| | | | |  | | By Eugene Daniels, Rachael Bade and Ryan Lizza | | | With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | NEW J-MART FROM ATLANTIC CITY — “No-Show Republicans Shun NGA”: “There are 26 Republican governors. Three of them showed up here this week at the annual summer meeting of the National Governors Association. And of those three, one left after the first night, and another had little choice but to attend — his chairship of the group began at the conclusion of this year’s gathering. … “After more than a century of bringing together the nation’s governors, the NGA — long a wellspring of ideas, forum for best practices and platform for innovating policymaking — is at grave risk of falling victim to the silos plaguing most every other element of American politics.”
|  The “Ron DeSantis in decline” storyline is a body blow to one of the central arguments for his campaign. | George Walker IV/AP Photo | DeSANTIS IN DISARRAY? — This morning, with FEC filings in hand, one thing is clear: Serious doubts now cloud the future of RON DeSANTIS’ presidential campaign. When you’re running for office, there are a few words and phrases you never want to see up top in news articles about your campaign … 1. ‘SOLVENCY’: If that’s in the lede of an article, good news is almost certain not to follow. And yet, there it was in an NBC piece that blew up group chats all over D.C. shortly after being published last night: “DeSantis tapped out top donors and burned through $7.9 million in his first six weeks as a presidential candidate, according to an NBC News analysis of his new campaign finance disclosure,” wrote Jonathan Allen, Bridget Bowman, Ben Kamisar and Alexandra Marquez. “The numbers suggest, for the first time, that solvency could be a threat to DeSantis’ campaign, which has touted its fundraising ability as a key measure of viability.” Those numbers, in brief:
- DeSantis raised $20.1 million between mid-May and the end of June.
- About $3 million of that can only be used in the general election — making it irrelevant to his fight against DONALD TRUMP.
- Of that $20.1 million, more than two-thirds came from donors who are now maxed out and can’t give him any more money.
- About 40% of the money DeSantis raised has already been spent. A decent chunk of that went to payroll: Notably, DeSantis had 92 people on his campaign staff — “by far the biggest staff footprint of the GOP presidential candidates,” NBC notes. Which brings us to number two …
2. ‘SHEDDING STAFF’ and ‘CASH CRUNCH’: “DeSantis’ presidential campaign is shedding staff as it navigates a cash crunch and looks to refocus resources on Iowa,” Alex Isenstadt scooped last night. “Fewer than 10 staffers were let go by the Florida governor’s campaign Thursday … Each of the aides was involved in event planning, and some of them may soon wind up at an allied outside group. Never Back Down, the pro-DeSantis super PAC, has received resumes from staffers who’ve been let go.” 3. ‘SKEPTICISM’ and ‘PRIVATE CONCERNS’ and ‘INSULARITY’: “More than seven weeks in, skepticism about the Florida governor’s 2024 bid has grown,” report WaPo’s Hannah Knowles, Josh Dawsey, Michael Scherer and Marianne LeVine. “Some people who have advised and supported DeSantis have raised private concerns about his message, and the effectiveness and insularity of his campaign operation, according to people familiar with the comments, among the more than 30 people interviewed for this story. “The doubts extend to long-friendly Fox News … and its owner, the conservative media magnate RUPERT MURDOCH, according to another person who speaks regularly with Murdoch about the presidential race. ‘He was excited about him at the beginning, but the more he shows himself, the less appealing he is,’ said this person, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private deliberations and talk more freely. Murdoch will ‘come back to Trump if he thinks Trump can win,’ this person added. A representative for Murdoch declined to comment Saturday.” How is the DeSantis camp shifting in response? “The campaign has started rolling out national policy — economic issues next, then foreign policy in August — and plans to do more mainstream media interviews around those proposals,” the Post reports. Those lines caught the eye of Bill Scher, the savvy politics editor at Washington Monthly: “Lordy, the ELIZABETH WARREN white paper strategy is not going to help,” Scher tweeted. “Team DeSantis refuses to see the race for what it is. The race is not about who has the best tax plan. The race is: Trump, yes or no.” One sign the DeSantis media pivot is underway: CNN just announced that on Tuesday the Florida governor will sit down with JAKE TAPPER for an interview in South Carolina.
