| | | | |  | | By Ryan Lizza and Eugene Daniels | | | With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross
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It looks as though Elon Musk will go ahead with the $44 billion purchase of Twitter that he first proposed in April — a takeover that could have major social and political implications. | Joshua Lott/Getty Images | | | | |  | DRIVING THE DAY | | OOPS — Bloomberg's Zoe Tillman noticed a sealed filing that was accidentally made public in the Trump document case that includes details about personal files removed during the FBI search "including analysis about who should get a pardon, call notes marked with a presidential seal, retainer agreements for lawyers and accountants, and legal bills." DON'T BET ON A HUG — JOE BIDEN will arrive this afternoon in Fort Myers, Fla., where he will survey the damage from Hurricane Ian via helicopter and then receive a briefing on disaster response and recovery efforts from state and local officials, including one of his most bitter political rivals: Gov. RON DeSANTIS. Partisanship has roiled relations in recent years between the White House and governors of the opposite party when it comes to federal aid for states. Hugging BARACK OBAMA damaged Gov. CHRIS CHRISTIE's career in GOP politics, and it killed Gov. CHARLIE CRIST 's. (He's now a Democrat running against DeSantis.) The DONALD TRUMP era brought a new twist to federal-state relations when the former president repeatedly threatened to punish blue states and withhold aid from governors he didn't like. So it's not unusual that the press has been on high alert for a Biden-DeSantis throwdown since before Ian even landed on Florida's southwest coast. But it hasn't come. The president and the governor have talked on the phone several times. They've complimented each other. Florida Playbook author Gary Fineout calls it "a rare moment of bipartisan calm" in his preview from Tallahassee. So what explains the detente — especially the mature reaction from DeSantis, who has defined himself by an own-the-libs style of politics? For one, the Obama-era spats were substantively different. Christie sided with Obama (and his state) against House Republicans over a $60 billion aid package. Crist welcomed Obama to Florida on a trip promoting the 2009 stimulus plan that every Washington Republican opposed. In both cases, the moderate Republican governors were already viewed skeptically by conservatives. DeSantis does not have that problem. His enormous popularity on the right makes it easy for him to unapologetically embrace federal aid for Florida and welcome, though probably not literally embrace, Biden. On Biden's side, the smooth relationship is no surprise. He relishes most opportunities for bipartisanship and has never exhibited a Trumpian interest in playing red-blue politics with disaster funds. But have no doubt, the two men will be back to roughing each other up in the coming weeks. "There will be plenty of time to discuss differences between the President and the governor," said press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE on Tuesday. IT'S ELON'S WORLD, WE JUST TWEET IN IT — It looks as though ELON MUSK will go ahead with the $44 billion purchase of Twitter that he first proposed in April. Recall that Musk tried to abandon the deal weeks later and soon found himself in messy litigation with the company. The judge in the case has ruled against Musk at nearly every turn and, with a deposition and trial looming, Musk appears to have reversed course yet again. Twitter is enormously consequential to American politics and media, and the takeover by Musk will have major implications. He's such a micromanager that when Tesla was having production issues he famously camped out on a factory floor to help solve assembly problems. Despite all his tweets, we don't know the full picture of what Musk plans for the platform. But he has made a few things clear: — He wants Donald Trump back. In May, he called Twitter's decision to ban Trump after January 6 "a morally bad decision" and "foolish in the extreme." He added, "It alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice." — He's not inclined to tinker around the edges. Bloomberg, which broke the news Tuesday, noted that "Musk has said he wants Twitter to be more like TikTok and WeChat, with many more highly engaged users." — He has repeatedly criticized Twitter's content moderation decisions, making vague calls to transform it into an "inclusive arena for free speech." He has consulted widely about executing that vision, including — full disclosure — with MATHIAS DÖPFNER, CEO of POLITICO parent company Axel Springer. — His takeover plans have been intensely polarizing. Both in public and in private text exchanges that surfaced in court, Musk has been egged on by prominent right-leaning media figures while curating an increasingly conservative feed — culminating in this week's widely attacked Russia-friendly proposal to end the Ukraine conflict. Meanwhile, the left is intensely wary of the political ramifications of a Musk takeover, and there are signs that the deal's consummation could spark an exodus of liberal Twitter