With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine

DRIVING THE DAY

NEW THIS MORNING — JEN O’MALLEY DILLON outlines KAMALA HARRIS’ path to victory in a new interested-parties memo.

The VP, she writes, is “well-positioned to expand support from 2020, drawing the support of voters who have moved towards Democrats since the 2020 election. In many cases, these voters did not vote for the [JOE] BIDEN-Harris ticket in 2020, but came out in support of Democrats in 2022 as DONALD TRUMP’s Republican Party grew more and more extreme.”

There are also “additional persuadable voters” whom the campaign intends to target: “About 7% of voters remain undecided in this race, and these voters are disproportionately Black, Latino, and under 30. They are more likely to have supported the Biden-Harris ticket in 2020, and are two times more likely to be Democrats than Republicans.”As for the map: “We continue to focus on the Blue Wall states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania — and the Sun Belt states of North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada, where the Vice President’s advantages with young voters, Black voters, and Latino voters will be important to our multiple pathways to 270 electoral votes.” Read the memo

NOTES FROM A HONEYMOON — Good morning from Milwaukee, where yesterday Harris walked into a cavernous high school gymnasium and experienced something that has been in short supply for Democrats this election cycle: genuine, raucous enthusiasm.

More than 3,000 attended Harris’s first public event as the all-but-official Democratic presidential nominee, campaign aides told Playbook — more than showed up for any event held by Biden this cycle, we’re told.

The energy was completely different from the desultory-feeling events earlier in the campaign. For the first time in recent memory, an event had to be moved to a bigger room. There were spontaneous chants of “Kamala!” and a row of attendees hold up signs spelling out “YES WE KAM!” More from Eugene and Myah Ward

In the words of one Biden-now-Harris aide on the scene, it finally “felt like a campaign.”

It also felt like a honeymoon.

While Harris debuted plenty of red-meat attacks on Trump and demonstrated a level of poise and agility that has been conspicuously absent from the presidential stump, she has yet to fully contend with two major challenges she will soon have to face head-on.

1. How will she handle attacks on her record?

The early GOP salvos against Harris stuck mainly to her time as VP, attempting to saddle her with all of Biden’s vulnerabilities — the migrant rush at the southern border, persistent inflation, the Afghanistan pullout fiasco, his age and acuity.

But there are signs quickly emerging that Trump and Republicans won't be content to simply paint Harris as the flip side of the same coin but instead as a unique threat — a politician even more liberal and out of touch with mainstream values than her VP record would suggest.

For a taste of that onslaught, check out the video Pennsylvania Senate candidate DAVID McCORMICK posted last night, using a laundry list of positions Harris adopted during her 2019 presidential campaign to slag incumbent BOB CASEY (D-Pa.).

They include her support for the Green New Deal, a ban on fracking, the decriminalization of illegal entry by migrants, “starting from scratch” on Immigration and Customs Enforcement, restoring felon voting rights, adopting mandatory buybacks for some guns, eliminating private health insurance and more.

These are the views, of course, of a Democrat who joined a rush to the left during a presidential primary that looks incredibly ill-advised in retrospect to many in the party — including Harris, we suspect. Some of her former aides admit she was struggling to find footing in a party that, at the time, appeared to be moving sharply left.

But the comments are there, on tape, and she can expect to be pressed on whether she still subscribes to those views.

We’re told Harris’ team is still working through how they’ll respond to those attacks. But her practice over the years has been to let her more recent work speak for itself, so expect her to try to refocus questions about those past views as a senator and a candidate onto the work she has done as VP over the past four years.

2. How will she distinguish herself from Biden?

It’s a task that has tripped up VP after VP over the decades: How do you forge your own message without running away from the administration you’ve been part of for years? It’s a particularly tricky task when, as in Harris’ case, the incumbent president is unpopular and still in office.

Three sources in Harris’ orbit we spoke to said people expecting Harris to take drastically different positions are going to end up disappointed. First, it wouldn’t be credible after spending four years forging a bona fide partnership with Biden. Second, there can only be one president at a time, and she still has to go into the Oval Office and work with him.

Instead, expect some nibbling around the edges, they said.

That was on display in subtle ways Tuesday. “When Congress passes a law to restore reproductive freedoms, as president of the United States, I will sign it into law,” she said, inching out slightly farther than Biden, who has said only that he would restore Roe v. Wade.