| | | | A message from The Coalition to Protect America's Regional Airports: DCA is at capacity. The airport already handles 9 million more passengers per year than it was designed to accommodate, and it is more prone to delays and cancellations than other airports. Even so, reckless efforts by a Delta-backed group are pushing to add more flights to DCA, threatening to worsen congestion and safety concerns. Join CPARA and its 130+ members in putting a stop to these efforts. Protect passenger safety and convenience, and oppose changes to DCA’s slot and perimeter rules. | | | WHAT IT ALL ADDS UP TO: The “DeSantis in decline” storyline is a body blow to one of the central arguments for his campaign: that he’d be a competent, disciplined version of Trump. Trump without the chaos. Trump, but with a more professional operation. That’s an easier sell when things are going well: People on the team are generally satisfied, and there’s no need to point fingers. But things are not going well for DeSantis. At the start of the year, the average national GOP primary poll had Trump at 43% and DeSantis close behind at 37%, according to FiveThirtyEight. Compare that to today: Trump averages just under 50%, while DeSantis has sunk to 21%. Since DeSantis announced his campaign on May 24, he has gained just 0.4 percentage points in the national polling average. This is not just an issue of financial solvency. It’s an issue of strategy. A negative narrative is taking hold about his campaign — that it is bloated, is overconfident, lacks a clear strategy, etc. Pair that with preexisting negative impressions about the candidate himself (that he is combative, not personable, awkward in retail settings, etc.) and a press corps that is — let’s be honest — somewhat tired of Trump and remains fascinated by the Florida governor, and there are real hurdles ahead for DeSantis. The good news for him, if we can call it that, is that narratives can change, and the six months between now and the Iowa caucuses provide ample time to turn things around. But that’s also a whole lot of time for new articles to be published about him and his campaign — and they may contain phrases altogether more damning than “cash crunch” and “private concerns.” Good Sunday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza. SUNDAY BEST … — Trump on whether he’ll participate in the first debate, on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures”: “It’s quite an easy question normally. RONALD REAGAN didn’t do it, and a lot of other people didn’t do it. When you have a big lead, you don’t do it. And we have a lead of 50 and 60 points in some cases, and some of these people are at 0. … Why would you be doing a debate? It’s actually not fair. Why would you let somebody that’s at 0 — or 1 or 2 or 3 — be popping you with questions?” — CHRIS CHRISTIE on whether he thinks Trump will participate in the debate, on ABC’s “This Week”: “His ego, I think, will not permit him to have a big TV show that he’s not on. And I think he’d be enormously frustrated sitting back in Bedminster and watching what I’m going to do to him on that stage in absentia.” — Sen. TOM COTTON (R-Ark.) on what he thinks women in the military should do if they want to get an abortion while stationed in a state where it’s banned, on “Fox News Sunday”: “If they want to take that step, they have 30 days of annual leave. It shouldn’t be taxpayer funds giving them three weeks of paid, uncharged leave and then also paying for travel and lodging and meals — something that we don’t even give our troops when they have a parent die.” — National security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN on whether sending cluster bombs to Ukraine harms America’s moral authority, on NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “Our moral authority has not derived from being a signatory to the Convention Against Cluster Munitions. … Neither has Ukraine. Our moral authority and Ukraine’s moral authority in this conflict comes from the fact that we are supporting a country under brutal, vicious attack … We are simply not going to leave Ukraine defenseless.” — Sen. DAN SULLIVAN (R-Alaska) on whether NATO’s expansion to Asia in the decades to come is inevitable, on “Meet the Press”: “I think it is … Our Senate delegation had the opportunity to meet with those leaders [of Japan, Australia and South Korea], and I think that was a really strong signal with regard to NATO.” — Dan Sullivan on whether he gives President JOE BIDEN credit for NATO’s expansion to Finland and Sweden, on “Meet the Press”: “Yes, I do. And look, I give President Biden credit for keeping the unity of NATO, revitalizing NATO.” — Sen. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-Ill.) on expanding the Supreme Court, on “Meet the Press”: “I’m not opposed to court expansion, but I’m not certainly there where I would support it at this point in time.”
| | | | A message from The Coalition to Protect America's Regional Airports:   Experts agree: DCA is at capacity. The airport cannot safely handle more flights. Protect passenger safety and convenience, and oppose changes to DCA’s slot and perimeter rules. | | | TOP-EDS: A roundup of the week’s must-read opinion pieces.
| | BIDEN’S SUNDAY — The Bidens will leave Camp David at 8 p.m. to return to the White House, arriving at 8:50 p.m.
