The Archive

IN THIS EDITION

Vulnerable Dems skipping Chicago convention

Andreessen, Senor, oil CEO among speakers at Johnson’s Wyo. retreat

Senate Republicans love their Nevada candidate. Can he win?

Pelosi on Biden, Trump and her role in making the Democratic ticket

News: Mike Rogers focuses on economy in first general election ad

THE TOP

Vulnerable Dems skipping Chicago convention

Happy Thursday morning.

There’s a newfound enthusiasm among vulnerable Democrats for Vice President Kamala Harris’ and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s campaign. But several at-risk Democrats aren’t booking their flights to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention just yet.

With the Senate at stake of falling into Republican control and the GOP targeting dozens of at-risk House Democrats, some members are prioritizing their own campaigns over the convention.

Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said they won’t be going. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) — who will appear with Harris and Walz in Nevada on Saturday — is also skipping the DNC.

Over in the House, Reps. Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.), Jared Golden (D-Maine), Josh Harder (D-Calif.) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) have all said they won’t be at the convention. Gluesenkamp Perez’s office told us she is “spending time in the district and focused on her re-election.”

Rep. Val Hoyle (D-Ore.), a Frontliner, also plans to stay in her district during convention week due to ongoing wildfires.

“We don’t anticipate she will attend,” Karmen Fore, Hoyle’s chief of staff, told us in an email. “[Hoyle] will be in Oregon. Wildfires are getting worse out here and working this is her priority right now.”

Other vulnerable Democrats — Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Susie Lee (D-Nev.), Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) and Susan Wild (D-Pa.) — told us their schedules aren’t yet finalized for convention week.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) is planning to attend part of the convention, but she’s also doing a statewide Wisconsin swing through that week. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) is also attending part of the convention, we’re told. Other House Democratic Frontliners like Reps. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) and Don Davis (D-N.C.) are slated to be in Chicago.

To be sure, lawmakers occasionally skip conventions. The four-day-long bonanza is really more for donors, delegates and the presidential race than it is for rank-and-file members.

And lots of Democrats will still flock to Chicago to speak at the convention, fundraise and, of course, socialize. The press will be there too, in force.

But the absence of vulnerable Democrats is interesting given that most Frontliners have vocally united behind the Harris-Walz ticket.

“[Harris] will do well, she’s off to a great start,” Casey, who is facing a tough race, told us last week.

Harris’ packed rally last week in Atlanta, captured the attention of many rank-and-file Democrats who were unenthusiastic about President Joe Biden. The swing-state show of force was light years ahead of any public display of support for Biden this cycle.

“That was the hottest, hypest crowd I can remember,” Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), who attended the rally, told us. “The excitement in Georgia is off the charts. And not just rally attendance and intensity, but thousands and thousands of volunteer signups in the last six days alone.”

The Harris campaign followed that up with another raucous rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday to introduce Walz as her running mate. The pair drew huge crowds Wednesday in Eau Claire, Wis., and Detroit too.

Walzmentum: Multiple purple district Democrats we spoke to this week say Walz is a pragmatist who could help turn red pockets of the Midwest blue.

“Walz is a very middle-of-the-road kind of candidate,” Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) told us.

Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), another Frontliner, said Walz is a “champion” for family farmers and rural America.

But of course, for incumbents in truly ruby-red territory, there’s an understandable desire to distance themselves from the top of the Democratic ticket.

When we asked Tester about Harris’ impact on his race, we heard a different tune.

Tester says the top-of-the-ticket change will have zero effect on his battle with Republican Tim Sheehy, “because we run our own race.”

We followed up by asking if Tester really thought the Democratic tidal wave of enthusiasm would have no impact.

“I develop my own enthusiasm,” Tester said with a grin.

Sneak Peek: The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter is moving the presidential contest in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada from lean Republican to tossup.

Read Amy Walter’s column here — live at 5:30 a.m.

— Mica Soellner and Max Cohen

Have you entered our Congressional Recess Giveaway yet? We’re choosing new winners each day through August 16th! Enter the giveaway here.

THE SPEAKER

Andreessen, Senor, oil CEO among speakers at Johnson’s Wyo. retreat

News: Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and Dan Senor will speak at Speaker Mike Johnson’s large donor retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyo., next week.

