Harris and Trump work on their ground game

Sep 12, 2024

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THE CATCH-UP

THE REAL-WORLD IMPACT OF ONLINE LIES — “Springfield City Hall, school, county hit by threats tied to Haitian issue,” by the Springfield News-Sun’s Jessica Orozco and Jeremy Kelley: “Multiple city, county and school buildings around Springfield were closed Thursday after a bomb threat ‘to multiple facilities throughout Springfield,’ according to a city statement released Thursday morning. Springfield City Hall was evacuated around 8:30 a.m. Springfield Mayor ROB RUE said everyone who was in the City Hall building was moved out and is safe. Rue would not comment on the precise language of the threat but said it came from someone claiming to be from Springfield, and mentioned frustration with the city related to Haitian immigration issues.”

BIG IN THE BIG APPLE — “NYPD commissioner to resign amid federal probe,” by Timmy Facciola and Emily Ngo

Vice President Kamala Harris makes a surprise appearance at a watch party.

Kamala Harris is carrying her post-debate momentum into North Carolina today. | Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO

WHAT HARRIS IS UP TO — KAMALA HARRIS’ campaign is sailing this week behind a strong wind fresh off her victory over Trump in Tuesday’s debate.

But in the hard reality, advisers and aides “believe that at its heart, the race is unchanged,” NYT’s Reid Epstein, Erica Green and Nicholas Nehamas report.

Now, the campaign is focused on “ramping up her visibility on the campaign trail, including retail politicking in communities, increased press appearances, and putting herself in front of as many voters as possible in battleground states.”

To that end, Harris is hitting North Carolina today for a pair of campaign rallies in the afternoon and evening. The challenge for Harris will be to turn her momentum off the convention, debate performance and promising polls into a real impact on a state the Democrats believe could catapult Harris into the White House.

“For months, the Biden team insisted that North Carolina was within reach, but Biden struggled to overtake Trump partly because of his failure to motivate younger voters. Now, the Harris campaign says it’s seeing an unprecedented rush of volunteers in the state, especially young adults,” NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez reports from Greensboro.

“Since Harris became the presumptive nominee, another campaign official said, more than 20,000 new volunteers have signed up. The official said nearly 2,000 North Carolinians signed up to volunteer during Tuesday night's debate, almost a quarter of them students at campus watch parties.”

Donald Trump speaks.

Donald Trump is hitting Arizona today as the candidates and their surrogates fan out to the swing states. | Evan Vucci/AP

WHAT TRUMP IS UP TO — DONALD TRUMP, meanwhile, has his focus on Arizona today, where he’ll speak about the economy in Tucson later this afternoon. It’s his second visit to the state in a month as the campaigns sprawl out to cover the swing states in the homestretch. More on Trump’s visit from the Arizona Republic’s Stephanie Murray

But Trump won’t be alone. Not only is second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF appearing at his own dueling event in Tucson this afternoon, but Trump will also be tailed by the debate.

The DNC is deploying a mobile billboard that will circle Trump’s rally venue playing the clip of Harris tweaking Trump on his crowd sizes, Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser reports. Watch the 30-second clip

WHAT VANCE IS UP TO — Sen. JD VANCE (R-Ohio) is headlining a pair of high-dollar fundraisers that are expected to rake in more than $1 million each in New York today, tapping into the well of support among the well-heeled Wall Street allies that he has built up over his political rise, CNBC’s Brian Schwartz writes.

BIG IN BIG SKY COUNTRY — The Cook Political Report today moved the Montana Senate race between incumbent Sen. JON TESTER and Republican TIM SHEEHY from “Toss Up” to “Lean Republican” — joining Sabato’s Crystal Ball, which made the same shift on Friday. The rating changes are a significant blow for Democrats, with both forecasters now showing Republicans favored to win at least 51 seats across the Senate map.

Good Thursday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at gross@politico.com.

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7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

President Joe Biden speaks to reporters outside St. Edmond's Roman Catholic Church in Delaware.

