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By Adam Wren, Will Steakin and Dasha Burns |
Presented by |
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With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco and Irie Sentner Good Thursday morning. Can October really bring any new surprises? Share your guesses. In today’s Playbook … — Andy Beshear is battling JD Vance to be the voice of Appalachia. — Chuck Schumer finally addresses his future in Senate leadership. — The Boldfaces: David Axelrod, Jim Clyburn, Chuck Schumer, Jamieson Greer, Cory Booker, Jerome Powell, Eric Schmitt, Mark Zuckerberg, Jensen Huang, Pete Hegseth, Elon Musk and more.
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DRIVING THE DAY |
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Andy Beshear was in JD Vance’s backyard of Cincinnati this week for the latest stop on a book tour that doubles as a 2028 scouting expedition. And he might’ve been sizing up the competition. When Playbook caught up with the Kentucky Democratic governor, he mused that he’d just been at an event close to Vance’s house. “If I’m right at where it sits, he looks at Kentucky with envy,” Beshear told us. The interstate jabbing could play out on a much bigger stage if Beshear makes his mark. The governor has spent significant energy bracketing the veep with family roots in Kentucky, which Vance has used to ride a populist wave to the top of the 2028 GOP ticket, according to Beshear. “They made him the finance chair of the RNC, and I think that was purposeful,” Beshear told Playbook in an upstairs room at the Joseph-Beth bookstore, as some 400 people waited to hear from him downstairs, a number of them wearing “Beshear for President” T-shirts. “He is going to own all of the Trump administration and its decisions because he has been right there alongside with him, willing to compromise all of his values, willing to look at the American people and lie.” Beshear is less political hillbilly than heir: He’s the son of prominent Kentucky lawyer Steve Beshear, a former state AG, lieutenant governor and governor. He’s twice had to apologize or walk back remarks against Vance that went too far or didn’t land, once leading Vance spokesperson Taylor Van Kirk to say Beshear ended up “humiliating himself in the process, but maybe that’s something he’s into?” Still, part of Beshear’s case for the presidency is that he’s uniquely qualified to provide an Appalachian contrast with Vance.
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A message from Anthropic: How a small lab is giving more patients next-day answers
A kidney disease diagnosis is hard enough without a long wait for answers. As case loads grow at Arkana Labs, they’re using Claude to help process referral paperwork with 97–98% accuracy, so patients still get results the day after a biopsy.
Learn more |
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“He has called into question Vance's credentials as a tribune of the Appalachian poor,” David Axelrod, former President Barack Obama’s White House adviser, told Playbook. “That is a hit others will take as well, but he's on shakier ground. He may relate to the Appalachian poor, but that wasn't his background either.” Beshear, of course, sees it differently. “My dad was first-generation college. When we were young, my mom would call his secretary to see if we had enough money to buy shoes,” he said. “If you look at potential matchups, who better to run against a guy that pretends he's from Kentucky than a guy who's actually from Kentucky?” The Beargrass Christian Church deacon broadens out his case for 2028 beyond Vance, depicting himself as an empathetic governor who led through the Covid pandemic, tornado outbreaks and floods. “There’s no politician in America who we’ve seen more regularly display that ministerial quality more than Beshear,” Axelrod told Playbook. Now, Beshear — who says he hasn’t “made any final decision” — is nonetheless testing his coattails by attempting to flip a Republican-friendly seat in Kentucky’s 6th District, backing former aide Zach Dembo against Trump-endorsed state Sen. Ralph Alvarado. Beshear has spent roughly a quarter-million on his behalf and appeared in TV ads with him. And Beshear will be helping Dembo with get-out-the-vote efforts down the homestretch, Playbook has learned. “Zach is winning this race,” Beshear told Playbook. On Friday, Beshear will sit down with Rep. Jim Clyburn in South Carolina — now the first state on Democrats’ 2028 nominating calendar — for another tour stop. Beshear, who co-chairs the Democratic Governors Association, has suggested Democrats should pick a governor in 2028. Does that include a blue state like, say, California? A lot of those governors work hard too, he said. But, Beshear conceded: “I think it'd be more challenging.” On today’s Playbook Podcast: Playbook’s Megan Messerly and Adam discuss Beshear’s case for 2028, plus the fallout from Sen. Eric Schmitt’s Jack Smith hearing debacle, the latest turn of the screw in the AI saga and why mosquitoes are on Trump’s mind.