Andreessen and ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance will speak about the U.S. economy. Andreessen, the founder of the legendary venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, has become a major player in Republican politics this year. Most recently, Andreessen gave $12.5 million and Andreessen Horowitz chipped in $25 million to Fairshake, a PAC that has disproportionately supported Republicans this cycle.

Ross Perot Jr., another major GOP donor, will also speak.

Senor, an executive at Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, will speak about foreign policy. Senor, who was a close adviser to and friend of former Speaker Paul Ryan, also worked in the George W. Bush administration and is the host of the popular “Call Me Back,” which focuses on the Middle East.

NRCC Chair Richard Hudson and Congressional Leadership Fund President Dan Conston will talk about “growing the majority in 2024.”

Johnson’s team expects more than 220 attendees. The Jackson Hole gathering was started by Ryan and continued by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. It’s a chance for large donors to Republicans to hear directly from top members of leadership and GOP up-and-comers. The goal of the retreat is not only to have wealthy donors’ political handlers on site, but the actual donors themselves.

Johnson’s Jackson Hole event is preceded by a CLF gathering Sunday. Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer and other lawmakers will speak at a dinner hosted by CLF.

— Jake Sherman

ON THE TRAIL

Senate Republicans love their Nevada candidate. Can he win?

LAS VEGAS — Two years ago, Republicans came within 8,000 votes of defeating Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) in what would have been a major victory for the party. GOP senators privately harangued their candidate, Adam Laxalt, for losing what they believed was a winnable race.

It’s why Republicans in Washington have been so high on Sam Brown, the GOP nominee to take on Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) this November. Senate Republican leaders touted Brown as one of their best recruits as they were desperately looking to shake what Minority Leader Mitch McConnell panned as a “candidate quality” problem.

And while GOP leaders like what they’ve seen so far from Brown, the retired Army captain hasn’t yet had a breakthrough moment even as he highlights Nevada’s economic indicators, which are generally worse than the national averages.

“Jacky Rosen is a day-one supporter of Bidenomics and Kamala Harris — voting with what Joe Biden wants 98% of the time — and Nevadans are still suffering because of her hyper-partisan allegiance putting party over the people she claims to represent,” Brown told us this week.

McConnell said in an interview last week that he doesn’t see the same problem with candidate quality this time around, but it’s unclear if that can make a difference in what’s a unique state electorally.

“I think we’ve avoided that,” McConnell said regarding lackluster 2022 candidates. “I’m hoping we can take advantage of what’s obviously a very good map.”

It’s the economy: Brown has been focused on inflation and energy prices in Nevada, arguing that they’re higher than elsewhere in the country because Rosen backed President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda during the first two years of his administration.

As we wrote on Wednesday, Rosen is proudly touting those bills, arguing they’ve already made direct and positive impacts on Nevada.

It’s also worth noting that many of those legislative accomplishments from the last Congress, like the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, passed with significant GOP support, including from McConnell.

Former President Donald Trump gave Brown a boost when, at a recent rally here, the GOP presidential nominee vowed to end taxes on tips. This is obviously a major issue in Nevada, where so many workers get significant chunks of their income from tips.

Both Rosen and Cortez Masto later came out in favor of the proposal, and Brown has now included it in his pitch as well. Senate Minority Whip John Thune even mentioned it to us in a recent interview centering on the 2025 tax fight.

“Sam Brown of course has a terrific resume and is a terrific candidate,” Thune said in a separate interview. “I’ve always said elections are about differences, and the differences couldn’t be more clear this year.”

Senate Republicans’ early affinity for Brown was driven in part by his inspiring backstory. Brown, a former Army captain, was severely wounded when his convoy was bombed in Afghanistan, and he spent several years recovering. Brown was later awarded a Purple Heart.

“Sam’s running a great race,” NRSC Chair Steve Daines told us. “There’s just a lot of opportunity for Sam, with Trump performing well in Nevada, to perform well in that race.”

On the ground: Like most of the Senate battlegrounds, the presidential race will have a major impact down the ballot.

Nevada’s huge cohort of union workers, particularly in Las Vegas, have long been a major force in statewide elections, especially in presidential years. Rosen is looking to use that to her advantage in a state where Trump is polling well. Brown, though, has consistently polled slightly behind Trump, which could make a difference in a tight race.

