF, who played TOBY ZIEGLER, couldn’t stop posting photos from the White House. And at the McLean dinner party last week, Sheen gushed to Killin, the second gentleman’s chief of staff, about what a huge fan he was of DOUG EMHOFF. “It was quite moving for all of us,” Fitzgerald told us, reflecting on the White House visit. “Being able to be in the Oval Office with Martin and watch him stand at the Resolute desk, was very moving.”
|  President Biden and White House staff pose with Martin Sheen, Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack | Courtesy of Melissa Fitzgerald | MESSAGE US — Are you ROB LOWE? 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!
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| | SETBACK FOR DON: On Monday, Nebraska state Sen. MIKE McDONNELL, a Democrat-turned-Republican from Omaha, shot down the GOP’s efforts to help ease DONALD TRUMP’s path to the White House, Nebraska Examiner’s AARON SANDERFORD reports. Allies of the former president had hoped McDonnell would agree to change how the state allocates its Electoral College votes, which would have ended the 32-year tradition of awarding three of its five votes by congressional district to a winner-take-all system based on the state’s popular vote. “I respect the desire of some of my colleagues to have this discussion, and I have taken time to listen carefully to Nebraskans and national leaders on both sides of the issue,” McDonnell said in a statement. “After deep consideration, it is clear to me that right now, 43 days from Election Day, is not the moment to make this change.” FEMININOME … NOT? Pop singer CHAPPELL ROAN over the weekend said in an interview with the Guardian’s KATE SOLOMON that she felt no pressure to endorse KAMALA HARRIS. “I have so many issues with our government in every way,” Roan said. “There are so many things that I would want to change. So I don’t feel pressured to endorse someone. There’s problems on both sides. I encourage people to use your critical thinking skills, use your vote – vote small, vote for what’s going on in your city.” For Roan, the big issue this election year is trans rights: “They cannot have cis people making decisions for trans people, period.” Reminder: In the hours after Biden dropped out, the “Kamala HQ” TikTok used Roan’s “Femininomenon” in a video that received over 60 million views and 7.6 million likes. SOMETIMES THERE’S A MAN… with an iconic voice who’s willing to narrate political ads. In this case, that’s SAM ELLIOTT, whose gravelly voice has come to epitomize the American west, appealing directly to male voters in a new cinematic spot from The Lincoln Project. Harris, Elliott says, “has more courage, more honor, more guts than [Trump] ever had.” “So what the hell are you waiting for?” Elliott asks. “Because if it’s the woman thing, it’s time to get over that. ... It’s time to be a man, and vote for a woman.”
| | | HOW’S THE VIEW? President Biden will sit down with ABC News’ “The View” on Wednesday for a live, in-studio interview. The conversation will be his first interview since last month’s Democratic convention and the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump two weeks ago. GRIDLOCK IN MIDTOWN … AND THE MIDDLE EAST: The United Nations General Assembly is convening in New York this week, and as our JONATHAN LEMIRE writes, Biden’s final appearance at the diplomatic gathering may be overshadowed by the rising violence in the Middle East. Biden plans to make the case that, over his administration, the White House has fulfilled its promise of a renewed American commitment overseas after Donald Trump’s tumultuous time in office. But the widening war in the Middle East, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the controversial 2021 pullout from Afghanistan threatens to tarnish Biden’s record. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: Any coverage of the new FBI data showing a major drop in violent crime, with the country’s murder rate declining by nearly 12 percent from 2022 to 2023, the largest one year drop-off in two decades. Property crime was also down overall. White House communications director BEN LaBOLT highlighted NBC’s coverage in a post on X, and the president was quick to issue a statement declaring that “Americans are safer than when we took office.” Biden also emphasized Harris’ role in the administration’s efforts to reduce crime, pointing to how the American Rescue Plan helped stabilize local police departments and their actions to address gun safety. “None of this happened by accident,” he said in the statement. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by WaPo’s AARON BLAKE, who reports that a new NYT/Siena College poll not only shows Harris slightly behind in three key battleground states — Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina — but adds to a troubling trend for her campaign. Voters, Blake writes, tend to like Harris more than Trump and say that she understands and cares more about the issues. They even express more confidence in her to handle issues. But when it comes to what it would mean for them personally, they prefer Trump’s policies.
| | | | A message from UnitedHealth Group:   | | | | | PERSONNEL MOVES: DAVID GOLDSTEIN on Monday joined the National Telecommunications and Information Administration as the new associate administrator for the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences, our DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. He most recently was at the Department of Defense. — LAUREN FRENCH has joined the Office of Press and Public Diplomacy at the United Nations, where she will serve as acting spokesperson and director of communications. French previously served as a senior adviser for the Bureau of Global Public Affairs. — NICHOLAS RIGAS, a veteran of the White House advance office and independent production consultant, has joined the Harris campaign team as the super surrogate production adviser.
| | HORROR IN LEBANON: Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah killed hundreds of people and injured over a thousand others in Lebanon on Monday, including children, women and paramedics. Following the strikes, Hezbollah launched its own retaliatory attack on Israel. Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU warned the public of “complicated days” ahead, NYT’s PATRICK KINGSLEY, AARON BOXERMAN and RONEN BERGMAN report. On Monday, the Pentagon announced that it would be sending a “small number” of troops to the Middle East as the cross-border attacks intensify, our PAUL McLEARY reports. The troops would add to the already 40,000 American forces in the region. NEAT SITE … IF YOU WANNA BE DEPRESSED: The administration’s Interagency Task Force on Sea Level Change debuted a new website on Monday that provides the public with information on how climate change is causing sea levels to rise, including location-specific projections about how bad it’s likely to get and, thankfully, what can be done to prepare. "This resource puts the latest federal science on sea level rise at people’s fingertips and helps them identify, understand, and address risks,” said Dr. JANE LUBCHENCO, deputy director for climate and environment in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She added that the effort shows how eight federal agencies “are working together to deliver accessible and usable science as we confront the climate crisis.”
| | Harris and Trump campaigns are targeting Black men, but many say they feel neglected (Los Angeles Times’ Noah Bierman and Jenny Jarvie) The Long, Strange Saga of Kamala Harris and Kimberly Guilfoyle (NYT’s Matt Flegenheimer) Has Michael Regan’s EPA Kept Its Promises? (The Atlantic’s Vann R. Newkirk II and Donavon Smallwood) An upscale retirement community is cracking down on free speech after a pickleball brawl over Trump (San Francisco Chronicle's Joe Garofoli)
| | There are many reports of White House staff (and even some presidents) saying they’ve seen ghosts wander the grounds. ABIGAIL ADAMS, who was the first first lady to live in the White House, used the East Room to dry sheets. Since her death, there have been reported sightings of her around that area, WaPo’s THERESA VARGAS wrote in 2017. She walks, according to the accounts, with her arms outstretched, as if holding clean linens. Staffers of the WOODROW WILSON administration reported seeing DOLLEY MADISON’s likeness tending the garden. The spotting happened as they were preparing to move the Rose Garden. They decided to leave it as is after the supposed interaction. 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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