VP KAMALA HARRIS’ SUNDAY (all times Eastern):
12:25 p.m.: The VP will leave D.C. for Chicago, arriving at 2:10 p.m.
3:45 p.m.: Harris will deliver remarks at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition’s annual convention at the Apostolic Church of God.
5 p.m.: Harris will leave Chicago, arriving back at Joint Base Andrews at 6:35 p.m. | | | | | | STOP SCROLLING (for just a minute!). Introducing a revamped California Playbook newsletter with an all-new team and a sharpened mission! Join Lara Korte and Dustin Gardiner as they take you on an extraordinary journey through California's political landscape. From inside the Capitol in Sacramento to the mayor’s office in Los Angeles, and from the tech hub of Silicon Valley to even further beyond, we're your front-row ticket to the action. Subscribe for access to exclusive news, buzzworthy scoops and never-before-revealed behind-the-scenes details straight from the heart of California's political arena. Don't miss out — SUBSCRIBE TODAY and stay in the know! | | | | | PHOTO OF THE DAY
|  At the Turning Point Action USA conference yesterday in West Palm Beach, Fla., attendees adorn a picture of Donald Trump's face with messages. | Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images | | | PLAYBOOK READS | | 9 THINGS FOR YOUR RADAR 1. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: GOLD STAR FAMILIES TO MEET WITH McCARTHY — Tomorrow, Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY and House Republican leaders will meet with more than a dozen Gold Star parents and family members of the 13 service members who were killed in the August 2021 bombing at the Kabul airport during the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. The families plan to press members for answers on the attack, and House Republicans are likely to use the issue to hammer the Biden administration over the handling of the pullout, a Capitol Hill source familiar with the meeting tells Daniel Lippman. “We don’t believe that closure is possible until the administration comes clean and the Congress gets accountability for the president’s catastrophe in Afghanistan,” said JONATHAN WILCOX, a spokesperson for Rep. DARRELL ISSA (R-Calif.). Wilcox said Issa’s office was asked to do this for the families as they came to Washington, and “jumped at the chance to work with them.” MARLON BATEMAN, a Trump State Department alum, also helped arrange the visit. 2. CASH DASH, PRESIDENTIAL EDITION: With yesterday’s FEC filing deadline, we finally got a look at the last remaining presidential contenders’ second-quarter hauls — as well as a more detailed peek under the hood of those who’d already announced. CHRIS CHRISTIE’s campaign shared that he raised $1.65 million during less than a month in the race, per NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell. His aligned super PAC raised $5.9 million. Other big takeaways from the flurry of reports to help you understand the state of race, via Steve Shepard and Jessica Piper plus a handful of other stories:
- Almost everyone’s numbers in both primaries were mediocre in some way or came with a sizable asterisk, whether candidates fell short of expectations, donated to themselves, spent more than they raised or relied on some magical statistics to look impressive. “[N]o one is posting eye-popping numbers,” Steve and Jessica write. “Despite Democratic insistence, that includes the incumbent president.”
- Small-dollar donors were especially tough to find for most candidates other than Trump, a possible warning sign for Republicans in the general election.
- Fully one-quarter of MIKE PENCE’s fundraising came from Indianapolis. Pence’s numbers were especially low compared to others in his rough polling tier.
- Outside of Trump and DeSantis, it’s Sen. TIM SCOTT (R-S.C.) in third place in the GOP money race, Jessica writes — and though he’s burning a lot of it, he still has a big war chest thanks to leftovers from his Senate campaign account.
- Biden’s small-donor total is relatively low compared to, say, BARACK OBAMA in 2012, NYT’s Reid Epstein writes: “the small-dollar online money spigot that helped Mr. Biden smash fund-raising records during his 2020 presidential campaign has not yet turned on, and there are ample signs that it may be months before it does.”
