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

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Should Democrats be wetting the bed over President JOE BIDEN’s chances of winning reelection?

Depends on who you ask. Some in the party are truly panicked. Others are begging their compatriots to take a deep breath.

To find out who has the more compelling case, we asked one person on each side of the debate to make it. Today we present to you the side of panic through an interview with Democratic Rep. DEAN PHILLIPS (D-Minn.), who has encouraged other Democrats to challenge Biden in a primary and has thought about getting in the race himself.

Tomorrow we will have a Q&A with a Democrat making the case for calm. So don’t @ us just yet.

Yes or no: do you think Biden can win the 2024 race?

Yes, he could win. But the question is, are there others who might be better positioned to win assuming that the eventual GOP nominee is going to be Donald Trump? We should not be sugarcoating or diverting attention from the polling data — we should be digesting it while there’s still time to course correct.

Ok, you think he can win. But you also think he could lose?

Yes, I’m one of tens of millions of Americans who have that very legitimate concern.

Do you view the recent Washington Post-ABC poll as an outlier? Or a major warning sign?

If that’s not a warning sign, and a wake up call, and a red alert, I don’t know what would be.

While there’s still time, we should let Americans decide who is best positioned to beat Donald Trump because clearly the data is saying a majority of Americans do not believe, unfortunately, that it is President Biden.

Do you think this is mostly an age issue for him?

I’m trying to focus just on what the numbers are saying. The numbers are saying that despite successful policy implementation, despite navigating through some difficult years, that people are not pleased.

Why is that? If the policies are all there, what more can he do?

It’s not a failure of policy. We’ve outperformed, I think, every OECD country in the world. But what we have to do better is to express empathy and understanding that people are not feeling that.

Democrats are always worried about elections. Why is this time any different?

We’re somewhat sleepwalking into a repeat of 2016. That was a time when we thought Hillary Clinton was going to win. It was close, but she was always ahead. And now, no matter what one thinks of polling and surveys at this stage of a race, what is fundamentally different is that the president — at best — is tied, and more likely is slightly behind.

Some Democrats think the party needs to chill out and stop panicking. Are they off the mark?

In my professional life, both in the public sector and private sector, chilling out has never been a recipe for success in addressing any problem. Thoughts and prayers don’t solve gun violence, they don’t give people homes or food — and chilling out does not make for electoral success.

It was hard to get someone to do this Q&A. People didn’t want to be on the record ringing the alarm bell. Why do you think that is?

Sadly, too many are focused on their own professional futures and not focused enough on our country’s future at a time when we really, really need that.

Has all of this just been about raising your own profile?

I don’t think many would recommend this course of action to simply raise one’s profile in a system that rewards people who stay quiet and stay in line and sit down and shush up.

So you’re running?

I’ve still continued to encourage those who are more proximate and prepared to run a compelling campaign to jump in because we need you now — not in 2028. But if no one is willing to do so, I might.

MESSAGE US — Are you a fellow Democratic bedwetter? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at [email protected].

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Thanks to the White House Historical Association for this question!

Which president is responsible for naming Camp David?  

(Answer at bottom.)

SUDDENLY RETHINKING JONATHAN TURLEY: Let us first stipulate that no president wants to be impeached, that no father wants to see such a harsh spotlight placed on his son, and that the facts emerging from the current House GOP inquiry paint a painful and scandalous portrait of the behavior of HUNTER BIDEN.

With that said, the White House couldn’t have been more pleased with how matters went Thursday during the House Oversight Committee’s first impeachment-related hearing since Speaker KEVIN MCCARTHY announced a formal inquiry. Republicans seemed surprised by the testimony of their own witnesses. Democrats made a series of procedural plays that tripped up the proceedings. In particular, there was a fair bit of schadenfreude after law professor JONATHAN TURLEY — famed irritant of Democrats for his past defense of Trump — said he did NOT believe “that the current evidence would support articles of impeachment” for Joe Biden.

“These are the Republicans’ own witnesses!” tweeted IAN SAMS, the chief White House spokesperson on impeachment. It was one of many posts he placed on X today.

BUT IT WASN’T JUST SAMS, AND IT WASN’T JUST TWEETS: Other White House officials also put their own spin on the GOP hearing. Every 30 minutes starting at 10:35 a.m, White House Counsel deputy communications adviser SHARON YANG blasted a new email counting down the hours and minutes “until the government shuts down because of extreme House Republicans’ chaos and inability to govern.”

Related: An email was sent to White House and executive branch aides Thursday morning, preparing staff for the impending shutdown, per Bloomberg News’ JENNIFER JACOBS.

HONORING AN OLD FRIEND: Biden delivered a speech on Thursday in Arizona about the fight to protect democracy while announcing plans to create a federal library to honor the state’s late Sen. JOHN MCCAIN, Lauren and JONATHAN LEMIRE report. By honoring McCain, Biden hopes to court swing voters turned off by Trump to improve his footing in battleground states. “We have to stand up for America’s values embodied in our Declaration of Independence because we know MAGA extremists have already proven they won’t,” Biden said.

