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 | Email Eli | Email Lauren PROGRAMMING NOTE: We’ll be off next week for the holidays but back to our normal schedule on Tuesday, Jan. 3. We hope absence makes the heart grow fonder. As President JOE BIDEN’s reelection campaign begins to take shape, Democratic staffers have just one plea for the new year: Don’t make us move to Delaware. Although no decision has been made yet about where Biden’s likely 2024 campaign will be headquartered, the president’s hometown of Wilmington, Del., and Philadelphia, where he based his 2020 campaign, have emerged as the leading options. The possibility of a Wilmington-based campaign has elicited some strong feelings among the Democratic political class, who have grumbled about the city’s sleepy nightlife and restaurant scene. They say they by far prefer Philly (even with its exotic smells). And if not Philly, they’d be more than fine with Washington, D.C. “The general vibe is, ‘Please let it not be in Wilmington,’” said one Democratic Party aide. “People would be really excited about D.C., relatively excited about Philadelphia, and people would be really disappointed if it were in Wilmington.” Choosing a homebase for the campaign may seem like a ceremonial matter. But it’s politically consequential: affecting campaign budgets and staffing operations. There are some clear upsides to basing the campaign in Wilmington. The cost of living is cheaper and the city already has the infrastructure to accommodate the president and his security detail, who are there nearly every other weekend. Also: Bardea (although likely campaign staffers and embeds doubt their own ability to dine there more than five nights a week). But some Democrats close to the White House say that recruiting top-tier talent is often harder during a reelection cycle. Basing the campaign in Wilmington instead of Philly, they worry, would make those recruitment challenges worse. And, they point out, being farther away from a major airport could create travel headaches as the campaign cycle gets into full swing. Some White House staffers and potential campaign workers have also privately expressed frustration that the D.C. area — where most of them live — is not being more seriously considered as the main base, as it was for DONALD TRUMP’s 2020 campaign and GEORGE W. BUSH’s 2004 campaign. After all, Biden will be spending much of his time in the White House while he runs for office; and some of his closest aides are likely to be there, too. Longtime Democratic strategist JAMES CARVILLE said there is little reason for incumbents to ask staff to move. “I don’t think it makes sense to move it out of D.C.,” he said. “If you wanted to be the deputy comms director and you’ve got two kids at home, why would you want to make it harder for them?” But while it might be less convenient to base the reelect outside of D.C., the campaign ends up being stronger for it, say other strategists. It weeds out people who aren’t willing to make the personal sacrifices required of a presidential campaign and gets staff out of the Washington echo chamber. It also can help create distance between the campaign staff and the White House while alleviating — ever so slightly — the incumbent president’s overwhelming stench of being a creature of the capital. “I think it was very important that we moved our headquarters out of D.C. and the Beltway to ensure that we could get our work done,” said former Democratic National Committee chairwoman DONNA BRAZILE, who ran then-Vice President AL GORE ’s 2000 presidential campaign from Nashville. “The campaign team needs to be separate and apart from the White House so the campaign team can meet their goals and obligations. No one wants to be caught up in the palace intrigue of who’s running things and you want to be able to have enough distance.” But despite the gnashing of teeth among D.C. Democrats about a potential Wilmington headquarters, more seasoned hands think they’ll get over it. After all, there is another factor at play: career ambition. “At the end of the day, guess what they’re all going to do? Move to Wilmington,” said Carville. MESSAGE US — Are you Philadelphia Mayor JIM KENNEY? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. | 