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A message from Anthropic:  
As case loads grow at Arkana Labs, they use Claude to help process paperwork with 97-98% accuracy. Learn more |
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THE DOWNLOAD |
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ON TO NOVEMBER: Congress is officially out until after Election Day, and Republicans’ legislative record is set with just over a month to go. They leave with no new concrete legislation to address affordability after a series of votes fell flat. Democrats, meanwhile, are leaving town with “wind in their sails,” according to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who’s feeling confident Dems can take the Senate, despite what he called an “almost obscene” GOP funding advantage. And he’s undeterred by questions over his leadership. Regardless of the outcome, “I am running for reelection for leader. Period,” he told POLITICO’s Jordain Carney. POTUS ROADSHOW: Trump’s midterms travel to ruby-red hotspots is heading south today. He’ll stop first for a site visit at Peterbilt Motors Company at 4 p.m. in Denton, Texas, before a rally in Durant, Oklahoma, at 7 p.m. VP JD Vance was also in South Texas yesterday. OVER IN MILWAUKEE: U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is hosting G20 counterparts for meetings in Milwaukee, in a preamble to the massive G20 meeting set for Miami later this year. The U.S. trade feud with Canada will likely be front and center. Keep an ear on Greer’s news conference today; he’s told reporters a deal with Canada is “not urgent.” BOOK IT: Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a potential 2028 presidential candidate, is continuing his midterms travel on Friday with stops in Louisiana and Mississippi, a Booker aide tells Playbook. Booker will campaign with Louisiana Senate candidate Jamie Davis at a New Orleans fundraiser alongside Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.), before heading to Mississippi to join Senate candidate Scott Colom for the launch of a volunteer canvass.
- Trend watch: The swing continues Booker’s focus this cycle on boosting Black candidates across the South, following stops in Tennessee, South Carolina, Missouri, Texas and Alabama — as well as previously announced investments in candidates, state parties and organizations across nine Southern states. And there’s more coming: The aide said additional Booker travel will be announced in the coming weeks.
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The outsider Democrat making the case for 2028 Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu joins On The Road with Jonathan Martin at Mosca’s Restaurant for a conversation on Trump, Democrats’ future, 2028 speculation and what he says it will take to rebuild trust in American institutions.
Watch the episode now. |
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THE FRONT PAGE |
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ROCK, MEET HARD PLACE: Republicans are well aware of Trump’s approval numbers, but they also know he may be their only option to avoid a blowout, POLITICO’s Erin Doherty and colleagues write. Many are “facing a damned-if-they-do, damned-if-they-don’t dilemma. Some candidates in close races are wary of alienating undecided voters by campaigning alongside Trump … But keeping the president at arm’s length could make it harder to turn out the low-propensity base voters they need.” FED UP: Jerome Powell is likely to stay on the Fed board until January 2028, despite Trump’s renewed feud that kicked up again yesterday, POLITICO’s Victoria Guida writes. “Sources in Trump’s orbit had varying takes on what his social media post bodes, though one thing is obvious: He still really hates Powell … One person close to the White House said the president still wants to fire Powell. ‘Will he? I doubt it,’ the person said. ‘He is being told the courts will not allow it.’” CASH DASH: Q3 has officially ended, and the final pre-midterm fundraising numbers are about to start pouring in. In Pennsylvania’s closely watched 7th District, Democrat Bob Brooks pulled in more than $2.5 million, according to figures shared first with Playbook, as he tries to flip a battleground Lehigh Valley seat currently held by GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie. MAILING IT IN: Though the Supreme Court blocked Trump’s efforts to restrict voting by mail, the uncertainty persists — with fewer Democrats saying they plan to vote by mail this year. It’s an about-face for the party that has embraced the practice, and it’s pushing strategists to rethink how to get voters to the polls, POLITICO’s Jalen Beckford reports.
