Now he is weaseling his influence into Kamala Harris' campaign. I swear his goal is to be a permanent ruler of the USA.
Kamala Harris' campaign is bringing on a raft of veteran Democratic operatives as they set up for the sprint to November. | Kayla Wolf/AP
THE NEW OLD GUARD — The Harris campaign underwent a major transformation yesterday. It added some very high profile names, layered over some important players, saw the departure of its chief strategist, and left some big staffing questions unanswered.
At the center of the shakeup are a group of new senior advisers best known for their work on BARACK OBAMA’s campaigns for president and inside his White House.
The backdrop, of course, is an extraordinary transition — from an operation built to elect JOE BIDEN to one built to elect Harris. It’s natural that things might be a little bumpy. Harris has different demographic strengths, policy priorities and a coterie of her own close advisers who understandably want a larger role in the campaign they’ve inherited.
But the new moves seem likely to exacerbate lingering tensions between a team that has worked thanklessly for over a year to elect Biden while outside consultants — especially those generally associated with Obama — criticized them from the sidelines. Now the former group is watching nervously as some of Obama’s best and brightest from 2008 and 2012 are being brought in for senior roles.
We picked up on some of the friction yesterday as these additions were made public, with officials we talked to taking care to frame things a little like that old “Veep” slogan: “continuity with change.” There was a noticeable difference between some officials downplaying the Obama vets’ role and others emphasizing their importance.
Here’s what we know:
— By far the most noteworthy addition is DAVID PLOUFFE, the key electoral strategist behind Obama’s primary defeat over HILLARY CLINTON in 2008 and Obama’s two general election victories.
His title is unique: “Senior Advisor for Path to 270 & Strategy.” Of course, the only purpose of a presidential campaign is to win 270 electoral votes, so this is a singular role.
Plouffe will report to JEN O’MALLEY DILLON, the former deputy White House chief of staff who was moved to the campaign in January and layered over the previous leadership as the campaign chair. She and Plouffe have a long history: It was Plouffe who hired Dillon, who had worked for the JOHN EDWARDS campaign, in the spring of 2008 to become Obama’s battleground states director.
“I think he’s going to be like a consigliere to Jen and the campaign,” said DAVID AXELROD, who co-piloted the Obama campaigns with Plouffe, his longtime business partner.
Plouffe is already making his presence known. After Trump said he has agreed to a Sept. 4 debate hosted by Fox News, Plouffe took the lead in the campaign’s response: “Donald Trump is cowardly backing out of the debate he agreed to,” he posted on X earlier today. “One just like the debate he did in June. Now, he seems only comfortable in a cocoon, asking his happy place Fox to host a Trump rally and call it a debate. Maybe he can only handle debating someone his own age.”
Regarding the debates: Another Harris official tells us, “ABC has indicated they would host whoever shows up [at their previously scheduled Sept. 10 debate] so our belief is she would have the airtime to herself if Trump doesn’t show.”) More on the debate wrangling
— MITCH STEWART was about 28 years old when Plouffe hired him to run the Iowa caucuses for Obama. The historic nature of Obama’s Iowa victory instantly made Stewart a legendary Democratic organizer. In the 2008 general election he ran Virginia, which turned blue that year, and in 2012 Stewart had Dillon’s old title, battleground states director. Now he’ll serve Dillon in a similar role as “senior advisor for battleground states.”
— STEPHANIE CUTTER held a number of positions working for Barack and MICHELLE OBAMA, both in Obama’s presidential campaigns and in the White House. She and Dillon then founded Precision Strategies, which has become a powerhouse political firm. Most recently she has been in charge of programming for the upcoming Democratic National Convention. Her now more formalized role with Harris world includes the title “senior advisor for message and strategy.”
— BRIAN NELSON is the one real Harris person added to this list. He had policy roles when she was AG in California and a senator. She swore him in in 2021 when he took a senior position at Treasury. But he also worked at Obama’s DOJ. As the campaign’s new senior adviser for policy, we’re told he will play a key role in harmonizing any gaps between the Biden and Harris agendas.
— DAVID BINDER, a key Obama pollster and focus group moderator who Axelrod once called a member of his “tight, harmonious strategic core” on messaging in the 2008 campaign, will now be in charge of polling. He is a Californian and has worked with Harris for two decades, including as the pollster on her 2020 presidential run.
— JIM MARGOLIS was also one the key consultants inside both Obama’s 2008 campaign and Harris’ 2020 campaign, though his role with Harris this time around has still not been worked out. The campaign is expected to use Margolis’ firm GMMB in some capacity but the details remain TBD. We’ll note that QUENTIN FULKS, principal deputy campaign manager, now has an expanded portfolio that includes paid media.
— The campaign also announced that JEN PALMIERI, the longtime Democratic communications operative and a familiar presence on MSNBC, will serve as a senior adviser to second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF.
— Another related source of turf rivalry is between the longtime Biden advisers and the core campaign staff around Harris. Buried in the news yesterday was a significant change: Harris’s top campaign advisors — SHEILA NIX, BRIAN FALLON, SERGIO GONZALES, MEGAN JONES, SHELBY COLE, and JALISA WASHINGTON PRICE — are being elevated with additional responsibilities. But the exact details haven’t yet been explained.
— One thing that is now clear is the fate of chief strategist MIKE DONILON: Biden has asked him to return to the White House and no exact replacement has been named. How much Plouffe ends up serving in that role will be something to watch.