employees. More from Politico and WaPo Musk offered no further clarity on his plans Tuesday, offering only this cryptic tweet: "Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app." Bur signs point to a radically different Twitter, where Trump is back — he has said he won't return but who believes that? — where content moderation is drastically dialed back, where the site, fairly or not, is seen as right-leaning and hostile to progressives, and where addictive TikTok-style content, which is not especially interesting to the media and politics-junkies who made the site essential, becomes more important. A lot of this could be wrong. Trump might stick with his flailing Truth Social. Musk might solve the extraordinarily difficult issues around free speech and moderation. He might attract ideologically diverse users. And he might backtrack on his TikTok comments. But get ready for a lot of change, and very soon: He could control the platform as soon as this weekend. Good Wednesday morning. It's Yom Kippur. G'mar chatima tova to all who observe. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line and tell us how Elon Musk should atone for all his bad tweets: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: The 340B program may be driving up costs for some patients. A new analysis finds average costs per prescription for a patient is more than 150% greater at 340B hospitals than at non-340B hospitals. It's time to fix the 340B program. Learn more. | | | | 
| It's October 2022. Midterm votes are already being cast, and the battle for Congress is reaching fever pitch. What better time to think about the 2024 Senate map? Our congressional bureau chief Burgess Everett is out with a piece today doing just that — highlighting the grueling task Democrats will face in two years, when they will be defending 23 seats to the GOP's 10. Adding to the headwinds posed by sheer arithmetic, several key Democratic incumbents — including proven red-state winners JON TESTER (Mont.) and JOE MANCHIN (W.Va.) — have yet to commit to running. Here's where this year's contests come in: For Democrats to have a credible shot at winning the majority in 2024, they need as many of their incumbents as possible to run again — and nothing would help that task more than keeping the majority this cycle. "Senators don't want to serve in the minority, so as they are thinking whether it's worth devoting weeks of their lives to re-election campaigns — and six more years in the Senate — it helps to feel like you have some sway over the agenda," Burgess explains to Playbook. "And the deeper it looks like Democrats are going to be in the minority, the harder it might be to convince them to run again. A good night this year puts them in the best position for stemming retirements next cycle." A bad night, on the other hand, could be doubly disastrous for Senate Democrats. They'll have vanishingly few pickup opportunities next cycle — Texas and Florida top the list — so if Democrats lose the majority this year, "it's hard to imagine them getting it back in 2024," Burgess adds. BIG PICTURE MIDTERM MARKERS — As we enter the final weeks of the midterm campaign, here's a snapshot of two key indicators from our weekly POLITICO/Morning Consult polling. 1) Biden's approval rating: Overall, the president's approval rating has ticked up 1 percentage point from last week, to 42%.
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| On the flip side, Reuters/Ipsos' weekly polling finds the reverse, with Biden's approval rating ticking down from 41% to 40%. 2) The generic congressional ballot: The theoretical race here remains tight, with Democrats leading Republicans 46% to 43%, and 12% undecided.
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| WHERE ABORTION COULD PLAY — Will the end of Roe v. Wade get more young women to the polls? "[I]t may be harder for Democrats to mobilize them now than it was even a month or two ago," FiveThirtyEight's Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux reports , as polling data shows the issue's salience waning a bit since the summer. But ongoing restrictions in the states over the coming years could keep young women focused on abortion. — A big new AEI survey reaches some similar conclusions: "[A] growing number of Democrats say abortion is critically important to them. This is especially true for young women," write Karlyn Bowman and Daniel Cox . "But, at least at this stage of the campaign, younger voters are still much less committed to voting in November and paying less attention to election news." More from ABC THE OTHER END OF THE SPECTRUM — An outright majority of female voters 50 and older say they haven't made up their minds about whom to back in November, per a new AARP survey, though they're generally very likely to vote. BATTLE FOR THE SENATE WALKER UNDER FIRE — Georgia Republicans knew about the allegation that HERSCHEL WALKER had paid for a girlfriend's abortion for months before it exploded into public view this week via The Daily Beast, Meridith McGraw, Natalie Allison and Sam Stein report. LIZ MAIR says she heard about it in 2021. But Walker's team was hoping they could hold out until November without the news