President Joe Biden, unburdened by the campaign trail, is shoring up his policy record in the final months of his presidency. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

1. WHAT BIDEN IS UP TO: President JOE BIDEN is planning to host the final “Quad” summit of his presidency in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, on Sept. 21, ahead of the UN General Assembly meeting in NYC, CNN’s Arlette Saenz and Betsy Klein report. The meeting bringing together Australian PM ANTHONY ALBANESE, Indian PM NARENDRA MODI and Japanese PM FUMIO KISHIDA is viewed as one of the final efforts to cement his foreign policy record in the White House, adding a personal touch that has become a signature in his relationships across politics.

The White House today is also rolling out “new draft rules that could raise taxes on about 100 large, highly profitable companies, some of which pay little or nothing to the federal government each year, touching off a bruising fight that will coincide with a broader reexamination of the U.S. tax code in 2025,” WaPo’s Tony Romm and Julie Zauzmer Weil report.

And later this evening, Biden is set to announce a new effort to crack down on gender-based violence at an event commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act. The effort includes plans from the Justice Department to “support survivors of gender-based violence, including $690 million in grant funding for this year, and plans for a new national resource center to tackle cyber crimes,” NBC’s Zoë Richards reports.

2. ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT FALLOUT: Trump’s language in speaking about the attempt on his life at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, back in July has changed dramatically since the immediate aftermath. The praise and gratitude for law enforcement, condolences for attendees and calls for unity are frequently replaced by conspiracy theories, “such as those that label the assassination attempt an ‘inside job’ by government agencies or make up Democratic ties to lawyers representing the shooter’s parents,” WaPo’s Isaac Arnsdorf writes.

“His frequent retellings of what happened in Butler serve to deepen his bond with his supporters by fostering a collective experience of overcoming adversity. That shared feeling gets intensified by a perceived indifference from the media and the rest of the country, as attention quickly moved on from the shooting to Trump’s selection of Vance and Harris’s replacement of Biden as the Democratic nominee.”

3. UNDER THE INFLUENCE: Sens. DICK DURBIN (D-Ill.) and MIKE BRAUN (R-Ind.) are rolling out a bipartisan bill “aiming to crack down on deceptive or misleading online promotion of weight-loss and other prescription drugs by telehealth firms and social-media influencers who profit from their posts,” WSJ’s Peter Loftus and Sara Ashley O’Brien report. The bill would “authorize the Food and Drug Administration to warn and potentially impose costly fines on those who post false information online about medicines, or omit important information about a drug’s safety risks.”

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4. WHAT’S UP AT UNGA: U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD is announcing U.S. support for “creating two permanent United Nations Security Council seats for African states and one seat to be rotated among small island developing states,” Reuters’ Michelle Nichols reports. “The move comes as the U.S. seeks to repair ties with Africa, where many are unhappy about Washington's support for Israel's war in Gaza, and deepen relations with Pacific Islands nations important to countering Chinese influence in the region.”

5. MEGATREND: “Rent, utilities rose faster than home values for first time in a decade,” by WaPo’s Rachel Siegel: “From 2011 to 2019, real rent costs rose less than 3 percent every year, the data show. In 2022, after peaking during the coronavirus pandemic, rent grew 1 percent. But last year, rent rose 3.8 percent, compared with a 1.8 percent rise in inflation-adjusted median home values. The findings are yet another example of how a supercharged rental market is squeezing people who also can’t afford to buy.”

6. THE RIPPLE EFFECT: “A Venezuelan Gang Is Expanding Its Deadly Reach to the U.S.,” by WSJ’s Juan Forero: “Just as the Italian mafia followed the 19th century wave of immigration to the U.S., Tren de Aragua has emigrated alongside nearly eight million Venezuelans fleeing the reign of strongman NICOLÁS MADURO. Everywhere Tren de Aragua has set up, investigators say, it has established drug-distribution networks, extortion rackets and prostitution rings, preying on Venezuelans as they make new homes elsewhere in Latin America. American officials fear the same pattern emerging in the U.S., where more than 700,000 Venezuelans have settled in the past four years.”

7. MAD LIBS HEADLINE OF THE DAY: “Iran turns to Hells Angels and other criminal gangs to target critics,” by WaPo’s Greg Miller, Souad Mekhennet and Cate Brown: “Iran’s alleged reliance on criminals rather than covert operatives underscored an alarming evolution in tactics by a nation that U.S. and Western security officials consider one of the world’s most determined and dangerous practitioners of ‘transnational repression,’ a term for governments’ use of violence and intimidation in others’ sovereign territory to silence dissidents, journalists and others deemed disloyal.”