Her team, we’re told, is still working on policy specifics. But even on an issue such as Israel, where there is potential for a significant departure, expect only modest shifts. Biden is still hoping to clinch a peace deal that will end the war in Gaza, and — again — there can only be one president at a time.

Harris has plenty of history to learn from — including from Biden himself, who got tripped up at times answering for some of former President BARACK OBAMA’s policies. (He famously called his deportation policy “a big mistake” during the 2020 primary.)

It’s doubly sensitive running as a No. 2 if the No. 1 is still in office. That hasn’t been the case in the 24 years since AL GORE ran unsuccessfully to succeed BILL CLINTON.

The tensions at that time had less to do with policy and more to do about Clinton’s personal scandals. But the imperatives of putting distance between a candidate and sitting president caused all sorts of tensions.

Communication is key, said CHARLES BURSON, who served as Gore’s chief of staff for the last year and a half of his term. Neither side can be blindsided, he told Playbook, because a sitting VP is still obligated to act as part of the incumbent’s administration.

“Where there may be some departures and differences in terms of the way the administration has an approach to things and what [Harris’] ideas might be for the future, that can't be a surprise,” he told Playbook.

That could be where Harris’ decision to retain top Biden campaign aides O’Malley Dillon and JULIE CHAVEZ RODRIGUEZ could pay dividends, though it will likely come down to just how much grace Biden is willing to extend his to his would-be successor to ensure she is his actual successor.

Related reads: “House GOP leaders urge members: Stop making race comments about Harris,” by Olivia Beavers and Jordain Carney … “Winning over ideology: Why progressives are lining up behind Harris so quickly,” by Sarah Ferris, Nicholas Wu and Daniella Diaz … “Trump Camp Is Planning to ‘Willie Horton’ Kamala Harris,” by The Bulwark’s Marc Caputo … “Kamala Harris’s Biographer Says She’s Always Been Underestimated,” by NY Mag’s Benjamin Hart … “Trump campaign files FEC complaint trying to block Biden funds transferring to Harris,” by CNN’s Kristen Holmes, Kate Sullivan and Fredreka Schouten

Good Wednesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.

BIBI’S BIG DAY — Israeli PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU addresses a joint meeting of Congress later today, under markedly different circumstances than when the invitation was extended nearly two months ago.

The political situations in both the U.S. and Israel have drastically changed: Here, Biden is no longer the Democratic nominee and the presidential race is on a new, unpredictable trajectory. There, Netanyahu is struggling to hold a governing coalition together as the war in Gaza moves into a tenth month and peace talks sputter.

A speech that once seemed destined to be a tentpole event is now somewhat diminished, as Matt Berg and Joe Gould write. One Hill aide they spoke to forgot the speech was happening; another said it is “barely registering” due to the bonkers news cycle.

What is playing out as expected are the boycotts and protests: Potentially thousands of demonstrators are expected to gather outside the Capitol, while inside, dozens of Democratic lawmakers are announcing plans to skip the speech, as Inside Congress chronicles.

We’re mostly curious to learn which Bibi shows up today: the political animal keyed on playing to his domestic audience and shoring up his ultra-right-wing coalition? Or someone mindful of the rapidly evolving political outlook here in the U.S. — and the partisanship that has developed around the U.S.-Israel relationship, even since his last congressional speech nine years ago?

We’ll all know starting at 2 p.m., but the real drama could come later in the week as Netanyahu meets separately with Biden and Harris tomorrow and Trump on Friday.

With Biden not running for reelection, he is set to become more intently focused on notching not just a cease-fire deal but a larger peace accord in the Middle East. Will he try the carrot or the stick — or both?

As for Harris, we’re told she is planning to be tough on Netanyahu but will not be freelancing as the administration presses to close out a peace deal. The PM is no doubt aware that Harris has pressed Biden and his aides for months to speak more sympathetically about the Palestinians while also emphasizing Israel’s right to defend itself. Don't be surprised if a bit of a good cop, bad cop act emerges.

