| | | | |  | | By Eli Stokols, Lauren Egan and Ben Johansen | | 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 FROM: INTERESTED PARTIES
TO: JAKE SULLIVAN, MIKE DONILON, JEFF ZIENTS
RE: THE FINAL PRESIDENTIAL FRONTIER
| | | | Since late July, administration officials have been re-imagining President JOE BIDEN’s final months in office at your behest, thinking anew about what may be possible now that he is no longer seeking reelection. Part of that conversation has focused on presidential travel — where else Biden may want to visit given his more open schedule and increasing focus on his own legacy and what may come after he leaves office in January. We know that several trips are being considered and planned. We recognize the importance of the president making good on his promise to visit Africa and the value of additional trips to Europe and possibly Asia. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t ask you to think big. There is a place no president has ever visited — a location that would be exceedingly challenging to get to but would cement Biden as a historic figure who goes boldly where none of his predecessors have gone before. Antarctica. There are several reasons why this journey is worth the logistical hassle, unique transportation and security challenges, and frigid temperatures: long-term legacy, immediate impact, presidential prerogative and, yes, vibes. Having worked for this president as long as you have, you’re already aware of his personal interest in visiting Antarctica. Several staffers who worked for Biden in OVP during the Obama administration told us that they looked into what it would take to get him (and, we’re told, his family) to the world’s southernmost continent. And while there were — and are — considerable challenges, there is far greater reason for Biden to make this trip now in the final months of his term. Nowhere is climate change more visible than Antarctica, which is losing 150 billion tons of ice every year. And no president has done more to combat climate change than this one. Just by making this dramatic journey, Biden would capture the country’s attention and the world’s. The images of him in aviators stepping onto the ice in a presidential, fur-lined anorak would be striking on their own. Imagine: Biden, standing in or near a colony of penguins, speaking about the existential nature of the Inflation Reduction Act’s $370 billion for climate priorities and the importance of the world continuing to act, to slow the change that’s contributing to warmer temperatures and to prepare for a future of rising seas (which just happens to be the focus of a new public-facing government website — something Biden could easily highlight on this trip). Coverage of this trip would dominate the news. The substance of the president’s message would register in a way that no perfunctory visit to a swing state solar panel factory or new EV charging station ever has. The footage and imagery would break through in the moment and endure for years to come, changing how future generations remember this presidency and president. Now, the complicated questions: How and when? Antarctica is accessible either by boat or plane. Biden will likely be traveling to Rio de Janeiro in November for the G-20 summit. That means he’s already most of the way there. And, conveniently, the Antarctic cruise season begins in November, meaning that the president could fly to Ushuaia, Argentina, and cruise the Drake Passage in a naval vessel that could weather some of the choppiness. The other option would be to fly a C-130 or C-17 aircraft from either Ushuaia or New Zealand. There’s precedent: In November 2016, then-Secretary of State JOHN KERRY flew from New Zealand to the Pegasus Ice Runway near McMurdo Station for a two-day visit to Antarctica that made him the highest-ranking U.S. government official to ever set foot on the continent. Biden’s visit to Rio for the G-20 comes at the exact same time of year as Kerry’s trip, so we know that travel is possible, although flights can often be delayed for a day or two by difficult weather. Travel director KERI SIBLEY and RYAN MONTOYA’s advance team could scope things out in the next few weeks. Some of the president’s Secret Service contingent could travel to McMurdo days ahead of him to sweep the area — although in all likelihood, the biggest threat would come from Arctic fur seals. Given Biden’s stiffened gait, we would need JACOB SPREYER to ensure he travels with a comfortable pair of warm snow boots that are fit-able for crampons. The president might also want to practice walking in them beforehand. But with these sorts of considerations addressed ahead of the trip, traveling with a reduced footprint — fewer staff, media access limited to just the 13-member travel pool (as would have been the case for the president’s logistically challenging Papua New Guinea stopover in 2023 that was ultimately scrubbed) — is doable. Is it easy? No. But remind yourself of what this president has told us all time and time again: “We are the United States of America, dammit. There’s nothing we cannot do if we do it together.” MESSAGE US — Are you JAKE SULLIVAN? 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!
