Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from producer Raymond Rapada. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren President JOE BIDEN spent today in North Carolina, a state that’s eluded Democrats nationally for nearly two decades. But Gov. ROY COOPER, a Democrat who won the state twice with former President DONALD TRUMP on the ticket, thinks it’s now full-blown battleground territory. Four years ago, some of Biden’s top advisers pushed to spend more resources there, according to people familiar with his 2020 campaign. But at the moment, most Democrats believe North Carolina and its 16 Electoral College votes are still a serious reach. West Wing Playbook called up Cooper to talk about his state and how the president can make real inroads. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Why aren’t voters giving Biden credit on the economy? There’s no question that they will. Most people are tuned out of politics right now. The fact that the president is on the ground, talking to people — I think this is the [sixth] time that he’s been to North Carolina. I know Vice President Harris has been here at least eight times. We've had countless numbers of Cabinet secretaries to come. This message is going to get through because it is so strong. The Biden campaign spent a record amount of money trying to get out that message — $25 million on positive TV ads, including in North Carolina — but it didn’t change the numbers. Does that concern you? It doesn’t because I think that everything you do builds on itself. These investments that he’s making here are generational investments. These are not quick fixes that the president has decided to tackle. The more that we can educate the people on why these were done, and the fact that Joe Biden was the force behind it, the more that they're going to understand that he's the right choice against Donald Trump. What concrete signs have you gotten that makes you believe that they agree the president’s reelection runs through North Carolina? The president has told me that North Carolina is going to be very important. The people running his campaign have been talking with us, asking our advice. Look, this is Joe Biden’s closest loss in 2020. The Biden campaign is responding here with the investments in ads, with putting staff on the ground, with trips to our state. There’s a lot happening here. We’ve got the most important governor’s race in the country, and there will be a lot invested in that. The clear front runner for the Republican nomination [Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson] is much like Trump, so I think the campaigns will be very similar and can come together to get out the vote. Do you think North Carolina could draw more spending than Georgia? Yes, absolutely. Josh Stein, the leading Democratic gubernatorial candidate, was not with the president today. Are there times when campaigning with the national leader of your party just isn’t helpful? Well, first, he’s got his own race to run. Second, this trip came up, like, two days ago, so this is something that has happened really quickly, and I don’t know what he has on his schedule. I know that he believes that it’s important for the president to get reelected and I think he wants me to — and I’m planning to — carry the ball a lot because he’s got to pay attention to his race. Another challenge for Biden is with third party candidates. Is enough being done on the part of Democrats to head off those third party threats? I think, at the end of the day, people know that those third party candidates can throw the race toward Donald Trump. I believe that will be enough to stop them. What do you see as the weakest constituency for Biden in N.C. right now? This is not just a North Carolina thing, but it’s a national thing — obviously, our rural counties are redder. But look at what President Biden is doing for rural North Carolina. The majority of the new jobs in North Carolina that we’ve been announcing are in rural areas. Medicaid expansion is helping rural hospitals and providing health insurance to so many rural North Carolinians. We’re actually going to be able to connect every family and every business in this state to high speed internet. I believe that that’s going to help him, at the end of the day, shave off the percentage points and get the number of people that he needs to win. You’re a term-limited governor. Are you interested in running for elected office again in the future? I like public service. I do not know what lies ahead after this term as governor. But what I do know, in the next 11 and a half months, I’m going to be working hard every single day to make sure that we move North Carolina forward. At the end of those 11 and a half months. I’ll make a decision as to what I’m gonna do next, but nothing’s off the table. Well, just make sure to call me right after you talk to Chuck Schumer. [Laughs.] MESSAGE US — Are you SAM SCHMIR, digital rapid response coordinator? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!
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