| | | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | UGLY STUFF — “White House condemns antisemitism after Trump attacks ‘Jewish Governor’ Shapiro,” by Adam Cancryn: DONALD “TRUMP’s lengthy overnight post marked just the latest instance in which he’s suggested that Jewish people are turning their back on Israel by supporting the Democratic ticket. … In a statement Friday morning, White House spokesperson HERBIE ZISKEND called it ‘Antisemitic, dangerous, and hurtful to attack a fellow American by calling out their Jewish faith in a derogatory way.’”
|  Housing shortages would likely be a big focus for a Democratic Washington next year. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | DEMOCRATS’ PROJECT 2025 — A political convention is no policy white paper: In Chicago this week, Democrats are looking to win over Americans with personal appeals and a broad vision for the future. That’ll be a central thrust of VP KAMALA HARRIS’ keynote tonight, as we previewed this morning. But the country is also getting glimpses — on stage and off — into the policy agenda that Democrats might unfurl if they win a governing trifecta in November. Build, baby, build: Housing has taken center stage in a way that it hasn’t in decades, Victoria Guida writes, with speakers at the United Center delivering full-throated calls to ramp up the supply of new units significantly. Activists see this as a “watershed moment” for the issue, on the heels of Harris’ recent housing proposal, as shortages across the country have elevated housing into a top cost-of-living concern for many voters. This is a sea change for an issue that was once seen as less of a political winner, appealing to low-income people who voted less consistently. Still, ironing out the details could prove thorny for a Harris administration, especially since many onerous regulations exist at the local level. Vote, baby, vote: Major voting rights bills and electoral reforms would also top Democrats’ agenda — and they’re willing to jettison the filibuster, at least in part, to pass them, WaPo’s Patrick Marley reports. Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER tells him (as he told Rachael on Monday) that making structural changes to strengthen democracy is fundamental to all of Democrats’ other policy goals. Their bills would expand voting rights and ban partisan gerrymandering. But Dems would have to all actually get on board with undoing the filibuster — and they’d have to get past a conservative Supreme Court, too. Tonight’s convention speakers will reflect various other messaging and policy priorities for the party, too. BOB CASEY (D-Pa.) will lean hard into Harris’ price-gouging agenda and his favorite boogeyman, “greedflation,” per Axios’ Stephen Neukam. An array of speakers will hammer gun violence and the need for new gun laws, per NBC’s Alexandra Marquez, including GABBY GIFFORDS, Rep. LUCY McBATH (D-Ga.), Tennessee state Reps. GLORIA JOHNSON, JUSTIN JONES and JUSTIN PEARSON, and mass shooting survivors and loved ones. And away from the stage, Democrats are chattering about possible Harris Cabinet appointments, as WSJ’s Andrew Restuccia, Tarini Parti, Alexander Ward and Annie Linskey run down. Then there’s the fun stuff at the convention: The Chicks will sing the National Anthem tonight, CNN’s Elizabeth Wagmeister and Samantha Waldenberg scooped. AVA DuVERNAY is filming some kind of secret special project, per Wagmeister. The Harris campaign is launching a Twitch channel, Wired’s Makena Kelly scooped. And of all people, JOHN EDWARDS is back in the fold, enjoying his first convention in 20 years, NYT’s Shawn McCreesh captures. And the controversies: Despite being told no, progressive members of Congress and activists are still agitating for a Palestinian American speaker to be added to tonight’s lineup. The UAW joined their cause this morning. The lineup of speakers you can expect More stories to read before Harris’ speech: “Inside the Sex Crimes Cases That Made Kamala Harris’ Reputation,” by Eric He in Oakland for POLITICO Magazine … “How Kamala Harris Prepares for Big Moments,” by NOTUS’ Jasmine Wright Good Thursday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
| | | | A message from USAFacts: Want to know the facts on immigration, taxes and spending? Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft CEO and owner of the LA Clippers, shares facts and data, you make up your mind! | | | SPOTTED in Chicago: KELLYANNE CONWAY, who’s a Fox News contributor, leaving the United Center this morning. … CORNEL WEST this morning walking with TAVIS SMILEY in the media line at the convention to do an interview on his show. TODAY AT THE CNN-POLITICO GRILL — 1:30 p.m.: Rep. NANCY PELOSI (D-Calif.), with Jonathan Martin … 2 p.m.: Rep. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-Miss.), with Nicholas Wu … 2:15 p.m.: Rep. NIKKI BUDZINSKI (D-Ill.), with Emma Dumain … 2:30 p.m.: Sen. DEBBIE STABENOW (D-Mich.), with Emma Dumain … 3 p.m.: Sen. LAPHONZA BUTLER (D-Calif.), with Eugene … 3:20 p.m.: Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG, with Adam Wren. All times CDT … Watch on YouTube … Follow on the POLITICO DNC live blog
