POLITICO Playbook: BIDEN ‘JUST NOT HIMSELF ... sort of all over the place’

BREAKING -- "Trump on Jorge Ramos: 'He was totally out of line'" - Tells Matt Lauer on "Today": "I would have gotten to him very quickly ... This man gets up and starts ranting and raving and screaming, and honestly being very disrespectful to all the other reporters." Lauer likened Trump's comments about Megyn Kelly to a schoolyard crush when boys say the worst things about the girl they like the most. Trump: "Trust me, there is no crush, that I can tell you." https://on.today.com/1hFRTpK

By Mike Allen (@mikeallen; [email protected]) and Daniel Lippman (@dlippman; [email protected])

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Good Wednesday morning. "Behind the Biden hype," by Glenn Thrush: "Biden is more subdued, grayer, and grimly on-task than usual - this while occupying political center stage for the first time since the promising open days of his doomed 1988 campaign. ... Several people Biden has talked to in the past month say he ... mix[es] recollections of Beau with logistical questions about mounting a state-by-state challenge to a vulnerable yet still formidable Hillary Clinton.

"'He's just not himself,' says a longtime friend of Biden's. 'He's sort of all over the place. He's engaged but not in that child-like, manic way he usually is. He's taking it all in and soaking up information, but he's hard to read. And Joe Biden isn't usually that hard to read.' ... [H]e clearly sees Clinton's struggles with her email scandal as an opportunity, and no politician in recent history has proven to be as resilient in the face of personal tragedy.

"To the annoyance of the Clinton campaign , Biden's allies have strategically leaked his modest, noncommittal doings to the media, which have given otherwise ho-hum confabs with Elizabeth Warren and President Obama's former counsel Bob Bauer bombshell treatment (Warren ... offered her usual warning against bringing more Wall Street executives into the White House; the Bauer sit-down was a relatively dry give-and-take on state election laws and deadlines).

"But reports that the vice president has all but made up his mind to run are simply not true, according to a half-dozen people in his inner circle ... [H]e's behaved more like a staffer than a principal - sounding out potential supporters ... [H]is numbers are too good to ignore. Without even being in the race, he consistently polls in double digits ...

"Obama, according to current and former West Wing officials, is more inclined to support Clinton's candidacy. Despite her woes, he sees her as a more electable candidate and a more effective keeper of his policy legacy. He's done everything but endorse her already, putting his vast fundraising network in the hands of Clinton's super PAC allies. Two of Obama's top White House aides, John Podesta and Jennifer Palmieri, are running Clinton's campaign and report regularly to their West Wing old friends - including the president. ...

"Obama has told people around him to give the vice-president 'space' to make his decision, and urged his staff not to make Biden feel pressured not to run. ...

"Bill Clinton, according to a person who has spoken with the former president in the last couple of weeks, is 'very agitated' by the possibility of a Biden candidacy and incensed at the press hype around a possible bid. ... [S]everal top Clinton campaign officials have told associates they think a Biden bid would energize what has been a fairly lackluster performance by the candidate this far." https://politi.co/1MMUWb3

--"Hillary Clinton summons top campaign bundlers to New York," by Gabe Debenedetti: "Hillary Clinton's top bundlers from around the country are set to descend on New York City for a day of conversations with top campaign staffers next Thursday ... The itinerary includes a dinner with campaign manager Robby Mook and campaign chairman John Podesta, who will join the 'Hillblazers' - Hillary Clinton backers who have raised $100,000 or more for the Democratic front-runner - at the end of the day." https://politi.co/1WS6Ogw

SPOTTED: Valerie Jarrett and Jonathan Capehart on the patio at BLT Steak

CHARLES KOCH blasts OBAMA: Koch hit back at criticism of "the Koch brothers" during Obama's energy speech in Las Vegas, saying he was "flabbergasted" by the attack and charging that Obama made the dig as a favor to Harry Reid, who appeared with him. "It's beneath the president, the dignity of the president, to be doing that," Koch said during a phone interview. Along with criminal-justice reform, rolling back corporate welfare is one of the top issues Koch is pursuing with his political platforms. Koch said his company opposes all federal subsidies, including for fossil fuels, even when it costs Koch Industries money: "We take a long-term perspective." https://politi.co/1U64Ji1

TWEET DU JOUR: Michael Barbaro ?@mikiebarb: "In interview, Trump kept repeating the phrase 'low energy person'--seemingly aware how much [it] annoys Jeb World"

