The grief that binds them

From: POLITICO West Wing Playbook - Thursday Aug 10,2023 09:02 pm

Aug 10, 2023

By Adam Wren, Eli Stokols, Lauren Egan and Lawrence Ukenye

Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from producers Raymond Rapada and Ben Johansen.

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When JOE BIDEN returned to the Senate in the tragic aftermath of the car crash that took the lives of his wife and daughter, then-Senate Majority Leader MIKE MANSFIELD would give him "assignments" each week to keep him engaged. Mansfield also picked a handful of senators to take the young Biden under their wings as he grieved. Among them was the late Indiana Sen. BIRCH BAYH, who mentored Biden and helped console him over the next few weeks, months, and years.

"‘Just come six months,’" Biden recalled the senators telling him at the memorial service of Vice President WALTER MONDALE last year. "‘You can go home after that. We need you.’ We had 58 Democrats; they didn't need me for a damn thing."

Not too long ago, Biden got to pay that kindness forward to Birch's son, EVAN BAYH, the former Indiana senator and 2008 veep shortlister.

When Biden first heard that Bayh’s wife, SUSAN BAYH, had glioblastoma — the same cancer that took his son BEAU BIDEN — he called Bayh. He made himself available if he ever wanted to talk. The bond deepened as she underwent surgery in 2018 to remove a malignant glioblastoma tumor.

On Feb. 5, 2021, when Susan died, Biden called Bayh again. He got his twin sons, BIRCH “BEAU” BAYH, now a Marine captain, and NICK BAYH, an analyst for the Indianapolis Colts, on the line to offer his condolences.

In a White House statement then, Biden connected Susan's death and his son Beau's. “Just like him, Susan fought her battle as she lived her life: bravely, with love and purpose,” said Biden, who later attended a private memorial service for her at the Washington National Cathedral.

Biden's outreach to the Bayhs continued. Weeks after Susan's death, Biden invited Evan, Beau, and Nick to the White House for a previously unreported meeting scheduled for 30 minutes.

It stretched to 75 minutes — yet another chapter in the long book of Biden adopting the consoler role.

Biden invited the Bayh men to play with his dog, COMMANDER, and take some photos. No bites took place, Bayh relayed.

"It was just an act of compassion on his part," Bayh recalled of the meeting in an interview with West Wing Playbook. "He always felt a little close to Beau because he had a son named Beau, too."

In Indiana political circles, Beau, who is back in Bloomington for a 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals clerkship, is widely expected to take after his father and run for office one day.

Biden isn't the only member of the administration reaching out to Bayh. Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG, a fellow Hoosier and father of twins, is meeting for lunch with the former senator in the coming days, too.

Like Mansfield did for him, Biden has worked to keep Bayh engaged as he grieves. Last June, Biden appointed Bayh to be a member of his Intelligence Advisory Board, which offers the president independent advice on issues and emerging threats such as China and Russia.

But for Bayh, it's something Biden told him in that White House meeting that has stuck the most — a line that the president often repeats in situations of immense grief.

"He told me something I'll always remember," Bayh said. "He said, 'It's hard for you to believe this now. But trust me, the time will come when the memory of your loved one will bring a smile to your lips rather than a tear to your eye.’

“I've often thought of that. I'm still on the tear-to-eye stage here."

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POTUS PUZZLER

The Band, led by frontman ROBBIE ROBERTSON (whose death was announced on Wednesday), performed a tribute song to which president during an episode of Saturday Night Live?

(Answer at bottom.)

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The Oval

A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE: Biden and his allies are navigating a series of tripwires in selling themselves as the most pro-union administration in history — while also trying to strengthen the country’s clean energy sector.

United Auto Workers President SHAWN FAIN has routinely lamented the lack of provisions ensuring workers are able to transition to an industry dominated by electric vehicles, including new concerns about wages for battery makers. The balancing act is even more critical now as Biden looks to court an endorsement from UAW. Our OLIVIA OLANDER, TANYA SNYDER and JAMES BIKALES have the details.

BAD, BUT ALSO GOOD?: Inflation rose for the first time after nearly a year of declines, although core inflation figures — which exclude food and energy prices — recorded their smallest increase in nearly two years. Some of the growth was attributed to higher gas prices, which rose 30 cents during the past month.

However, the Wall Street Journal’s AMARA OMEOKWE, NICK TIMIRAOS and CHRISTIAN ROBLES report that core figures staying flat could encourage the Fed to keep interest rates steady during their September meeting. “Through the noise, I see an inflation story that is certainly not solved, but it’s improving,” MICHAEL PUGLIESE, a senior economist at Wells Fargo, told the WSJ.

SERVING THOSE WHO SERVED: Biden stopped in Utah to mark the one-year anniversary of the PACT Act, which provides benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits, and called on Congress to triple the number of rental assistance vouchers for low-income veterans. “No one should be homeless in this country, especially those who served it, period,” Biden said. His appearance comes as the VA extended a deadline for veterans and their survivors to file claims for payouts associated with the legislation. Lawmakers have criticized the department for a website issue that gave applicants an error message and hindered their ability to file claims.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by MSNBC’s MEHDI HASAN that credits Bidenomics for a series of positive economic indicators. Hasan cites growth in jobs, domestic manufacturing and rising wages, as well as declines in inflation to demonstrate how the U.S. has fared better than most developed economies. “If Republicans want to say Joe Biden is responsible for the high inflation, then obviously they'll now say he is responsible for the low inflation, right?” Hassan writes. Deputy press secretary ANDREW BATES tweeted the piece.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by the Washington Post’s CATHERINE RAMPELL about how some Afghan refugees who aided U.S. troops or diplomats are now without a path to legally stay in the country. Rampell spoke to MAHNAZ AKBARI, a former commander of the Afghan military’s all-female special ops team, who remains in a “legal limbo” without a green card despite her desire to join the U.S. military. A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced the Afghan Adjustment Act as a solution to resolve cases like Akbari’s, but there hasn’t been progress thus far.