| | | | | 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | | 
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has a much-anticipated speech tomorrow. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | 1. FED UP: All financial eyes will be on Jackson Hole, Wyoming, tomorrow, where Fed Chair JEROME POWELL will make “his most important speech of the year,” WaPo’s Rachel Siegel previews. Expectations are high for news about an interest rate cut in September, though she writes that Powell isn’t likely to get very detailed about the size of the cut. Powell’s speech comes as the Fed increasingly has to return to its dual mandate, following years of focusing squarely on taming inflation, with labor-market weakness emerging as a more significant fear. It’s a difficult balancing act for the central bank. Related news: “U.S. applications for unemployment benefits inch up, but remain at historically healthy levels,” by AP’s Matt Ott 2. 2025 DREAMING: “RFK Jr. as Trump’s health secretary? Here’s what he wants to do,” by NBC’s Brandy Zadrozny: “HHS oversees 13 agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. On the campaign trail, in podcasts and in news interviews, [ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.] has described wanting to dismantle those offices and rebuild them with like-minded fringe figures. … Faced with another pandemic, Kennedy said, he wouldn’t prioritize the research, manufacture or distribution of vaccines.” 3. INCOMING: A labor dispute officially shuttered the two biggest railroads in Canada today, and the U.S. is bracing for ripple effects to hurt the economy south of the border too, WaPo’s Lauren Kaori Gurley reports. After the Teamsters and the railways failed to reach an accord last night, the stoppage could make supply-chain snarls and inflated prices worse for American consumers.
| | | | Follow ongoing storylines on how the election will shape policy debates beyond 2024. Our nonpartisan insights prepared our subscribers to navigate a changed political landscape. Learn more about POLITICO Pro. | | | | | 4. IMMIGRATION FILES: “Gov. Abbott sent no migrant buses from Texas to blue cities in July,” by NBC’s Laura Strickler: “Data obtained by NBC News seems to indicate that Texas Gov. GREG ABBOTT did not send a single bus full of migrants out of the state in July, despite his vow at the Republican National Convention on July 17 to keep sending buses north until the border is ‘secure.’ … [T]he bus trips dropped sharply after President JOE BIDEN’s executive action curtailing asylum applications took effect in early June and then kept falling because there were not enough migrants to fill the buses.” 5. THE TIES WERE BLACK, THE LIES WERE WHITE: A new analysis finds that misinformation about celebrity endorsements in the presidential race has exploded lately online, CNN’s Marshall Cohen reports. Trump’s dissemination of AI-generated “Swifties for Trump” deepfakes was just the latest of hundreds of false endorsements or snubs the News Literacy Project found, from AARON RODGERS to BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN to the Communist Party. 6. TAKING STOCK: “Trump May Claim Credit for Stock Surges, but the Reality Is Far More Complicated,” by NYT’s Joe Rennison and Jeanna Smialek: “The S&P 500’s 15 percent rise over the first half of the year has been widely attributed to the rally in a handful of stocks deemed to be beneficiaries of the boom in artificial intelligence, not to Mr. Trump’s chances of regaining the White House. The index’s brief sell-off from mid-July through early August arose in part from divergent monetary policy between Japan and the United States and the rapid unwinding of trades that were no longer as profitable, not from Ms. Harris’s entry into the presidential race.” 7. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: Before Israel and Hamas can finally reach a cease-fire and hostage release deal, one of the biggest hurdles is what to do with the Philadelphi corridor — the buffer zone along the Egypt-Gaza border. That’s the focus of talks in Cairo today between the U.S., Israel and Egypt, Axios’ Barak Ravid reports, as the region’s powers try to work toward reopening the border crossing in Rafah. Israel has insisted that it needs to keep its troops deployed along this corridor, which it withdrew from along with the rest of Gaza in 2005 until the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack. Egypt, which has patrolled the zone since the Israeli withdrawal, doesn’t want them there long-term; Biden this week urged Israeli PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU to ease up on the issue.