- MARIANNE WILLIAMSON is in troubled financial straits, with $270,000 in unpaid debts compared to $105,000 on hand, Brittany Gibson reports.
- ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. is raising an unusual amount of money from donors who usually give to Republicans, Jessica notes.
| | | | A message from The Coalition to Protect America's Regional Airports:   Tell Congress to pass the FAA Reauthorization bill to keep airport travel safe and efficient. Tell Congress not to make travel worse. | | | 3. CASH DASH, SENATE EDITION: The last FEC filings also rolled in yesterday for several key Senate races. Overall, writes Ally Mutnick, “Senate Democrats could find a lot of things to celebrate,” while it’s a bit too early to tell for crucial Republican challengers because many of them have just launched their campaigns. Among the notable numbers: Arizona: Independent Sen. KYRSTEN SINEMA pulled in $1.7 million, barely half of Democratic challenger Rep. RUBEN GALLEGO’s total. Sinema’s reliant on big donors and corporate PACs: Less than $9,000 came from people who gave under $200. As everyone waits to see whether Sinema will run for reelection, the fundraising could be a trouble spot, Ally notes — but she has $10.8 million on hand, way more than Gallego. California: Democratic Rep. BARBARA LEE raised $1.1 million and has $1.4 million on hand. All in all, Democratic Rep. ADAM SCHIFF is trouncing his opponents in fundraising: He pulled in more than Lee, Democratic Rep. KATIE PORTER and LEXI REESE combined, the L.A. Times’ Seema Mehta notes. Utah: GOP Sen. MITT ROMNEY raised $1.1 million as he ponders whether to run again. NBC’s Bridget Bowman writes that the filing “shows that he could be preparing for a competitive 2024 campaign.” But as The Messenger’s Matt Holt notes, only $21,000 of his total came from individual donations; the vast majority was just Targeted Victory buying his email list. Missouri: GOP Sen. JOSH HAWLEY raised $1.5 million and has $4.5 million on hand. Maryland: Democratic Rep. DAVID TRONE gave himself $9.7 million and pulled in an additional $108,000, per WaPo’s Erin Cox. 4. NO LABELS GETS SPECIFIC: The moderate group working on a third-party presidential bid is releasing a set of policy platforms/ideas in a 63-page blueprint to be rolled out tomorrow, WaPo’s Michael Scherer reports. Any eventual nominee would roll out their own specific platform, though; this is more of “a starting point.” In general, the blueprint seeks to elevate bipartisanship and compromise above polarized party politics, though the ideas are a mixture of things many Americans want and things few Americans want — including a deficit reduction commission; universal background checks for guns; stopping the practice of releasing asylum-seekers in the U.S.; and finding middle ground on abortion rights. 5. REDISTRICTING ROUNDUP: “Alabama Scrambles to Redraw Its Voting Map After a Supreme Court Surprise,” by NYT’s Emily Cochrane in Montgomery and Michael Wines: “[T]he Alabama legislature will convene for a special five-day session on Monday, with the Republican supermajority having given little public indication of how it plans to fulfill a mandate to craft a second district that allows Black voters to elect a representative of their choice — one who could well be a Democrat.” 6. NOMINATION SHOCKER: “Personal debts said to scuttle nomination of Biden’s acting cyber director,” by WaPo’s Ellen Nakashima and Tim Starks: “KEMBA WALDEN, who has been acting director since mid-February, was told five weeks ago that her high debt load would create an opportunity for senators to ‘give her a rough time’ … The reason given to Walden stunned friends and colleagues who heard about it. They said she was eminently qualified [and had bipartisan support.] … On Friday, Walden told The Washington Post she recently withdrew from consideration for the nomination.” Says one friend of Walden: “If the requirement to take a job like this is that you have to be independently wealthy, then it will be a poorer place.” 7. KNOWING FANI WILLIS: “The No-Nonsense Georgia Prosecutor on a Collision Course With Donald Trump,” by WSJ’s Cameron McWhirter and Jan Wolfe in Atlanta 8. SPECIAL TREATMENT? “Trump’s outbursts met with silence so far by prosecutor, judge,” by WaPo’s Devlin Barrett: “Trump has publicly called special counsel JACK SMITH ‘deranged’ and a ‘psycho’ and said he ‘looks like a crackhead.’ … But prosecutors have not made any complaints to U.S. District Court Judge AILEEN M. CANNON about Trump’s comments or sought a gag order.” 9. WILD SUNDAY READ: “How Bronze Age Pervert Built a Twitter Following and Injected Anti-Democracy, Pro-Men Ideas into the GOP,” by Rosie Gray in POLITICO Magazine: “A modern story of shitposting, self-publishing and how an anonymous persona can help your ideas take off — and take root at the highest levels.” More from POLITICO Mag’s masculinity issue: “Democrats Have a Man Problem. These Experts Have Ideas for Fixing It.”