| | A message from UnitedHealth Group: The U.S. health care system is too expensive, inefficient and inaccessible for too many Americans. But there is a path forward to a future where every person has access to high-quality, affordable care and a better system that helps people get and stay healthy. See our ideas to make health care healthier. | | | | | Which two former presidents were considered the “odd couple”? (Answer at bottom.)
| | WHATEVER IT TAKES: Vice President KAMALA HARRIS on Tuesday said she would support ending the filibuster to pass abortion-rights legislation, our MEGAN MESSERLY reports. In an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio, Harris backed calls to change the procedure so that a Democratic-controlled Senate could pass legislation codifying Roe v. Wade’s protections into federal law. “I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe, and get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do,” Harris said. Soon after her comments, retiring Sen. JOE MANCHIN (I-W.Va.) said he won’t endorse Harris over the pledge. “Shame on her," Manchin said on Tuesday. “She knows the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy. It’s the only thing that keeps us talking and working together. If she gets rid of that, then this would be the House on steroids.” Both Harris and President Biden in 2022 came out in support of killing the filibuster to codify Roe. LET THE DEBATE PREP BEGIN ... Minnesota Gov. TIM WALZ and Ohio Sen. JD VANCE will take the stage a week from today in their first — and likely only — vice presidential debate. Walz is hunkering down in Minneapolis, with White House alumni ROB FRIEDLANDER and ZAYN SIDDIQUE running his debate prep. Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG is playing Vance in mock-debates, our MEREDITH LEE HILL and ADAM WREN report. Buttigieg recently told NYT’s EZRA KLEIN that he’s trying to focus on Vance’s “faux populism” and other traits as he stands in for the Ohio senator. MASSIVE GAINS: The Fall 2024 Harvard Youth Poll was released Tuesday, and the findings show a significant momentum shift for Harris. Among likely voters ages 18 to 29, Harris is leading DONALD TRUMP by 31 points in a multi-candidate matchup. In the spring, the same poll found Biden leading Trump by just 13 points. This latest poll also found enthusiasm spiking among young Democrats, with 74 percent of them saying they would “definitely” vote in the election — compared to the 66 percent who said they would in the spring. Meanwhile, only 60 percent of young Republicans said they would “definitely” vote now, down from 64 percent in the spring. HARRIS’ LATEST ECONOMY SPEECH: Still looking to whittle away Trump’s advantage with voters on the economy, Harris will use a Wednesday speech to call for new federal incentives to spur domestic manufacturing. As WaPo’s JEFF STEIN and CAT ZAKREWSKI report, Harris will contrast her plan to build on the Biden administration’s efforts to boost semiconductor manufacturing and clean energy production with Trump’s proposal to impose trillions in new tariffs. She will also express her support for safety net policies aimed at helping working families: universal childcare, paid family leave and the child tax credit.
| | | A PRESIDENTIAL FAREWELL: President Biden addressed the United Nations General Assembly for the final time on Tuesday, using the speech to defend his record and urge unity amid spiraling conflicts in the Middle East and Europe, our JONATHAN LEMIRE reports. “Our task, our test, is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger than those pulling us apart,” Biden said, “that the principles of partnership that we come here each year to uphold can withstand the challenges, that the center holds once again.” Biden touched on an array of topics, including the escalating exchange of missiles between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has killed more than 500 people since the Israeli airstrikes began. The 81-year-old president also reflected on his “difficult” decision to abandon his reelection bid, admitting that “there is so much more I want to get done.” But he reminded his peers to make decisions with more than their own political interests in mind. “Some things are more important than staying in power,” Biden said. “It’s your people.” NOT ANTARCTICA! In a statement on Tuesday, press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE confirmed Biden’s travel next month to Berlin and Angola. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by Reuters’ TREVOR HUNNICUTT and JULIE STEENHUYSEN, who report that the Biden administration on Tuesday announced the donation of 1 million mpox vaccine doses and at least $500 million to African countries to support their response to the outbreak. “We must now move quickly to face mpox,” Biden said at the UNGA in New York. One U.S. official said the administration expects Gavi, a public-private alliance which co-funds vaccine purchases for low-income countries, to distribute the donated vaccines. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by CNBC’s JEFF COX, who reports that consumer confidence tumbled in September, falling by the largest level in more than three years. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index slid to 98.7, down from 105.6 in August. The Dow Jones forecast was for a reading of 104.