SORRY NOT SORRY: Republican presidential candidate CHRIS CHRISTIE defended attacks he made against first lady JILL BIDEN during the party’s debate Wednesday night in an interview with CNN the next day. The former New Jersey governor faced criticism for saying the president was “sleeping with a member of the teachers union” when discussing his plans to improve public schools. “Well that’s the truth, isn’t it?” he said. Our MATT BERG has the details.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by NBC News’ BRIDGET BOWMAN about the network’s recent poll showing that a majority of Americans oppose an impeachment inquiry into Biden. Fifty-six percent of voters were against an inquiry while 39 percent supported a probe. Ian Sams, naturally, posted the piece on X.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by our KELLY HOOPER for Pro subscribers about how health care advocates are puzzled about why the Biden administration hasn’t gutted a Trump-era rule that allows them to provide tax-exempt subsidies to help purchase Obamacare plans. The rule raises premiums for all employees by placing sicker individuals on Affordable Care Act exchanges. Experts believe the Biden administration has avoided overhauling the rule because it would require a massive effort.

“I honestly don’t know why they haven’t done anything. This is easy: Just get rid of them and get them off the table,” SONJA NESBIT, a former senior HHS, said.

FOGGY BOTTOM BLUES: Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN performed Muddy Waters’ “Hoochie Coochie Man” at an event to kick off the State Department’s Global Music Diplomacy Initiative. His rendition of the classic drew sustained applause and may be cause for checking out his music on his Spotify page, where he goes by “Ablinken.”

Legit request for feedback: What do we think of Blinken’s jam? Send us your thoughts. Better yet, what song would you like to see him cover next? We will print the most topical cover song suggestion. (Think: Everybody Wants To Rule The World)

STAFFING UP: ALYSSA ROBERTS has been named deputy chief of staff and senior adviser at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. She previously served as the council’s director of communications.

— JUSTIN WEISS is joining the council as its director of communications. He previously served as associate director for infrastructure communications at the White House.

— EMILY MCAULIFFE has been named the council’s deputy director for public engagement. She previously worked as special adviser for external affairs at NOAA.

— BIANCA MAJUMDER is serving as the council’s policy adviser for clean energy and infrastructure. She previously served as a confidential assistant at the Office of Management and Budget.

— MON ORTIZ has been named the council’s special assistant for public engagement.

MORE PERSONNEL MOVES: MACKENZIE LANDA has been promoted to be senior adviser to the deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior.

A THORN IN BIDEN’S SIDE: Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) plans to take legal action against the president’s interpretation of the Inflation Reduction Act, including how it’s managed tax credits for electric vehicle sales, our KELSEY TAMBORRINO reports for Pro subscribers.

Manchin has become a vocal critic about how the climate law’s sourcing requirements don’t go far enough in ensuring key EV components are manufactured in the U.S. rather than China. Manchin is also delaying a Biden nominee to serve as Veterans’ Affairs general counsel over the agency’s decision to provide abortion counseling and perform some abortions, our BEN LEONARD reports.

A CENK IN BIDEN’S ARMOR: Left wing political commentator and The Young Turks founder CENK UYGUR said Thursday he was preparing to launch a Biden primary challenge. Uygar has a new book. He has also run for office before, finishing fourth out of 12 candidates in a special primary election to fill KATIE HILL’s old seat in Congress.

It was, however, noted that he might have some eligibility issues for the job.

CONTINUING AS SCHEDULED: The Biden administration plans to have borrowers resume paying federal student loans despite the possibility of a government shutdown, an Education Department spokesperson told our MICHAEL STRATFORD. Although officials have yet to publicize contingency plans, the department has enough funding to collect and manage loans and will not be affected by a shutdown.

Put Me In, Coach (The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis)

Why the Press Can’t Tell a Campaign Rally From a Picket Line (The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer)

Net neutrality is back, but it’s not what you think (Vox’s Sara Morrison)

While stationed in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2011, JOHNNY WALSH, chief of staff to the acting deputy DHS secretary, wrote, “Tear a Root From the Earth,” a musical about the war. Walsh teamed up with a few friends years later to perform it across the country.

“Only a few years later, as I was playing cello in the orchestra pit of a musical for fun, did it strike me that my own project could expand into a musical,” he told our DANIEL LIPPMAN.

He’s performed the musical and other songs he’s produced at South by Southwest, the Kennedy Center and theater workshops in New York.

Camp David was previously named “Shangri-La” until President DWIGHT EISENHOWER thought that the name was “just a little fancy for a Kansas farm boy.” As a result, Eisenhower renamed the facility Camp David, in honor of his grandson, according to the White House Historical Association.

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.