The Rosen-Brown contest has grown very contentious over the issue of abortion in particular. We’ll have more on this dynamic in tomorrow’s AM edition, including a look at how abortion-related ballot initiatives will impact the races in both Nevada and Arizona.

Also: Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) dumped $850,000 of his own cash into his campaign account Tuesday, according to a filing made public Wednesday. Scott frequently funds his own campaigns. But this is a large cash infusion that caught our eye. Scott is facing former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-Fla.) in November.

— Andrew Desiderio

LEADERSHIP

Pelosi on Biden, Trump and her role in making the Democratic ticket

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi insists she never told President Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race, despite multiple media reports claiming otherwise.

Yet Pelosi — who has known the president since the early 1980s — was convinced Biden was going to lose to former President Donald Trump in November unless major changes were made to the president’s campaign. Pelosi said she told Biden this directly during a call with the president.

“I was really asking for a better campaign. We did not have a campaign that was going to lead us to victory,” Pelosi told reporters during a roundtable to discuss her new book, “The Art of Power.”

However, the four-term former speaker, who has been in Congress since 1987, denied she was behind any anti-Biden effort, although she’s clearly delighted that Vice President Kamala Harris has taken over as the Democratic nominee.

“[Biden] may think that my statement [on MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’] unleashed something,” Pelosi said, referring to a critical appearance on a popular show watched by the president.

Pelosi asserted during that high-profile July 10 interview that “It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We’re all encouraging him to make that decision, because time is running short.”

Biden, of course, was already running for reelection. So Pelosi’s comments were seen as encouraging the president to withdraw from a race that he was losing following his disastrous debate performance on June 27.

Here’s more from Pelosi on what happened behind the scenes as Hill Democrats rebelled against Biden:

“I never said ‘Put Mike Donilon on the phone,’” Pelosi added, referring to reports that she asked Biden to put one of his top advisers on the phone during a critical call. Pelosi asserted she wasn’t aware of Donilon’s role inside Biden’s orbit, mistaking him for a speechwriter.

“Nobody has any quote from me about what I said to [Biden] whenever it was,” Pelosi insisted.

Biden withdrew from the race on July 21. As of now, Pelosi and Biden haven’t spoken, she said.

But the California Democrat declared her highest priority is to make sure Trump never returns to the White House. The battles between the two, especially after she returned to the speaker’s chair in 2019 when the Democrats won back the House, dominated Washington.

“My goal in life is making sure that man never steps in office again,” Pelosi asserted, thumping the table repeatedly for emphasis during the roundtable.

In the book, the 84-year-old Pelosi talks extensively about her role as speaker and House minority leader in dealing with Iraq, the 2008 Wall Street bailout, the passage of Obamacare and her explosive dealings with Trump during his presidency, including both impeachments and the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Pelosi also discusses the devastating October 2022 attack on her husband, Paul Pelosi, at their San Francisco home. A conspiracy theorist broke into the home searching for the then-speaker only to end up viciously assaulting her husband. The attacker was recently sentenced to 30 years in prison on federal charges, and he’s been convicted in a state case as well.

“The attack on Paul caused my family its own deep trauma and my own survivor’s guilt,” Pelosi said in describing the fallout from the horrific incident.

— John Bresnahan

THE CAMPAIGN

News: Mike Rogers focuses on economy in first general election ad

First in Punchbowl News: Former Rep. Mike Rogers’ (R-Mich.) opening ad of the Michigan Senate general election focuses on an economic message about rising costs.

“You shouldn’t have to choose between putting gas in the tank and putting food on your table,” Rogers says direct-to-camera while standing in a grocery store. “I’ll change Washington, by putting you and your family first.”

The ad also slams “Washington politicians” for “wasting your tax dollars on corporate welfare and giving hotels and healthcare to illegals.” There’s no mention of Rogers’ Democratic opponent, Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.).

Rogers faces a tough race against Slotkin, a battle-tested House Democrat who’s consistently won in a toss-up seat. But national Republicans believe Rogers can deliver a winning message and avoid the extremist label that’s hampered other Senate GOP contenders.

The six-figure ad buy is slated to run on digital platforms for the next four weeks until early September.

— Max Cohen and Jake Sherman

MOMENTS

CLIPS