| | | | A message from UnitedHealth Group:   | | | | | LOTS ON HIS PLATE: On Tuesday, House Republicans moved to hold Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN in contempt of Congress over claims he obstructed the body’s investigation into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, our ANTHONY ADRAGNA reports. House Foreign Affairs Chair MICHAEL McCAUL (R-Texas) had subpoenaed Blinken, requiring him to testify Tuesday. But the secretary said he would be in New York for UNGA-related events, reiterating that he is “willing to testify” but “profoundly disappointed” by the committee’s unilateral dates. BIG PUB DAY: Many readers have had this September Tuesday circled on the calendar for a while now, awaiting SALLY ROONEY’s and RICHARD POWERS’ new releases. Equally anticipated, of course, is the new book out today from AP White House reporter COLLEEN LONG and freelance journalist REBECCA LITTLE, “I’m Sorry For My Loss: An Urgent Examination of Reproductive Care in America.” A deeply reported exploration of reproductive health from America’s founding to the current post-Roe environment, the book looks at the impact of a contested and changing legal environment facing those who, like both authors themselves, have experienced a pregnancy loss. APOLITICAL PATTIE’S: The three-story sports bar for political wonks may be no more. Well … it’s still located at 913 U St. in Northwest D.C. But the somewhat infamous title “Political Pattie’s" — which stirred up quite the discourse online — may have been axed. One X user posted a picture of the outside of the bar, which now only reads “Pattie’s.” More, certainly, to come.
| | THE RACE TO TRUMP-PROOF: White House National Climate Adviser ALI ZAIDI said the Biden administration is racing to lock in hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy investments in the Inflation Reduction Act, a pledge that comes as Donald Trump vows to dismantle the whole effort. In an interview with our JOSH SIEGEL, Zaidi said the provisions in the climate law and actions by U.S. allies abroad have sparked a shift in clean energy manufacturing. BREAKING UP THOSE GIANTS: The Justice Department announced on Tuesday that it has sued Visa, accusing the payments giant of illegally monopolizing the U.S. market for debit cards, stomping out rivals and inflating fees passed to customers, our MICHAEL STRATFORD and JOSH SISCO report. The lawsuit, filed in the southern district of New York, alleges that Visa has leveraged its dominance on the market to “thwart the growth of its existing competitors and prevent others from developing new and innovative alternatives,” according to a DOJ statement. SLIPPED THROUGH THE CRACKS: The federal government has been monitoring Americans who have traveled to Ukraine to fight, fearing some could become violent when they return to America. But they missed the man suspected of the most recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump, our BETSY WOODRUFF SWAN and ERIN BANCO report. One DHS official reportedly knew RYAN ROUTH had traveled to Ukraine, though there’s no indication that the FBI ever investigated him upon his return and during his years-long effort to garner support for Kyiv.
| | How PBS ‘Frontline’ Scrambled To Produce The Harris Vs. Trump Documentary ‘The Choice’ After The Unprecedented Shakeup In The 2024 Race (Deadline’s Ted Johnson) Jayden Daniels just announced himself to the NFL — and to Washington (WaPo’s Barry Svrluga) Mark Zuckerberg Is Done With Politics (NYT’s Theodore Schleifer and Mike Isaac) How Does a Baseball Team Lose 120 Games? Every Way You Can Think Of. (NYT Magazine’s Sam Anderson)
| | | Former first lady BARBARA BUSH once referred to her husband GEORGE H.W. BUSH and BILL CLINTON as the “odd couple,” due to their unlikely, yet deep friendship. Bush, who was beaten by Clinton in 1992, suggested more than once that he might have been the father figure Clinton never had growing up — a notion Clinton never disputed. In 2004, Clinton had surgery to remove scar tissue around his lung. In the days that followed, Bush called him anxiously, asking: “What do your doctors say? Are you sore? How much can you exercise? Are you using your treadmill?” Toward the sunset of Bush’s life, Clinton made several trips to check on him, always leaving him a pair of funny socks to add to his collection. 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.
| | A message from UnitedHealth Group: The U.S. spends twice as much as the rest of the world on health care but gets worse results.
At UnitedHealth Group, we see a path forward to better health for all Americans – where every person has access to high-quality, affordable health care. That’s why we’re helping accelerate the transition to a patient-centered health care system that prioritizes high-quality, preventive care, fosters greater collaboration and delivers better outcomes at a lower cost.
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