| | | | 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 | | Arnold Schwarzenegger dined at Le Diplomate. Jerry Brown wished a happy birthday to his old flame, Linda Ronstadt. The campaign for Ohio’s Issue 1 ballot measure is getting steamy. IN MEMORIAM — “Melvin Wulf, Transformative Civil Liberties Lawyer, Dies at 95,” by NYT’s Richard Sandomir: “As legal director for 15 years, he made the A.C.L.U. a more aggressive organization and worked with Ruth Bader Ginsburg before she became a United States Supreme Court justice.” OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at a birthday party for Josh Dawsey at Garden District: David Fahrenthold, Adam Goldman, Sally Buzbee, Matea Gold, Annie Karni and Ted Mann, Jeff Zeleny, Phil Rucker, Ashley Parker and Michael Bender, Antonia Ferrier, Matt Gorman, Evan Hollander and Eli Yokley, James Adams, Isaac Arnsdorf, Matt Dornic, Rosalind Helderman, Shane Harris, Liz Johnson, Matt Mowers and Cassie Spodak, Ryan Barber, Michael Scherer, Theo Meyer, Jeff Solnet and Betsy Klein, Dan Diamond, Ellie Warner, Juliet Eilperin, Rachel Levitan and Felicia Schwartz. — SPOTTED at Lyndon Boozer’s 60th birthday party last night at the National Union Building: Karen Anderson, Lynda Robb, Lucinda Robb, Panamanian Ambassador Ramón Martínez, Terry and Dorothy McAuliffe, G.K. Butterfield, Ken Harvey, Shannon Finley, P.C. Koch, Yebbie Watkins, Gerry Harrington, Michael Hutton, Ashok Bajaj, and Jesse and Devon McCollum. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) … NYT’s Shane Goldmacher … Neil Chatterjee … CBS’ Ben Tracy … Maddie Conway … Randy DeCleene of kglobal … PhRMA’s Stami Williams … Julie Tagen of House Oversight … Chad Carlough of Rep. Jerry Carl’s (R-Ala.) office … Anita McBride … Scott Melville of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association … Marisol Samayoa of Rep. Adam Schiff’s (D-Calif.) office … Amanda Henneberg of Cavalry … Riley Roberts … Kathy Calvin … Betty Hudson … Jennifer Cummings … Zach Sentementes … Molly Ritner ... Amanda Hallberg Greenwell ... Manuel Bonilla … Doug Feith (7-0) … Judge Don Willett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit … former Reps. Ross Spano (R-Fla.), Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) (5-0) and Michael Bilirakis (R-Fla.) … Chad Griffin (5-0) … POLITICO’s Kalon Makle and Luc Traugott … former Labor Secretary Alexis Herman … Marcus Towns II … Teri Whitcraft … Brooke Starr of Rep. Markwayne Mullin’s (R-Okla.) office … Abbas Alawieh of Rep. Cori Bush’s (D-Mo.) office … Gordon Sondland … Duncan McGaan … Karin Johanson 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 The Coalition to Protect America's Regional Airports: DCA was designed to serve regional airports within the perimeter. Yet a Delta-backed group is pushing for changes to DCA’s slot and perimeter rules that could reduce service for these regional airports and the communities they serve. These changes put economic development at risk, and threaten communities’ ability to safely, affordably, and easily connect to and through our nation’s capital. That’s why CPARA, its 120+ members, and leading aviation experts and authorities like the Federal Aviation Administration oppose changes to the DCA slot and perimeter rules. Protect regional airports and regional access. Join the fight at www.protectregionalairports.com. | | | | | | | 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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