surfacing. "It was brought to the attention of those working on Walker's behalf, in part as a means of discouraging him from running," Meridith, Natalie and Sam write. "His team downplayed the potential disruption it would cause. But … they did not outright deny it." (Walker has denied the story, which POLITICO hasn't independently verified.) RED WAVE — Republicans are finally feeling more optimistic about Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, where they've made up recent ground — and they say attacks on Democrats as soft on crime are the principal reason why, Holly Otterbein and Natalie Allison report this morning. The momentum shift and tightening polls were somewhat expected, but the barrage of attack ads has really taken a toll on MANDELA BARNES and JOHN FETTERMAN. 43 RETURNS — Former President GEORGE W. BUSH will take part in a fundraiser for Colorado Republican JOE O'DEA this month, NBC's Bridget Bowman scooped. Sen. JOHN CORNYN (R-Texas) will be there too supporting the rare non-MAGA GOP Senate nominee. BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE ENDORSEMENT WATCH — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce isn't backing down from its controversial recent practice of supporting some Democrats: On Tuesday, the group again endorsed Rep. COLIN ALLRED (D-Texas), per The Dallas Morning News. BATTLE FOR THE STATES THIS COULD BE IT — BETO O'ROURKE was once the future of the Democratic Party. But trailing Texas Gov. GREG ABBOTT in the polls, especially due to voters' emphasis on immigration, O'Rourke could be staring down a huge setback for his political future, David Siders reports for POLITICO Magazine from Austin. INTERESTING R.I. TWIST — Though national Republicans have increasingly opposed transgender rights, Rhode Island GOP gubernatorial nominee ASHLEY KALUS' husband is a plastic surgeon who's specialized in facial feminization surgery for trans women, Ian Donnis at The Public's Radio reports. "Jeff has helped adults live their lives in the way in which they saw fit," Kalus said in a statement. "If you support liberty and freedom, you should respect an adult's right to choose their own path." TEACH ME HOW TO DOUGIE — The Atlantic's Michael Sokolove describes what he calls "Doug Mastriano's Lunatic Appeal" HOT POLLS — New Hampshire: Data for Progress has Democratic Sen. MAGGIE HASSAN up 50% to 43% over DON BOLDUC, and Republican Gov. CHRIS SUNUNU up 52% to 39% over TOM SHERMAN. Trafalgar finds a tighter Senate race, with Hassan leading just 48% to 45%. Saint Anselm College, meanwhile, has good news for incumbents : Hassan leads 49% to 43%, Sununu leads 50% to 34%, and the state's Democratic representatives, ANNIE KUSTER and CHRIS PAPPAS are ahead of GOP challengers 49% to 35% and 49% to 41%, respectively. — Oregon: Another poll finds Dems in danger of losing Salem, as Republican CHRISTINE DRAZAN leads the gubernatorial race with 36%, per Emerson. Democrat TINA KOTEK has 34% and independent BETSY JOHNSON 19%. Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. RON WYDEN is beating JO RAE PERKINS 51% to 32%. — Washington: Democratic Sen. PATTY MURRAY is ahead of TIFFANY SMILEY 51% to 42%, per Emerson. HOT ADS With help from Steve Shepard — Pennsylvania: Everytown for Gun Safety is kicking off a $2.1 million TV ad campaign attacking MEHMET OZ and DOUG MASTRIANO for opposing gun restrictions like universal background checks, the Philly Inquirer's Jonathan Tamari reports. "Mehmet Oz would make it easier for domestic abusers to get guns," the first ad says. — Nevada: The Club for Growth Action super PAC is pumping almost $2 million into Spanish-language TV and radio ads attacking Democratic Sen. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO as soft on crime, NBC's Natasha Korecki scooped. … Democratic state Treasurer ZACH CONINE's new ad manages to be a positive spot and attack ad all at once by playing with the trope of the "scary voice guy" who criticizes MICHELE FIORE. | | | | A message from PhRMA: It's time to fix the 340B program. Learn more. | | | | | BIDEN'S WEDNESDAY:
10:15 a.m.: The Bidens will leave the White House to travel to Fort Myers, Fla., arriving at 12:45 p.m.
1 p.m.: The Bidens will survey areas damaged by Hurricane Ian via helicopter.
2 p.m.: The Bidens will get a briefing from officials at Fisherman's Wharf on the response efforts.
2:35 p.m.: The Bidens will meet with affected small business owners and residents.
3:15 p.m.: Biden will deliver remarks.
4:40 p.m.: The Bidens will leave Fort Myers, arriving back at the White House at 7:10 p.m.
Press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE will gaggle on Air Force One on the way down with FEMA Administrator DEANNE CRISWELL.
VP KAMALA HARRIS' WEDNESDAY:
9:45 a.m.: The VP will leave Washington for New Britain, Conn.
1:15 p.m.: Harris will take part in a reproductive rights conversation at Central Connecticut State University with Rep. JAHANA HAYES (D-Conn.) and Planned Parenthood head ALEXIS McGILL JOHNSON.
3:25 p.m.: Harris will depart New Britain to return to D.C.
THE SENATE is out. VA Secretary DENIS McDONOUGH will be among those testifying at a Veterans' Affairs Committee field hearing in Honolulu.
