Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex Vice President KAMALA HARRIS has a new chief speechwriter. DAVE CAVELL, who most recently wrote speeches for climate envoy JOHN KERRY and worked as a speechwriter in the final year of the Obama White House, has joined Harris’ office, people familiar with the move told West Wing Playbook. The vice president and her team were attracted to his resume, including his past experience writing for Massachusetts Attorney General MAURA HEALEY and former Massachusetts Gov. DEVAL PATRICK. But another selling point Cavell brought with him is that he’s a lawyer like both Harris and her husband. Cavell is the third chief speechwriter for the vice president, who has tried to hone her voice in a role historically difficult to navigate. Some of Harris’ past speeches — like the one where she told migrants “do not come” while in Guatemala or her solar panel jokes at the Naval academy graduation ceremony — have been met with scorn. And clips of some of her recitations of political cliches have gone viral for the wrong reasons. While Harris’ team has been more stable relative to the rocky first year, she has had particular trouble filling the chief speechwriter post since the first occupant, KATE CHILDS GRAHAM, announced her departure in February. Harris’ second speechwriter, MEGHAN GROOB , left this summer after only a few months in the role. People familiar with the matter say that Groob never fully meshed with the vice president, in part because she worked outside the White House campus instead of in the vice president’s office. Asked why she worked off-campus, Harris’ office declined to comment. Groob did not respond to attempts to reach her. The vice president’s office is meticulous in the hiring of her speechwriters. When Groob competed for the role against CHRISTOPHER HUNTLEY, a former speechwriter for Sen. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Mass.), the two were asked to turn in mock speeches which senior officials read blind – meaning they didn’t know who wrote which speech. Some staffers in the vice president’s office privately pulled for Huntley because they wanted to see a Black man write for the first Black woman vice president. They were disappointed he didn’t get the job over Groob, who had most recently written for BILL GATES. “I didn't see a speech Bill Gates ever gave that was particularly enthralling,” said one former staffer in the vice president’s office. Another former Harris staffer said Groob’s speeches had been written in deep collaboration with people who brought the perspective of being a person of color. Others in the vice president’s orbit noted that Harris had people of color write speeches for her during her rise as a politician, but as vice president she didn’t have one as her chief speechwriter. Despite not getting the chief gig, Huntley has continued to work on the side for Harris and has helped with political writing through the Democratic National Committee, according to the vice president’s office. “The vice president takes very seriously the team that works for her and we were pleased to have such great help from both Kate Childs Graham, Meghan Groob, Chris Huntley and now Dave Cavell,” communications director JAMAL SIMMONS told West Wing Playbook over the phone (extra credit for not just emailing a statement). “We look forward to her having many more interesting things to say.” People close to Harris’ office say that the hiring of Cavell provides a good tell of the direction of the office after a turbulent first year. One person who had discussed hires with Harris’ office read it as them continuing to prioritize experienced, steady hands under chief of staff LORRAINE VOLES and Simmons. But Cavell, with his lawyer chops, is also a sign that Harris is likely to continue to try to lean more into policy. Harris has often resisted the urgings of aides and allies to weave more of her own story and unknown aspects of her biography into speeches — as JOE BIDEN often does. Once they entered the White House, Harris again resisted such urgings in part to try to build trust with Biden world . MESSAGE US — Are you MEGHAN GROOB? We want to hear from you! And we’ll keep you anonymous. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com .
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