| | | | DON’T MISS OUR AI & TECH SUMMIT: Join POLITICO’s AI & Tech Summit for exclusive interviews and conversations with senior tech leaders, lawmakers, officials and stakeholders about where the rising energy around global competition — and the sense of potential around AI and restoring American tech knowhow — is driving tech policy and investment. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | Kamala Harris has a significant lead among Arizona Hispanics, Meridith McGraw scoops. Donald Trump is up by 5 and Ted Cruz by 2 in a new Texas poll. The Dalai Lama met with top U.S. officials in New York. Ryan Walters’ push for Bibles in Oklahoma schools seems to be largely symbolic so far. OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at a Ferox Strategies brunch yesterday morning at BLVD in Chicago: Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Cristina Antelo, Debra Dixon, Lauren Doepke, Christopher Cox, Didier Barjon, Lucas Lam, Sequoia Ragland, Angeline Jabbar, Shawn Whyte, Zuraya Tapia-Hadley, Tequila Smith, Ibn Akbar Salaam, Abby Jagoda, John Merrigan, Sirat Attapit, Mateo Pierce-Mosquera, Matthew Spikes and Dontai Smalls. — The Black Economic Alliance hosted an event with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore at theWit Hilton in Chicago, focused on his economic agenda and accomplishments, with panel discussions moderated by Jonathan Capehart and featuring Thasunda Duckett, Ava DuVernay and John Rogers. Samantha Tweedy also spoke. SPOTTED: Michael Ealy, LA Mayor Karen Bass, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), Deval Patrick, Keisha Lance Bottoms, Charles Phillips, Tony Coles, Broderick Johnson, William Heard, Marty Nesbitt, Chris Jones, Stefanie Brown James and Quentin James, Doug Thornell, Paul Thornell, Joyce Brayboy, Heather Podesta and Arshi Siddiqui. — Liza Heyman and Avra Siegel’s Lev Collective hosted a DNC brunch at Bruce and Vicki Heyman’s Lincoln Park residence. SPOTTED: Rep. Gabe Amo (D-R.I.), Tina Tchen, Lynda Carter, Judy Lichtman, Diana Doukas, Monique Dorsainvil, Paulette Aniskoff and Haley Lickstein. — The American Federation of Teachers’ Randi Weingarten and the XQ Institute’s Russlynn Ali sponsored an event on high school youth and career tech ed options. SPOTTED: Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Don Beyer (D-Va.), Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.), New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Clemons, Frank Luntz, Brad Smith, Neera Tanden, Heather Podesta, Christie Hefner, Noosheen Hashemi, Liz Shuler, Eli Stokols, Bonin Bough, Heather Boushey, E.J. Dionne, Michael Mulgrew, Sam Feist, Rick Klein, Molly Ball, Shelby Talcott, Sridhar Natarajan, Nii-Quartelai Quartey, Greta Brawner, Alexander Bolton, Ted Mann, Michael Tomasky, Anna Johnson, George Vradenburg, Dutch Ambassador Birgitta Tazelaar, Leland Vittert, David Smith, Angela Greiling Keane, Dan Poneman, Mark Ein and Alex Rogers. — Polymarket threw a DNC after-party last night at the Waldorf Astoria. SPOTTED: Shayne Coplan, Justin Mikita, Todd Hawkins, Harry Sisson, Cristóbal Alex, Jim Doyle, Jeremy Cooney, Sean McElwee, Reed Galen, Henry Muñoz, Marcus Switzer and Rio Hart. MEDIA MOVE — Olivia Troye is joining Courier Newsroom as a national opinion contributor with a newsletter, We Lived It, focused on the threat of another Trump term. TRANSITION — Former Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) is joining Palantir as head of defense. More from Bloomberg 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 Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
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