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A message from Anthropic:  
How a small pathology lab is giving more patients next-day answers |
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5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW |
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1. SCHMITT HAPPENS: One of Sen. Eric Schmitt’s (R-Mo.) top aides, his general counsel Ethan Harper, was supposed to leave his role tomorrow to join the White House staff secretary’s office, but his transition is now in doubt given his role in the Jack Smith gotcha-gone-wrong gaffe, POLITICO’s Sophia Cai scoops. GOP staff on the Senate Judiciary Committee apparently told Schmitt the messages he had gotten from the DOJ were “unvetted,” but the effort went ahead anyway, MS NOW’s Mychael Schnell and colleagues scoop. 2. BRAVE NEW WORLD: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was the chief architect of the White House’s new AI accord, pitching it to senior White House officials during the luncheon with help from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, POLITICO’s Owen Dahlkamp and Gabby Miller report. But in the room, some tech CEOs like Huang also pushed back on Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and his warnings about an AI doomsday, WSJ’s Amrith Ramkumar and Josh Dawsey scoop.
- On the trail: OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman and his wife quietly pulled away their second planned donation of $25 million to the pro-AI PAC network Leading the Future, per NYT’s Teddy Schleifer and Mike Isaac.
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A message from Anthropic: How a small lab is giving more patients next-day answers
A kidney disease diagnosis is hard enough without a long wait for answers. As case loads grow at Arkana Labs, they’re using Claude to help process referral paperwork with 97–98% accuracy, so patients still get results the day after a biopsy.
Learn more |
| |
|
3. FREEZE OUT: The Trump administration is leaving out the U.K., France and the Baltic countries from a NATO gathering next month in Poland, after threatening to impose a “naughty and nice list” of states that have gone against Trump’s priorities, POLITICO’s Paul McLeary and colleagues scoop. Officials who spoke with our colleagues are at something of a loss over why they’re being left out.
- War report: Iran officially received the U.S. response to their ceasefire proposal yesterday, which Trump rejected. But Iran says they want to revive a temporary agreement from June that collapsed within weeks this summer, per Reuters.
4. AD AND DIVIDE: The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), is joining with Rep. George Whitesides (D-Calif.) to push the Government Accountability Office and the Office of Special Counsel for federal inquiries into Trump’s taxpayer-funded campaign-style ads, POLITICO’s Chris Marquette reports. Trump defended the ads yesterday, but said if they’re wrong “I’ll gladly pay the money.” 5. ON DEFENSE: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced plans to slash bureaucracy, and then announced a half-dozen new initiatives that will likely cut into the department budget — like a new command for drones, an Elon Musk and Newt Gingrich-led commission to study the future of war, and a new base, POLITICO’s Jack Detsch and Paul report.
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New: Decoded by POLITICO Decoded is a daily briefing on the people, policy battles and market shifts moving technology forward. It brings POLITICO’s global reporting together in one place so you can see what’s changing and what to watch next.