Related reads: “Trump to meet Netanyahu amid Biden tensions with Israeli prime minister,” by WaPo’s Josh Dawsey and Yasmeen Abutaleb … “Jewish activists arrested during Gaza war protest in US Congress building,” by Reuters’ Kanishka Singh and Allende Miglietta

WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY

On the Hill

Netanyahu will address a joint session of Congress at 2 p.m. He’ll meet shortly beforehand with Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER, Senate Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL, Speaker MIKE JOHNSON and House Minority Leader HAKEEM JEFFRIES.

The House will meet at 9 a.m. FBI Director CHRISTOPHER WRAY will testify before the Judiciary Committee at 10 a.m.

The Senate is in.

3 things to watch …

1. Sen. BOB MENENDEZ’s long political career will end on Aug. 20, he said yesterday in a letter to the Senate. The New Jersey Democrat leaves a whole bunch of questions in his wake, starting with, who will replace him? Gov. PHIL MURPHY is under pressure to appoint Rep. ANDY KIM, the Democratic nominee in November’s race for the seat, but Murphy instead appears inclined to name a caretaker, Ry Rivard, Daniel Han and Mia McCarthy report. One thing Menendez will take with him before he leaves: two additional paychecks, Katherine Tully-McManus notes.
   
2. Will there be a Biden impeachment report? Even after the House GOP effort sputtered earlier this year, top House Republicans insisted they would still issue a report with their findings, but now even that seems in doubt. House Oversight Chair JAMES COMER (R-Ky.) told Jordain Carney his portion of the report is done but, with other committees involved, it will be up to Johnson to decide whether it will be released. “They can publish it or not,” Comer said. “I guess things change if he’s not running again.”
   
3. The House might start its summer recess as soon as tonight. Hopes of passing any additional appropriations bills dwindled yesterday after support for the Energy-Water bill unraveled, with the Interior bill also planned for floor action this week not looking much better. The only real legislating left on the agenda is a bill establishing a task force to investigate Trump’s near-assassination. The House could ostensibly finish it tonight after Netanyahu’s address and leave town until September.

At the White House

Biden will deliver his big Oval Office address to the nation at 8 p.m., which NYT’s Peter Baker notes will presage a six-month period in which the president will try to show he’s no lame duck.

Harris will travel to Indianapolis, where she’ll deliver a keynote speech at Zeta Phi Beta’s Grand Boulé at 12:45 p.m. Then she’ll travel to Houston.

On the trail

Trump will hold a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, at 6 p.m.

PLAYBOOK READS

ALL POLITICS

POLITICAL VIOLENCE WATCH — In the latest fallout from the attempted assassination of Trump, the Secret Service has now urged the Trump campaign to go for indoor rallies rather than large outdoor events, WaPo’s Josh Dawsey reports. As a result, the Trump team is eyeing venues like arenas and hasn’t put any outdoor rallies on the schedule. And while Secret Service Director KIMBERLY CHEATLE announced her resignation yesterday, Pennsylvania State Police head CHRISTOPHER PARIS provided some new information about the Butler shooting in congressional testimony, AP’s Alanna Durkin Richer, Claudia Lauer and Michael Kunzelman report: Two officers left their post to search for THOMAS MATTHEW CROOKS before it began.

Though we still don’t have clear answers about Crooks’ motives, the threat of political violence continues to hang over American politics. Over the weekend in northern Michigan, a man attacked and then critically injured a senior citizen who was putting up Trump signs, before he confessed and killed himself, per The Detroit News’ Julia Cardi. And The Atlantic’s Adrienne LaFrance writes that experts have been expecting paroxysms of political violence for years. “Once political violence becomes endemic in society, as it has in ours, it is terribly difficult to dissolve. … Periods of political violence do end. But often not without shocking retrenchments of people’s freedoms or catastrophic events coming first.”

HEADLINE OF THE DAY — “New York’s Democratic Party shows new interest in electing Democrats,” by Bill Mahoney in Albany: “[F]our months out from Election Day, there’s now at least some evidence that the state party is more actively involved in this November’s races than in those from yesteryear.”

2024 WATCH

JUST VANCE — Sen. JD VANCE (R-Ohio) is hitting the ground running as Trump’s VP pick, leaning in especially to fundraising and tapping his tech industry connections for money, NYT’s Teddy Schleifer, Michael Bender and Rebecca Davis O’Brien report. His stops on the circuit from today to Saturday will include Indiana, Florida, Missouri, Oklahoma and Minnesota, and then California next week. But there’s a lot to adjust to — not least having his own plane, as Bender captures. On board, it was “a useful metaphor for the moment: a gifted yet fledgling political talent — whose calling card is his connection to the working class — adjusting to a new life with his own chartered Boeing 737.”

