Stay tuned for a message from Walmart after the show.

Good Wednesday morning.

I'm Anna Palmer and welcome to your Politico Playbook audio briefing.

And I'm Jake Sherman.

Sorry, we know the convention was last night, but this was too good to bury.

The USPS is looking for a VP of government affairs and public policy.

It may be smart to look around, especially after Lewis DeJoy wasn't prepared

at a congressional hearing, to say how much it cost to mail a postcard. Okay, back to the convention.

Using the machinery of government to hear political advantages is as old as the Republic.

Lawmakers built bridges in their district, named buildings after themselves, and used

earmarks to remind who was bringing home the bacon. Presidents fly Air Force won into campaign events to flex the office's muscle, but Donald Trump

is again bending government to his advantage to a degree we've not seen before.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed the Republican Convention Tuesday from a rooftop

in Jerusalem, where he was on a government-paid trip conducting diplomacy, even though State

Department employees were expressly told this type of politicking was prohibited.

Had Hillary Clinton done this, Representative Pompeo would certainly have been on her case.

Trump pardoned a man from the White House on television during the convention and naturalized

five others in

conflict with four years of restive immigration policies. First Lady Melania Trump addressed

the convention from the Rose Garden, which she has recently refashioned to her liking. New York

Times put it like this. In an abrupt swir from the dire tone of the convention's first night,

Mr. Trump staged a grab bag of

...