** A message from PhRMA: DYK Medicine prices fall significantly over time because the biopharmaceutical marketplace is unlike any other part of the health care system. Innovator companies invest in research to develop new medicines, and over time they become available as lower-cost generic versions - typically up to 80% less. Read more at https://onphr.ma/1J7ezb6. **

DAILY TRUMP -- Hadas Gold: "Trump sparred with Univision and Fusion anchor Jorge Ramos during a news conference in Iowa on Tuesday, permitting security guards to remove the journalist from his event before allowing him back in and engaging in a sharp back-and-forth on immigration issues. 'You haven't been called on; go back to Univision,' Trump yelled at Ramos after the anchor repeatedly tried to toss questions to Trump despite not being called on." https://politi.co/1Lw3cuv

VIDEO: "Jorge Ramos questions Trump on immigration after getting kicked out of his press conference" https://bit.ly/1V9dS6B

THE BACKSTORY --"Latino News Media, Offended by ... Trump, Shows It in Broadcasts," by NYT's Ashley Parker: "[F]or the Spanish-language press, which has grown in size and influence, ... the tense [Ramos] exchange was a highly public flexing of muscle against a candidate who many outlets no longer pretend to cover objectively ... Some ... said that their networks have covered Mr. Trump more aggressively than their mainstream counterparts, which until recently, at least, largely dismissed Mr. Trump as a summer amusement - less a serious candidate than a ratings bonanza ...

"'This is personal, and that's the big difference between Spanish-language and mainstream media, because he's talking about our parents, our friends, our kids and our babies,' Mr. Ramos said in a telephone interview. Mr. Ramos, who has been called the Walter Cronkite of Latino America, said that he could not recall Spanish-language news media covering a story as aggressively as it has Mr. Trump's candidacy." https://nyti.ms/1KjO0So

--"David Duke On Trump: He's 'Certainly The Best Of The Lot' Running For President," by BuzzFeed'sAndrew Kaczynski: "David Duke, a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and self-described 'racial realist,' says Donald Trump is the best Republican candidate for president because he 'understands the real sentiment of America.' ... 'I praise the fact that he's come out on the immigration issue,' ... said Duke on his radio program." https://bzfd.it/1i0ThmV

MONEY HONEYS -- "Bush's fundraising juggernaut shows signs of slowing," by Eli Stokols in Englewood, Col.: "A prominent Florida donor backing Bush said the former Sunshine State governor and his supporting super PAC are having to work even harder to keep up the pace, as hard-money contributions have been harder to come by in recent weeks. 'The debate performance scared a few people,' said Brian Ballard, a Tallahassee lobbyist backing Bush. 'But I think the campaign's trouble raising money right now is not because of his performance, but there's some donor fatigue after that $100 million. I've been on some donor calls and it's a hard sell for hard money.'" https://politi.co/1MSXjL5

NEW JONATHAN ALTER BIOGRAPHY OF CARTER - Simon & Shuster release: "Alter, who has been working on the book since early 2015, is receiving extensive cooperation from the former president, his family, friends and associates. The book is slated for publication in 2018. ... The book will cover President Carter's long and colorful life from his birth in Plains, Georgia, in 1924 to his remarkable new chapter of living in public with cancer."

FIRST FAMILY - "Malia Obama Follows Her Mother Into the Fashion Spotlight," by Bee Shapiro in NYT: "(It's been widely reported that the first lady has barred Sasha from social media and has restricted Malia to Facebook.) ... [T]he 17-year-old Malia ... [has] grown ... into a confident teenager, ... increasingly seen as a style icon for young women in her age group, one who occasionally takes the kind of fashion risks long associated with her mother. ... Her profile (and, with it, the reporting of sightings of her around New York this summer) has only been enhanced by her internship on the HBO series 'Girls.' ...

"[C]lothing brands have certainly benefited from Malia's sartorial choices. When a look is spotted, brands immediately send out news releases, or editors scramble to identify the lesser-known labels by scouring the Internet. (A spokeswoman for the first lady declined to comment on whether Malia uses a stylist.)" https://nyti.ms/1JlCcgd

AILES v. TRUMP -- Daily Beast's Lloyd Green: "Trump ... has finally gone too far for Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes. ... 'Donald Trump's surprise and unprovoked attack on Megyn Kelly during her show [Monday] night is as unacceptable as it is disturbing.'" https://thebea.st/1Jlgwkr

--"Trump Praised Megyn for Debate Moderating in 2011: 'Great Job,' 'I Could Never Beat You,'" by Mediaite's Josh Feldman: "Back in late 2011, Trump sat down with Kelly and talked about hosting a Republican debate. Yep, for those who don't remember, back in 2011 Trump floated the idea of him moderating a Newsmax Republican debate because 'I know the issues better than most.' (That debate didn't actually end up happening.)" https://bit.ly/1Jlheyf

--@samsteinhp: "Could it possibly be that Trump and Fox feel its mutually beneficial to play up a feud?"