To the extent that Vance represents something new for the GOP — with populist economic or New Right messaging that breaks from traditional orthodoxies — he could present challenges for both tickets. N.Y. Mag’s Simon van Zuylen-Wood writes that Vance’s record and rhetoric could help Republicans cut into Democrats’ traditional working-class advantage. But other old comments are coming back to haunt him, including a newly viral 2021 interview in which he blasted Harris and other Democrats as “miserable” people without biological children, AP’s Adriana Gómez Licón reports.

More top reads:

• Veepstakes: Sen. MARK KELLY (D-Ariz.) has emerged as one of the possible names on Harris’ running-mate list, but he could face opposition from organized labor, ABC’s Max Zahn reports. Top unions have flagged concerns because he was one of only three senators who caucus with Democrats not to sign onto the PRO Act.

• FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Multiple democracy watchdog organizations are launching a new website, project2025admin.com, that maps out more than 100 potential top appointees in a second Trump administration. It provides comprehensive information and criticism about the risks each person could pose on various issues — at least in the eyes of the authors, which include State Democracy Defenders Action, Court Accountability Action and American Oversight Action.
  
• FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: In the two days since Biden dropped out, Vote.org saw its highest levels of new voter registrations of the whole cycle: 38,500 people signed up, a 700 percent spike and higher even than when TAYLOR SWIFT made an Instagram post. Most were 34 and under.

AMERICA AND THE WORLD 

LITTLE ROCKET MAN — Sorry, Donald. Despite Trump touting his relationship with KIM JONG UN, North Korea responded today that “we do not care about this” and that their nukes would be ready for any U.S. administration, per Bloomberg’s Jon Herskovitz.

TRUMP CARDS

FUNNY HOW THAT WORKS — Trump is still frequently attacking electric cars. But in recent months, since meeting with ELON MUSK, he’s started mixing in some praise, NYT’s Lisa Friedman writes.

POLICY CORNER

GOING POSTAL — Once again, fears are growing that Postal Service woes could hinder mail ballots from being counted in time in the election, AP’s Steve Karnowski reports from Minneapolis. At a state election directors meeting there yesterday, multiple officials said they were worried that ballots wouldn’t get delivered in the necessary time frames. They cited problems in past elections,as well as broader mail delivery issues stemming from Postmaster General LOUIS DeJOY’s overhaul of the system.

A Postal Service representative tried to assuage concerns, telling election officials that the data is showing improvements recently, including in an IG report that will come out next week. But their fears remained: “We are at a place where we really need them to pay attention,” association president MANDY VIGIL said. “[W]hen it comes to November, like, we need to see a difference.”

More top reads:

• Paging NEIL GORSUCH: “US targets nitrous oxide in new phase of climate fight,” by Reuters’ Valerie Volcovici
  
• Up in the air: The FAA is putting Southwest Airlines under a federal review amid several recent almost-accidents and safety concerns, WSJ’s Alison Sider and Andrew Tangel scooped.

PLAYBOOKERS

Selina Meyer is again winning America’s hearts.

Candace Owens now won’t be at a Donald Trump campaign fundraiser.

Tim Walz and Trump squabbled over the governor’s Fox News appearance.

Joe Biden is finally testing negative.

BOOK CLUB — Nii-Quartelai Quartey has published a new political memoir, “Kamala, The Motherland, and Me” ($29.99). It centers on Harris’ nine-day 2023 trip to three countries in Africa, on which Quartey accompanied her, and offers a look at the VP’s presence on the world stage.

PLAYBOOK REAL ESTATE SECTION — “Why Katharine Graham’s Washington Home Has Sat Vacant for 22 Years,” by NYT’s Elizabeth Williamson: “The home of the former Washington Post publisher was once a hub of power and comity. But after an ‘insane’ renovation spat, its new owner is looking to sell.”