THE BUREAUCRATS

WHITE HOUSE TO TV PIPELINE CONTINUES: JAMAL SIMMONS is joining CNN as an on-air political commentator, the network announced Thursday. Simmons previously served as Vice President KAMALA HARRIS’ communications director.

ANOTHER GET FOR CNN: CNN landed the first live TV interview with JULIE CHÁVEZ RODRIGUEZ since she started as Biden’s campaign manager. Asked by “Inside Politics” anchor DANA BASH what she would put on a Biden 2024 bumper sticker, Rodriguez said: “The president has really leaned in on the notion that we need to invest in America, and we need to continue the kind of investment that we're putting forward in our infrastructure, in working families, in our education system.”

As Bash pointed out, they’re going to need a pretty big car to fit that on a bumper sticker.

PERSONNEL MOVES: The BILL BURTON-founded consulting firm Bryson Gillette has hired ADRIAN ENG-GASTELUM, our CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO has learned. He previously served as a senior media adviser to HHS Secretary XAVIER BECERRA and in the Biden campaign and transition. He is also a DCCC and ELIZABETH WARREN campaign alum.

Agenda Setting

THOSE FAMED TAX CREDITS: The Treasury Department on Thursday finalized new rules under the Inflation Reduction Act that details how to expand clean energy investments for low-income communities, including tax credits for wind and solar industries, our KELSEY TAMBORRINO reports for Pro s. The rules provide additional guidance on how to apply for the program, which is expected to begin distributing awards by the end of the year.

BUT BUT BUT … Treasury is going to blow past its deadline on rules governing one of the most generous subsidies in its new climate law — a tax credit for clean hydrogen. The rule — which could affect the flow of more than $100 billion in federal subsidies over the next two decades — was supposed to be released within a year of the IRA's enactment. That would be next week. But as Heatmap’s EMILY PONTECORVO and ROBINSON MEYER report, the rule won’t be published until October and possibly not until December.

STILL BIPARTISAN, RIGHT?: The White House plans to ask Congress for an additional $40 billion in emergency spending that includes aid for Ukraine and other domestic needs, our PAUL McLEARY, CAITLIN EMMA, CONNOR O’BRIEN and LARA SELIGMAN report. Roughly $24 billion would be used for security assistance to Ukraine, while $12 billion would be allocated for disaster relief and $4 billion would go toward addressing issues at the U.S. southern border.

Although providing additional aid to Ukraine remains bipartisan, conservative House Republican members have voiced fierce opposition for supporting Kyiv until the government fully accounts for $43 billion already allocated in assistance.

The administration is also monitoring current wildfires in Hawaii to determine if future FEMA aid will be required.

PLANNED HACK: The White House is throwing its support behind a coordinated attack on artificial intelligence systems to test their security and identify risks to Americans, our MOHAR CHATTERJEE reports.

High-tech firms including Google, OpenAI and Meta plan to participate in the simulation, set to take place in Las Vegas on Friday. It comes after the companies agreed last month on a set of principles governing AI as Congress has yet to pass a comprehensive bill setting guardrails on the technology.

What We're Reading

Populism thrives because people are mad, and also because they’re sad (WaPo’s Charles Lane)

"1989 (Taylor's Version)" Is Officially Coming This October (Popsugar's Victoria Edel)

How Climate Change Turned Lush Hawaii Into a Tinderbox (NYT’s Christopher Flavelle and Manuela Andreoni)

The Oppo Book

Long before he became Biden’s national climate adviser, ALI ZAIDI was a Republican.

In high school, Zaidi knocked doors for GEORGE W. BUSH’s presidential campaign and volunteered for America’s Promise Alliance, COLIN POWELL’s foundation, according to Vanity Fair. He was also a member of the Harvard Republican Club in college.

Things started to change for Zaidi after he went on a trip with America’s Promise to the Gulf Coast to help with recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina. “It was just eye-opening: to see how much your geography could determine the opportunities available to you,” Zaidi said. Shortly after, he signed up to be a field organizer for BARACK OBAMA’s campaign.

“The biggest disappointment was that it was a little bit of a cliché: Harvard liberal,” he told Vanity Fair. “Whereas my politics before were not a cliché.”

POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER

JIMMY CARTER. The Band performed RAY CHARLES’ “Georgia on My Mind” on the show in October 1976, just days before Carter’s election. Robertson was on the guitar. Richard Manuel was on the vocals. Watch it HERE. A month later, The Band played its famous final concert, The Last Waltz.

Robertson had met Carter while he was governor of Georgia and referred to his home as the “hippest governor’s mansion ever,” according to “Testimony: A Memoir,” Robertson’s autobiography.

A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it!

Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.

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