THE HOUSE is out. | | | | | | JOIN NEXT WEDNESDAY FOR A TALK ON U.S.-CHINA AND XI JINPING'S NEW ERA: President Xi Jinping will consolidate control of the ruling Chinese Communist Party later this month by engineering a third term as China's paramount leader, solidifying his rule until at least 2027. Join POLITICO Live for a virtual conversation hosted by Phelim Kine, author of POLITICO's China Watcher newsletter, to unpack what it means for U.S.-China relations. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
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Flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, President Joe Biden attends a meeting of the Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access in the State Dining Room of the White House Oct. 4, 2022, in Washington, D.C. | Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | THE WHITE HOUSE PRESSURE AT THE PUMP — OPEC+ is convening today for a meeting that could significantly reduce oil supplies — and spike gas prices — triggering a last-minute lobbying campaign from the Biden administration to stop the change, CNN's Alex Marquardt, Natasha Bertrand and Phil Mattingly report. "Some of the draft talking points circulated by the White House to the Treasury Department on Monday that were obtained by CNN framed the prospect of a production cut as a 'total disaster; and warned that it could be taken as a 'hostile act.'" Led by AMOS HOCHSTEIN, the administration is pushing desperately to avoid a sudden leap in gas prices at the worst possible political moment. But the Saudi-led coalition may rebuff the U.S. nonetheless. WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE — Former Rep. MAX ROSE (D-N.Y.), who is running to return to Congress and also served in the Biden administration, said outright that he wouldn't support Biden (or Trump) running for another term in 2024: "I'm sick and tired of that generation being in power," he told FOX 5 NY's Teresa Priolo. "We've got to move on." CONGRESS PROFILE WEDNESDAY — Two pieces worth your time: — The New Republic's Grace Segers on Sen. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.) — The Cut's Rita Omokha on Rep. CORI BUSH (D-Mo.) MAR-A-LAGO FALLOUT MASTER OF HIS FATE — Trump's legal team asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday for an emergency ruling to restore oversight of roughly 100 documents with classified markings to the special master overseeing the materials seized from Mar-a-Lago. The request went to Justice CLARENCE THOMAS, who then set a deadline next week for the Justice Department to respond. He's considered likely to forward the matter to the full court, Josh Gerstein, Kyle Cheney and Nick Wu report. MORE POLITICS 2024 WATCH — Former VP MIKE PENCE is creating a political operation that could serve as a launchpad for 2024, meeting with donors under the radar amid his midterm campaign travel, NYT's Ken Vogel reports.The group said it's raised $10 million so far and is aiming for a $35 million budget next year across two organizations. — Longtime Sen. TIM SCOTT (R-S.C.) hand JENNIFER DeCASPER is leaving his office after seven years as chief of staff "to start her own consulting firm, where she will help guide his political activities ahead of the midterm elections, including advising a new Scott-aligned super PAC," Alex Isenstadt reports . The move from a key player in the South Carolina GOP senator's orbit will stoke speculation about Scott building out his political operation ahead of 2024.
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   It's time to fix the 340B program. Learn more. | | | JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH THE INVESTIGATIONS — Fulton County, Ga., DA FANI WILLIS alleges that the Georgia Republican Party is funding the legal defense of many "fake electors" under investigation for trying to help overturn the 2020 election, Yahoo's Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman report. "A Yahoo News review of campaign finance filings shows that the Georgia Republican Party paid $35,419 last July to two lawyers who are representing 11 of 16 party operatives and activists." LATEST ON RONJOHN — "Ron Johnson acknowledges texting with Trump attorney on Jan 6," by NBC's Natasha Korecki: "Sen. RON JOHNSON , R-Wis., acknowledged Tuesday that he exchanged text messages with one of Donald Trump's attorneys before and after Johnson's staff tried to deliver a package to then-Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6, 2021. He added that the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack 'smeared' him because it didn't publicize all the text messages between his and Pence's aides. … 'You can't even call it participation. I wrote a couple texts,' Johnson said." CLAMMING UP — Arizona GOP Chair KELLI WARD refused to answer questions when she testified before the House Jan. 6 committee earlier this year, the Arizona Republic's Richard Ruelas reports. WAR IN UKRAINE HAPPENING AT TURTLE BAY — The U.S. and Ukraine's other top allies are mounting a massive lobbying push to persuade other countries to support a U.N. resolution blasting Russia's illegal Ukraine annexations, Nahal Toosi and Ryan Heath report. Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN and perhaps even members of Congress are getting involved in trying to drive up the whip count, hoping to land a resounding rebuke that isolates Moscow. ON THE GROUND — "Top Pentagon official hails Ukraine gains as a 'significant' accomplishment," by Lara Seligman … "Ukraine Expels Some Russian Troops in South, Expanding Campaign," NYT JUDICIARY SQUARE REMEMBERING LAURENCE SILBERMAN — All nine Supreme Court justices go on the record with statements to David Lat for his in memoriam piece about the late conservative heavyweight (plus ANTHONY KENNEDY, STEPHEN BREYER, VIET DINH and others). And Justice AMY CONEY BARRETT talks to Lat at length about Silberman's mentorship of her, from lunch in the Labor Department cafeteria to legal philosophy: "I am not a fan of common-good constitutionalism," Barrett says. "Judge Silberman was just horrified by it." HOT ON THE RIGHT — The conservative legal backlash to wokeness at elite law schools is growing, as a dozen federal judges vow not to hire any future law clerks from Yale Law, The Washington Free Beacon's Aaron Sibarium scooped . Following in JAMES HO's footsteps, the judges are putting pressure on the school long ranked No. 1 in the country: "A boycott could change that calculus, forcing Yale administrators to rein in activist students and colleagues if they want to keep attracting the best and brightest—and if they want to maintain even a fig leaf of ideological diversity."