— “The D.C. Office Market Is in Trouble — No Matter Who Wins the Election,” by WSJ’s Peter Grant

OUT AND ABOUT — To celebrate National Blueberry and National Ice Cream Months, the North American Blueberry Council and National Milk Producers Association hosted a blueberry/ice cream social Monday night in the House Agriculture Committee room. SPOTTED: Alyssa Houtby, Paul Bleiberg, Clark Ogilvie, Jennifer Tiller, Susan Keith, Joe MacFarlane, Justin Benavidez, Claudia Larson, Alana Lomis, T.A. Hawks and Lilia McFarland Horder.

— The Center for AI Safety had its D.C. launch yesterday with a reception on Capitol Hill. The nonprofit, led by Varun Krovi and Dan Hendrycks, focuses on providing technical expertise to inform policymaking, with an emphasis on safety in AI development. SPOTTED: Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Reps. French Hill (R-Ark.), Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.), Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Jaan Tallinn, Stephanie Murphy, Elizabeth Falcone, Caitlyn Stephenson, Jon Cardinal, Helen Milby, Sergio Rodriguera, Luxembourg Ambassador Nicole Bintner and Miriam Vogel.

— Judy Woodruff was honored last night at the AT&T Forum with the Tony Coelho Award in recognition of her decades of commitment to disability rights. SPOTTED: Al Hunt, Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Tony Coelho, Jonathan Capehart, Maria Town, Joyce Bender, Jason Mida, Emily Hanna, Steve Schwab, Anupa Geevarghese, Jonathan Lovitz and Susan Diegelman.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Nicole Gaudiano is now director of media affairs and storytelling at the American Federation of Teachers. She previously was a White House reporter at The Messenger, and is a Business Insider, POLITICO and USA Today alum.

— Arthur Bryant is now a partner and head of the Title IX practice at Clarkson Law Firm. He previously was a partner at Bailey Glasser, and is a Public Justice alum.

NEW NOMINEES — The White House announced Biden is nominating several new nominees, including David Johnson as IG for tax administration at Treasury and Gabriel Escobar as ambassador to Paraguay.

TRANSITIONS — Celina Stewart will be the next CEO of the League of Women Voters. She previously has been the organization’s chief counsel and senior director of advocacy and litigation. … Kamau Marshall is now a senior adviser and senior spokesperson for the Harris campaign, ABC’s Arthur Jones II reports. He most recently was a senior adviser at the Education Department, and is a USTR and Biden 2020 alum. … Sophie Mittelstaedt is now comms director for the Congressional Progressive Caucus. She previously was comms director for Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.). …

… Rebecca Kern is now a public affairs officer at the FTC, working on privacy and technology issues. She most recently was a tech policy reporter at POLITICO. … Keval Patel is now a government relations adviser at Kilpatrick. He previously was a government and public affairs specialist at Cox Communications. … Carter Christensen is now senior comms strategist at ActBlue. He previously was on the strategic comms team at Bully Pulpit International.

ENGAGED — Katie Paulson, legislative director for Rep. Deborah Ross (D-N.C.), and Liam Tuveson, legislative assistant for Rep. Erin Houchin (R-Ind.), got engaged July 13 on a boat in Saint Michaels, Maryland. The couple met through mutual friend Julie Macmann at a Walk the Moon concert at the 9:30 Club in 2021. Pic … Another pic

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Andy Barr (R-Ky.) … White House’s Christina Coleburn and Robert Hoopes … POLITICO’s Jessica Piper … NYT’s Zolan Kanno-Youngs … WSJ’s Kim Strassel … Joel Benenson of Benenson Strategy Group … Daily Wire’s Brent Scher … CNBC’s Eamon Javers … Hillary Parkinson of Rep. Keith Self’s (R-Texas) office … former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) … Margo Martin … Ryan Sims … John Brabender of BrabenderCox … Juergen Baetz … Megan Ruane of Rep. Madeleine Dean’s (D-Pa.) office … Allie Bedell of Canvass America … Ann Berry … WaPo’s Veronica Bautista … Chris Bond of AHIP … former Reps. Vin Weber (R-Minn.) and Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) … CBS’ Michelle Kessel … David Fuscus of Xenophon Strategies … Agustina Pardal … former RNC Chair Marc Racicot … Pat Oliphant … Christianné Allen … Adriane Casalotti of the National Association of County and City Health Officials … The Sentry’s Greg Hittelman

Send Playbookers tips to [email protected] 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.