2016 PLAYERS - "Trump's Iowa field general is on a 'crazy ride.' But he knows how to win," by Yahoo's Holly Bailey: "The call came with no warning last December, and, at first, Chuck Laudner thought it was a joke. ... For about 20 minutes, Trump delivered a passionate spiel on why he ... wanted to rebuild the country from the ground up." https://yhoo.it/1hdOPAp

--NYT A1, "Turning Crowds Into Real Voters Is Trump's Test," by Trip Gabriel in Dubuqe: "A co-chairwoman of Mr. Trump's Iowa campaign, Tana Goertz, who has no prior political experience, picks the campaign's county leaders 'The Apprentice'-style - in head-to-head tests of public speaking, organizing and salesmanship. A stopwatch is involved." https://nyti.ms/1UcALE1

DEATHWATCH -- "Perry, Santorum presidential hopes undercut by own donors," by AP's Julie Bykowicz: "A majority of the 2012 donors to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum who've given this time have defected to other candidates, according to an analysis by Crowdpac.com ... The donor disloyalty is contributing to financial woes in both of their campaigns." https://yhoo.it/1EhQbVl

FIRST LOOK - Sarah Isgur Flores, deputy campaign manager for Carly, in a memo going out this morning:"Carly won the debate[s] on August 6th. In the three national polls that have been released since the debate, Carly is between 4th and 7th place. ... Despite being solidly in the top 10 by every measure, the political establishment is still rigging the game to keep Carly off the main debate stage next month. ... CNN has decided that they will average polls going back to July 16th. Carly would easily make this debate if there were a consistent number of polls from one week to the next." https://bit.ly/1JxVqAB

WHY NOT? "'Deez Nuts' puts Federal Election Commission on bozo patrol," by Center for Public Integrity's Dave Levinthal: "Since a poll propelled the fake U.S. presidential candidate into national headlines Wednesday, 249 copycats, clowns and pranksters have inundated the [FEC] with paperwork launching 'official' White House campaigns. Some possess leadership bona fides, if not proper constitutional qualifications: Star Trek Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, Queen Elsa from Disney's 'Frozen,' former Cuban President Fidel Castro, Jedi knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and Captain Crunch. And imagine a presidential debate that includes Frank Underwood from 'House of Cards,' Ronald Reagan's Ghost, a Bill Clinton imposter and three fraudulent Joe Bidens." https://bit.ly/1WRHCH6

WORTH THE CLICK - "Laura Bush Shares Her Camping Photo Album - and Says Roughing It Is More Fun with Girlfriends Than George," by People's Sandra Sobieraj Westfall: "Laura Bush has been hiking and camping with her childhood girlfriends from Midland, Texas, every summer since they all turned 40. And don't tell her husband, George Bush, but she likes to keep her roughing-it a 'girls only' affair. ... The former First Lady, 68, and her friends gave PEOPLE an exclusive peek inside their visit to California's Yosemite National Park late last month, as part of the National Park Service's yearlong centennial celebration, which Bush co-chairs with First Lady Michelle Obama, and which kicks off on Tuesday, the service's 99th birthday." With 5 pix on one page https://bit.ly/1K00TlZ

PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION - "D.C. proves to be not so honest in social experiment," by WashPost's Dana Hedgpeth: "The Honest Tea firm ... set up a stand offering bottles of its tea at 27 cities throughout the country, including D.C., and used the honor system by asking people to leave $1 in a box when they took a tea. But in the District's Dupont Circle neighborhood, someone stole money from the box. ... It was the first time in the six years that the company has been doing its experiment that someone has actually stolen money from the collection box." https://wapo.st/1LzTdHo

VALLEY TALK -- "Amazon expands Prime Now, offers U.S. alcohol for first time," by Reuters' Mari Saito: "Amazon.com Inc said on Tuesday it will begin delivering wine, beer and spirits to U.S. customers for the first time as part of its speedy delivery service, Prime Now. The online retailer is expanding Prime Now, its one- and two-hour service, to Seattle." https://reut.rs/1hFwGME

