Principals

1. Harris’ moment
2. Walz’s pep talk
3. Eyes on Jackson Hole
4. Pelosi in spotlight
5. Bye RFK Jr.?
6. Politics at work
7. Israel, Hezbollah trade fire

PDB: Conservative group spending $5 million more on summer ads focused on cost of living, immigration

Trump visiting southern border … Canada railroads lock out employees, threatening supply chains … Mike Lynch’s body recovered from shipwreck

Harris to accept nomination

Kamala Harris will accept the Democratic nomination for president tonight, becoming just the second woman to lead a major party into a national election. Harris herself hasn’t emphasized the history-making possibility of that, a hangover from the 2016 election that Democrats have hinted at all week. “I’m with her” is remembered as a top-down slogan that sounded elitist, and presumptive — and multiple speakers this week, including Hillary Clinton, have warned delegates not to take the race for granted. Instead, Harris is expected to tell her life story: Raised by a single mother, prosecuting criminals in San Francisco, casting the deciding vote for bills that built infrastructure and lowered drug prices. She’ll go after Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation governing agenda that Donald Trump has awkwardly distanced himself from, but there’s some mystery about which parts of her own “New Way Forward” will make it into the speech. Multiple DNC speakers have cited her plans to help homebuyers and raise taxes on the rich, but Republicans and skeptical economists have already taken shots at how she’d use federal powers to lower prices.

— David Weigel

Walz leads pep rally for ‘freedom’

Tim Walz capped off the DNC on Wednesday with a pep talk on “freedom” while accepting the party’s vice presidential nomination. “When we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people you love,” the Minnesota governor said. “When Republicans use that word, they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor’s office.” Democrats were confident they could re-cast their agenda as the opposite of abortion bans and social service cutbacks. “While other states were banning books from our schools, we were banishing hunger from ours,” he said. Maryland Gov. Wes More and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttegieg touted Walz’s military career while the convention played up his teaching and coaching career, with former players running on stage before Walz took the podium.

Fed opens Jackson Hole meeting

The Federal Reserve opens its highly anticipated conference in Jackson Hole today, after new data showed the US likely added 818,000 fewer jobs in the year ending in March. The downward revision suggests an earlier cooling of the labor market and adds pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates come September. The data, which is preliminary, was anticipated; some economists expected a downward revision of up to 1 million jobs. “We’ve known that things on net were probably moving gradually in the wrong direction,” one analyst told The New York Times. The White House insisted the revision “doesn’t change the fact that the jobs recovery has been and remains historically strong.” Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to “set the table” for cutting rates in his Friday speech from Jackson Hole. Some Fed officials saw a plausible case for slashing rates in July, new minutes showed.

The Dem’s ‘Godmother’ steps into convention spotlight

Another California woman is everywhere at the Democratic convention — and that’s Nancy Pelosi. The former House speaker addressed the convention Wednesday evening and Democrats in Chicago wore lapel pins labeled “The Godmother,” mimicking the mafia film’s logo, but with her face instead of Marlon Brando’s. Pelosi played a leading role in forcing President Biden from the ticket, and she’s been ubiquitous since as she promotes her book, “The Art of Power.” But there’s some unease within the party about her outsized presence, Semafor’s Kadia Goba reports. “I tried to be a Paul Revere” warning of the cost of nominating Biden this fall, “not a George Washington,” said Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, who ran a brief Democratic primary bid focused on Biden’s age. “And that’s perhaps the difference. I’m not writing a book about the experience.” In her speech at the DNC, Pelosi praised Biden for boosting infrastructure spending, bolstered domestic manufacturing, helping business during the COVID pandemic, and fighting climate change. “Thank you, Joe,” she said.

Trump allies celebrate possible RFK Jr. endorsement

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign announced he will “address the nation” on Friday and ABC News reported he is expected to quit the presidential race by the end of the week. The developments, coupled with comments made by Kennedy’s running mate Nicole Shanahan this week, are raising hopes in Trumpworld that Kennedy plans to help the former president. Shahanan suggested that Kennedy’s campaign could “join forces” with Trump and that she would “fully support” Kennedy serving in a Trump administration. “It definitely doesn’t hurt,” one Trump campaign adviser said of a potential endorsement, Semafor’s David Weigel and Shelby Talcott report. “I don’t think it’s really going to interfere with the race too much,” Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said at a Politico event in Chicago when asked about the prospect of Kennedy dropping out.

Samuel Levine, Director, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection will join Semafor’s editors to explore how online platforms can play a constructive role in communicating age restrictions for certain goods and services and the responsibilities and strategies of policymakers in effectively regulating social media use among young people. RSVP for in-person or livestream.

Nearly half of US employees talk politics at work

If it feels like everyone around you is talking politics, you’re not alone. Gallup polling showed 45% of US workers said they discussed politics with a coworker in the previous month. The survey, which was conducted in February amid the GOP primary, found 12% of employees reported feeling uncomfortable because of political discussions among coworkers, while 14% said they felt included because of these discussions. Only 3% said they were treated unfairly because of political views. Conservatives (60%) are more likely than liberals (48%) to have discussed politics with coworkers. And younger Americans are more likely to feel uncomfortable because of political discussion, but they’re also more likely to feel included because of it.