Playbook: Obama-fying Wilmington
PLAINS UPDATE — “Jimmy Carter’s next goal is voting for Kamala Harris for president,” by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Greg Bluestein: “JIMMY CARTER’s 100th birthday is Oct. 1. … [A] few days ago [son CHIP CARTER] asked the former president if he’s trying to make it to the century mark. He was clear he was more interested in electing [VP KAMALA] HARRIS.”Kamala Harris' campaign is bringing on a raft of veteran Democratic operatives as they set up for the sprint to November. | Kayla Wolf/AP
THE NEW OLD GUARD — The Harris campaign underwent a major transformation yesterday. It added some very high profile names, layered over some important players, saw the departure of its chief strategist, and left some big staffing questions unanswered.
At the center of the shakeup are a group of new senior advisers best known for their work on BARACK OBAMA’s campaigns for president and inside his White House.
The backdrop, of course, is an extraordinary transition — from an operation built to elect JOE BIDEN to one built to elect Harris. It’s natural that things might be a little bumpy. Harris has different demographic strengths, policy priorities and a coterie of her own close advisers who understandably want a larger role in the campaign they’ve inherited.
But the new moves seem likely to exacerbate lingering tensions between a team that has worked thanklessly for over a year to elect Biden while outside consultants — especially those generally associated with Obama — criticized them from the sidelines. Now the former group is watching nervously as some of Obama’s best and brightest from 2008 and 2012 are being brought in for senior roles.
We picked up on some of the friction yesterday as these additions were made public, with officials we talked to taking care to frame things a little like that old “Veep” slogan: “continuity with change.” There was a noticeable difference between some officials downplaying the Obama vets’ role and others emphasizing their importance.
Here’s what we know:
— By far the most noteworthy addition is DAVID PLOUFFE, the key electoral strategist behind Obama’s primary defeat over HILLARY CLINTON in 2008 and Obama’s two general election victories.
His title is unique: “Senior Advisor for Path to 270 & Strategy.” Of course, the only purpose of a presidential campaign is to win 270 electoral votes, so this is a singular role.
Plouffe will report to JEN O’MALLEY DILLON, the former deputy White House chief of staff who was moved to the campaign in January and layered over the previous leadership as the campaign chair. She and Plouffe have a long history: It was Plouffe who hired Dillon, who had worked for the JOHN EDWARDS campaign, in the spring of 2008 to become Obama’s battleground states director.
“I think he’s going to be like a consigliere to Jen and the campaign,” said DAVID AXELROD, who co-piloted the Obama campaigns with Plouffe, his longtime business partner.
Plouffe is already making his presence known. After Trump said he has agreed to a Sept. 4 debate hosted by Fox News, Plouffe took the lead in the campaign’s response: “Donald Trump is cowardly backing out of the debate he agreed to,” he posted on X earlier today. “One just like the debate he did in June. Now, he seems only comfortable in a cocoon, asking his happy place Fox to host a Trump rally and call it a debate. Maybe he can only handle debating someone his own age.”
Regarding the debates: Another Harris official tells us, “ABC has indicated they would host whoever shows up [at their previously scheduled Sept. 10 debate] so our belief is she would have the airtime to herself if Trump doesn’t show.”) More on the debate wrangling
— MITCH STEWART was about 28 years old when Plouffe hired him to run the Iowa caucuses for Obama. The historic nature of Obama’s Iowa victory instantly made Stewart a legendary Democratic organizer. In the 2008 general election he ran Virginia, which turned blue that year, and in 2012 Stewart had Dillon’s old title, battleground states director. Now he’ll serve Dillon in a similar role as “senior advisor for battleground states.”
— STEPHANIE CUTTER held a number of positions working for Barack and MICHELLE OBAMA, both in Obama’s presidential campaigns and in the White House. She and Dillon then founded Precision Strategies, which has become a powerhouse political firm. Most recently she has been in charge of programming for the upcoming Democratic National Convention. Her now more formalized role with Harris world includes the title “senior advisor for message and strategy.”
— BRIAN NELSON is the one real Harris person added to this list. He had policy roles when she was AG in California and a senator. She swore him in in 2021 when he took a senior position at Treasury. But he also worked at Obama’s DOJ. As the campaign’s new senior adviser for policy, we’re told he will play a key role in harmonizing any gaps between the Biden and Harris agendas.
— DAVID BINDER, a key Obama pollster and focus group moderator who Axelrod once called a member of his “tight, harmonious strategic core” on messaging in the 2008 campaign, will now be in charge of polling. He is a Californian and has worked with Harris for two decades, including as the pollster on her 2020 presidential run.
— JIM MARGOLIS was also one the key consultants inside both Obama’s 2008 campaign and Harris’ 2020 campaign, though his role with Harris this time around has still not been worked out. The campaign is expected to use Margolis’ firm GMMB in some capacity but the details remain TBD. We’ll note that QUENTIN FULKS, principal deputy campaign manager, now has an expanded portfolio that includes paid media.
— The campaign also announced that JEN PALMIERI, the longtime Democratic communications operative and a familiar presence on MSNBC, will serve as a senior adviser to second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF.
— Another related source of turf rivalry is between the longtime Biden advisers and the core campaign staff around Harris. Buried in the news yesterday was a significant change: Harris’s top campaign advisors — SHEILA NIX, BRIAN FALLON, SERGIO GONZALES, MEGAN JONES, SHELBY COLE, and JALISA WASHINGTON PRICE — are being elevated with additional responsibilities. But the exact details haven’t yet been explained.
— One thing that is now clear is the fate of chief strategist MIKE DONILON: Biden has asked him to return to the White House and no exact replacement has been named. How much Plouffe ends up serving in that role will be something to watch.