THE NEW GILDED AGE - "The suite life: tour the most-exclusive ways to travel," by AP's Scott Mayerowitz and Nathan Griffiths : "For those with unlimited bank accounts, travel has never been so glamorous. ... We're talking private elevators, personal shopping assistants, helipads and even their own postal codes. ... Obviously, most people can't afford such over-the-top vacations. ... So The Associated Press is offering the closest thing - a virtual reality tour of some of the world's most extravagant accommodations: suites on a Singapore Airlines Airbus A380, Cunard's duplex stateroom aboard the Queen Mary 2 ocean liner, and the Ty Warner Penthouse suite at the Four Seasons hotel in New York." https://bit.ly/1MMsI01

OUT AND ABOUT - Cato Institute hosted a meet and greet last night with their new CEO, Peter Goettler. SPOTTED: Craig Torres, Alex Pappas, Christopher Bedford, Chad Pergram, Jacqueline Pham, Sarah Wheaton, Katy O'Donnell, Timothy Lee, Asawin Suebsaeng, Betsy Woodruff, Robb Harleston, Suhail Khan, Pete Sepp, Brandon Arnold, Chris Rickerd, David Boaz.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Rob Gifford, senior producer for Bloomberg TV's "With All Due Respect" and his wife, Jacqueline, a senior editor at Travel + Leisure magazine, welcomed a baby boy yesterday morning. He emails friends and colleagues: "Wanted to introduce you to Robert James Gifford III or Bobby. Born 8/25/15 at 8:27am, weighing 7.9lbs. Mother and baby are doing fine. Can't wait for you to meet him. Sending much love to all!" Baby pics https://bit.ly/1PxHabp ... https://bit.ly/1EhS6JI ... https://bit.ly/1KMkKzv

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Zach Cikanek, spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute (API) and ex-comms. director for former Rep. Judy Biggert (h/t Jolyn Lorenzetti) ... Ryan Dalton, deputy director of N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's D.C. office ... Brian Wise, managing partner of Wise Public Affairs and ABC News alum ... Myles Miller ... Trumpworld's Michael Cohen ... Chris Hooton, Cambridge Ph.D. in land economy, turned the big 3-0 (fiancée tip: Hadas Gold)

BIRTHDAYS: Robert Barnett, celebrating with Rita in London (hat tips: Teddy and Connor... USA Today's David Jackson is 56... Tom Ridge is 70 ... Eric Fehrnstrom ... Jacques Villareal, a.k.a. The Viceroy of Soil (h/t Matt) ... Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal ("What'd I miss?") ... A quadruple threat of progressive leaders: Ilyse Hogue of NARAL Pro-Choice America; Eddie Vale of American Bridge and the pride of Huntington, N.Y., celebrating with a quiet dinner with Katey; Messina Group's Sean Sweeney; and LCV alum Navin Nayak of Corridor Partners ... Robert Flock of Brownstein Hyatt Farber and Schreck ... Danielle Weisberg ... Jim Harris, founder of the Wall Street Journal Office Network ... Ben J. Wattenberg ... Satyam Khanna of Treasury and a CAP alum (bro tip: Varun) ... Kate Sienicki ... Don Sweitzer ... Tiana Robison (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ... Morra Aarons-Mele, celebrating with Nicco and the kids (h/t Jon Haber) ...

... Patrick Dorton, of Rational 360 and a Clinton White House alum, is 47 ... NBC News' Kiran Chetry ... Julian Epstein ... Keith T. Tomatore, SVP and account director at Team Detroit ... Ari Ratner, an Obama 08 and State alum, is 3-5 and celebrated by launching a new boutique consultancy called Inside Revolution, offering professional writing, digital strategy, and political consulting services; he was toasted by dozens of former Administration officials on his 14th street rooftop (h/t Danny Gaynor) ... USAID's Kirk Anderson ... Swiss Re's Don Preston ... Bill Moore ... Barclays Capital alum David Stroud ... George Edwards ... AFP's Arthur MacMillan ... actress Francine York is 79 ... broadcast journalist Bill Whitaker is 64 ... Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy is 56 ... Branford Marsalis is 55 ... Macaulay Culkin is 35 ... actress Keke Palmer is 22 (h/ts AP)

** A message from PhRMA: Medicine prices fall significantly over time because the biopharmaceutical marketplace is unlike any other part of the health care system. Innovator companies invest in research to develop new medicines, and over time they become available as lower-cost generic versions. Nearly 90% of all medicines dispensed in the U.S. are generics and typically cost up to 80% less. For example, the average price for cholesterol-lowering Lipitor dropped from $85 a month to $4 - a 95% drop in price. Savings created by generics free up resources to invest in new treatments - creating headroom for continued innovation. Read more at https://onphr.ma/1J7ezb6. **

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