PLAYBOOKERS

Marianne Williamson says Democrats should listen to Trump’s racist attacks against Haitians.

Sam Altman is going to the White House to talk AI.

James Comer wants to drill into Tim Walz’s China ties.

Rupert Murdoch is playing out Succession in real life.

IN MEMORIAM — “Edward Johnson, C.I.A. Hero in Iran Hostage Crisis, Dies at 81,” by NYT’s Sam Roberts: “Edward B. Johnson, who as an anonymous C.I.A. officer in 1980 helped rescue six American diplomats during the Iran hostage crisis by casting them as a Hollywood crew scouting a Mideast location — an audacious escape that itself became grist for an Oscar-winning movie — died on Aug. 27 at his home in Fairfax, Va. He was 81. The cause was complications of pneumonia, his son Harold said.”

OUT AND ABOUT — More than 1,400 volunteers convened at Dock5 at Union Market yesterday to pack nearly 450,000 meals in a powerful show of unity and service sponsored by the 9/11 Day organization. The event commemorated the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and Hunger Action Month, supported the Capital Area Food Bank and local families facing food insecurity. SPOTTED: Sophia Bush, Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), Reps. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Don Davis (D-N.C.) and Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), Dustin Speakman, Michael Smith and Michael Whitaker.

— The Black Girl Magic Network hosted Late Night Lounge at Dirty Habit last night to honor Congressional Black Caucus chiefs of staff and senior women in Congress and the administration during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference. SPOTTED: Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Reps. Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.), Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.) and Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), EPA Administrator Michael Regan, Nicole Venable, Maia Hunt Estes, Heather Podesta, Gina Adams, Shomari Figures, Steve Benjamin, Yebbie Watkins, Omarosa Manigault Newman, Maude Okrah Hunter, David Johns and Angela Ferrell Zavala.

— Forbes Tate Partners and Ghana Diaspora Public Affairs collective hosted an event at the Continent DC last night honoring Rep. Gabe Amo (D-R.I.). SPOTTED: Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) and Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), Isaac Fordjour, Crystal Carson, Maude Okrah Hunter, Adjoa Kyerematen, Yaw Thompson, Cindy Brown, Michael Williams, Arthur Sidney, Kimberly Afoakwah, Jai Jackson, Kwabena Nsiah, Malcolm Sherrod, Adrian Boafo, Yujin Lee, Zach Sentementes, Olivia Okafor and Elizabeth Gonzalez.

— The National Pork Producers Council gave away maple bacon donuts from a food truck on Capitol Hill yesterday to draw attention to California’s Proposition 12’s impact on pig farmers. SPOTTED: Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Reps. Glenn “G.T.” Thompson (R-Pa.), Mark Alford (R-Mo.), Mike Bost (R-Ill.), Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), Zach Nunn (R-Iowa), Max Miller (R-Ohio) and Jen Kiggans (R-Va.).

— The Asian American Action Fund hosted its Mid-Autumn Moon Festival Reception last night to amplify AANHPI voices and champion community interests on the Hill and across the nation ahead of the November election. SPOTTED: Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Reps. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Susie Lee (D-Nev.), Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.) and Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), Linda Pham, Jose Ceballos, Hank Kilgore, Lin Whitehouse, Charles Douglas III, Jay Lim, Irene Bueno, Jocelyn Hong, Howard Moon, Devang Shah, Julian Ha, Irene Natividad, Minh Nguyen, Alekhya Tallapaka and Joyce Liu.

TRANSITIONS — Arun Rao is joining Mayer Brown as a partner in its global investigations and white collar defense practice. He most recently was a deputy assistant AG in the Justice Department’s Civil Division, overseeing the Consumer Protection Branch. … Preston Feinberg has joined Palantir Technologies’ U.S. government affairs team. He previously was operations lead for Lockheed Martin’s U.S. Air Force and F-35 government affairs. … Jill Dvorak is returning to the National Retail Federation as SVP of content. She previously was chief content officer at CommerceNext.

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Correction: Yesterday’s Playbook PM misspelled Martha MacCallum’s name.

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