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Joe Biden congratulated Aaron Judge for his record-breaking 62nd home run of the MLB season. Dale Haney marked 50 years of tending the White House's grounds and gardens. Pete Buttigieg disputed Marjorie Taylor Greene on electric vehicles: "My sense of manhood is not connected to whether my vehicle is fueled by gasoline or whether it's fueled by electricity." America Ferrera, Justina Machado, Judy Reyes and other Latina artists and leaders will be at the White House today for an event celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. STAFFING UP — Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has been nominated to serve as U.S. representative on the WHO's executive board, Reuters' Jeff Mason scooped … Nicholas Rasmussen is joining DHS as counterterrorism coordinator, per Yahoo's Jana Winter. He most recently was executive director of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, and previously led the National Counterterrorism Center and the post-9/11 Countering Violent Extremism programs. … Liz Hipple is now senior adviser in the Office of Recovery Programs at the Treasury Department. She most recently was senior policy analyst for the Joint Economic Committee Dems. MEDIA MOVE — Jordan Williams will be a Legislative Compass reporter for POLITICO Pro. She previously was a defense reporter at The Hill. TRANSITIONS — Brittany Walker Hausle is now government affairs attorney at Geico. She most recently was director of policy and government affairs at the Nevada Health Care Association, and is an Ex-Im Bank and HUD alum. … Colin Allen is now executive director of the American Property Owners Alliance. He previously was director of government advocacy and policy strategy at the National Association of Realtors. … … Blake Major is now senior government relations partner at American Equity. He most recently was director of grassroots and communications at MassMutual, and is an AIG alum. … J.D. Darr is now director for legislative and regulatory affairs at the National Pest Management Association. He most recently was a consultant for government and public services at Deloitte. WEDDING — Diana Nesukh, an Air Force policy analyst at IBM, and Robert Feiler, a product specialist at Trimble Viewpoint, got married recently at the Columbia Gorge Hotel in Hood River, Ore. They met in D.C. in 2015, when Diana was working for Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and looking for a place to live and Robert, who was working for Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), had a room available in the house he was living in. Pic … Another pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Liz Payne, legislative director for Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Kip Payne, associate director for federal affairs at Sarepta Therapeutics, welcomed Mary "Polly" McKinnon Payne on Tuesday. She joins big sister Adaline and is named for strong female pioneers on both sides of the family. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) … Mandy Grunwald … Panasonic's Megan Pollock … Karina (Petersen) Borger of Sen. Lisa Murkowski's (R-Alaska) office … former Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) … Jonathan Wilcox of Rep. Darrell Issa's (R-Calif.) office … Alexandra Pelosi … Timothy Barrett of the Office of the DNI … AEI's Joseph Kosten … Michael Petruzzello of Qorvis … Matt Well of the Herald Group … Mark Paoletta of Schaerr Jaffe … Meta's Josh Althouse … Google's Peter Schottenfels … Tyler Goldberg of Assembly Global … Brenda LaGrange Johnson … Hasib Alikozai … Morning Consult's Robin Graziano … John Ryan O'Rourke … Nicole Brener-Schmitz of NBS Strategies … Teresa Heinz Kerry … John Jasik … Jon Banner Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: The 340B program grew, yet again, hitting a whopping $43.9 billion in sales at the discounted 340B price in 2021. But there has not been evidence of corresponding growth in care provided to vulnerable patients at 340B covered entities. And making matters worse, fresh data show that 340B may actually be driving up costs for some patients and our health care system as whole. The program of today is having the opposite effect of what Congress intended when they created 340B. That's a problem. It's time to fix the 340B program. Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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