Mideast tensions rise

Israel and Lebanon exchanged rocket fire, underlining the risks of a widening Middle East conflict even as Washington sought to resurrect flailing ceasefire talks in Gaza. The latest strikes across the Israel-Lebanese border came as a Greek-flagged oil tanker was set ablaze in the Red Sea as a result of suspected rocket fire by Yemen’s Houthis; Hezbollah and the Houthis, both proxies of Iran, have upped their activities over the course of the Gaza war, and analysts say a truce in the Palestinian enclave would go a long way to reducing those tensions. The conflict has reshaped politics farther afield, too, with the parents of a US-Israeli hostage held by Hamas addressing the Democratic National Convention.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Several big questions hang over Vice President Harris’ convention speech: How will she address inflation? How hard will she go after Donald Trump? Will she seek distance from President Biden? How will she talk about the war in Gaza? Does she discuss immigration? And how does she put her own stamp on the democracy argument that Biden championed?

Playbook: Harris aides are intent on ensuring the timing issues that have plagued the convention won’t come into play tonight. “They better not even think about cutting her damn video like they did” Biden’s, one senior aide said.

WaPo: Democrats aren’t talking a lot about climate change on the campaign trail because they’re trapped between possibly alienating voters in key fossil fuel states and turning off younger voters.

Axios: Harris will put “joy, optimism and patriotism” at the forefront of her speech tonight.

White House

President Biden and Vice President Harris spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about ongoing efforts to secure a Gaza ceasefire deal and preparations for a possible attack by Iran.

Congress

• Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., passed away at 87 after being in and out of the hospital.
• Fifty GOP lawmakers who served in the military signed a letter condemning Tim Walz for what they said were “egregious misrepresentations” of his own service, although VoteVets, a veterans group, quickly pointed out that more than half of them who signed as retired service members hadn’t served long enough to enough to qualify for that designation.
• Convicted former Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., resigned from his seat on Tuesday. His replacement, George Helmy, will assume all of Menendez’s committee assignments, per Punchbowl News.

Outside the Beltway

• Chicago is fraught with tension over the city’s handling of the influx of migrants, underscoring a key challenge Democrats holding their convention in the city face in 2024. — Bloomberg
• High rent prices in New York are fueling a surge in “boommates.” — Bloomberg

Business

• The latest quarterly results for Target and off-price retailer T.J. Maxx’s parent company signaled that US shoppers are looking for discounts. — WSJ
• Ford scrapped plans for an electric SUV, citing pricing pressures.

Courts

• The Department of Justice is investigating Americans who have worked with Russian state television networks, signaling a push to fight against Moscow’s influence operations ahead of November’s presidential elections. — NYT
• New York Attorney General Letitia James asked a state appeals court to uphold the $454 million civil fraud judgment against Donald Trump, his sons, and his company.
• Hunter Biden’s trial on federal tax charges begins Sept. 5.

On the Trail

• The American Action Network, the sister organization of the House GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund, is pouring another $5 million into summer campaigns focused on two issues: cost of living and immigration, Semafor’s Kadia Goba reports. The group will run television and digital ads across 18 competitive districts in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. It brings the group’s total summer ad spending to $26.5 million. “The toxic Biden-Harris agenda that has created more illegal immigration and crushing price increases has left families worse off,” AAN President Dan Conston said.
• Pink will perform tonight to close out the Democratic convention. — CNN
• Donald Trump mocked allies who have encouraged him to avoid personal attacks on Vice President Harris and other Democrats. — The Hill
• Oprah made a surprise appearance at the Democratic convention to boost Harris.

Foreign Policy

• Egyptian officials suggested Hamas will not agree to the bridging proposal pushed by the US for a ceasefire in Gaza. — AP
• The increasing use of sanctions as a tool of US foreign policy is likely to continue no matter which party wins the White House in November. — WSJ
• Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese premier Li Qiang in Moscow.
• A growing chorus of Chinese economists, including at least 11 mainstream analysts, is pressing for Beijing to roll out fiscal stimulus to bolster the country’s flagging economy.

Media

• Disney’s Bob Iger claimed a powerful Democrat once urged him to run for president, but didn’t name the person.
• Edgar Bronfman Jr. raised his offer for National Amusements and a minority stake in Paramount Global to $6 billion. — WSJ
• Google has joined a $250 million deal with a news industry trade group and some state lawmakers aimed at bolstering newsrooms in California. The pact, which includes $70 million from the state, needs approval by legislators.

Blindspot

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said people are “reading too much” into Vice President Harris’ price-gouging proposal.

What the Right isn’t reading: Enrollment for Black and Latino students decreased at MIT following the Supreme Court’s decision striking down affirmative action.

Principals Team

Editors: Benjy Sarlin, Morgan Chalfant

Reporters: Kadia Goba, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Chris Witaske is an actor who plays a recurring character on the series “The Bear.”

• Europe’s chips are on the table with new TSMC factory and ‘Silicon Saxony’.
• A $5bn German scandal is driving green firms out of business.
• ‘They are getting what they wanted’: Fed officials head to Jackson Hole.