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TALK OF THE TOWN |
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THE LEFT’S WARNING TO JEFFRIES — The headaches for Hakeem Jeffries from his left flank continue. Our Revolution Executive Director Joseph Geevarghese is warning that if Democrats take back the chamber, Jeffries will need to work for their support. “Hakeem Jeffries can’t watch that wave build, retreat on Medicare for All, keep courting money from Big Tech, crypto and AIPAC, and then expect progressives to rubber-stamp the old order after Election Day,” Geevarghese told Playbook. “We are not junior partners anymore. If our movement delivers the majority, leadership is going to have to earn our votes.” The warning comes alongside a new survey of roughly 1,500 Our Revolution members, which found that 92% want Democrats to prioritize taking on “oligarchs and corruption” if they win power, followed by Medicare for All at 85%, abolishing ICE at 84% and pausing AI and data center expansion at 81%. Jeffries’ team is brushing off the challenge. “Leader Jeffries is singularly focused on winning back the House in November and making life more affordable for the American people,” spokesperson Justin Chermol told Playbook. “We are not interested in taking shots at other Democrats, when the battle to be waged is to defeat MAGA Republicans.” EXTREME MAKEOVER: D.C. EDITION — Trump’s latest purge in Washington is targeting … mosquitoes. The president has given EPA a push to fast-track approvals for bioengineering projects aimed at Washington to rid the swamp of the insects, POLITICO’s Ellie Borst reports. “Trump signed an executive order Tuesday directing EPA, the Interior and Agriculture departments, and the General Services Administration, in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services, to reduce, by 2028, Washington’s invasive mosquito populations by at least 90% and its tick population by at least 50%.” MEDIAWATCH — “Paramount Settlement of Antitrust Case Approved by Judge,” by WSJ’s Joe Flint: “A federal judge on Wednesday approved Paramount’s settlement with 12 state attorneys general, which paves the way for the David Ellison-run company to complete its hard-fought $81-billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery … The merger is expected to close Oct. 6, Paramount said.” OUT AND ABOUT — DC/DOX Film Festival hosted a premiere of Alex Gibney’s buzzy new documentary about Elon Musk, called “Musk,” at Eaton DC last night. Gibney participated in a post-screening discussion moderated by The Guardian’s David Smith. The film will release theatrically Oct. 9. SPOTTED: Sky Sitney, Jamie Shor, Renee Tsao, Ramona Diaz, Sean Fine, Andrea Nix Fine, Jane Mayer, Maureen Dowd, Shawn McCreesh, Jason Dick, Fawn Johnson, Arden Farhi, Carla Spartos, Andrew Beaujon, Benjamin Freed and Zach Warmbrodt. — Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), senior Food and Drug Administration officials, Capitol Hill staff and biotech executives gathered at Ned’s Club on Tuesday for a private discussion on biotech investment, drug pricing, FDA modernization and growing competition from China, hosted by LMH Strategic Solutions and Canal Row Advisors. SPOTTED: Karim Mikhail, Grace Graham, Will Lewis, Mike Raab, Alanna Temme, Maura Norden and Kris Jenner. — Americans for the Arts celebrated its 36th annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy at Arena Stage last night, featuring a conversation with actress, director and educator Phylicia Rashad. The evening honored Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) with the 2026 Senate Arts Leadership Award and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) with the 2026 House Arts Leadership Award. Nina Ozlu Tunceli received the Lifetime Achievement Award for National Arts Leadership. SPOTTED: Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Erin Harkey, Lyndon Boozer, Nancy Stephens, Kara Young, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Kristina Newman-Scott, Alyssa Fisher, Randall Reid-Smith, Karen Anderson, Edgar Dobie, Roger Sant, Laura McPherson, Tanya Lombard, Emily Lenzner, Michael Collins and Andre Wells. TRANSITION — Richard Hernandez is now director of membership marketing and communications at the American Association of Political Consultants. He previously was a senior comms adviser to Sam Brown’s Senate campaign and other federal and state races on the West Coast. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) and Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) … Michael Whatley … Tim Reitz … CNN’s Ben Pershing and Brian Todd … Al Jazeera’s Evan Semones … Jose Del Real … Tommy Andrews of Squire Patton Boggs … Yousi Fazili … Tim Hannegan of Penn Avenue Partners … Alex Gleason of the Surety and Fidelity Association of America … POLITICO’s Marie French … Rob Seidman of FGS Global … Heather Reams … Laura Fullerton of House Foreign Affairs … Daniel Clifton … Fenway’s Ben Krauss … Alisa La of McDonald’s … Moh Sharma of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ office … Michael Koplow … Kenny Cunningham of Cunningham Communications … Jennifer Storipan of Lot Sixteen … Brook Ramlet … Adam Frisch of The Welcome Party/PAC … Sharon Yang … Nichole Francis Reynolds … Joe Antos … Theo Yedinsky Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editors Giuseppe Macri, Garrett Ross and Kyler Alvord.
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