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By Seung Min Kim (
mailto:skim@politico.com
skim@politico.com or @seungminkim)

SENATE DEBATE-APALOOZA - It was a particularly busy day in the world of Senate debates, with match-ups in Kentucky, Arkansas and Virginia on Monday. The marquee event of the day was in Kentucky, where Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) squared off against Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes in their sole match-up of the 2014 campaign.

--The Louisville Courier-Journal with the wrap-up: "Monday's first and only debate in the 2014 U.S. Senate race between U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes was notable for the contentious nature of the exchanges but not the content of the discussion. Viewers watching the debate, held at KET in Lexington, saw the two candidates stick to the talking points they both have been focusing on for the past year and a half - but they were also treated to several volleys that indicated the two really don't like one another."

--"Grimes on numerous occasions cut off McConnell to rebut statements he had made ... And both were steadfast in their refusal to answer two questions - whether Grimes voted for President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 and whether McConnell believes that climate change in a manmade phenomena."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6d9fb102f7816b41a2753d05435bc49f5bf114ed8acbb6502821132566e88f16
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6d9fb102f7816b41a2753d05435bc49f5bf114ed8acbb6502821132566e88f16

--In that link, bonus clip of Jonathan Hurst and Josh Holmes (campaign managers for Grimes and McConnell) in the spin zone after the debate. Spoiler alert: Both sides think their side won.

--Video of the debate, with accompanying transcript, courtesy of USA Today:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6d9fb102f7816b410b519a75f8f342e07ead03ff17b6ba0129ca84db4114afde
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6d9fb102f7816b410b519a75f8f342e07ead03ff17b6ba0129ca84db4114afde

--POLITICO's James Hohmann has the top lines from the McConnell-Grimes debate: "'Every Kentuckian has the right for privacy at the ballot box' ... 'There's not a dime's worth of difference between a Clinton Democrat and an Obama Democrat' ... 'Whether you call him Sen. Gridlock, Sen. No-Show or Sen. Shutdown, the only person who Washington has been working for is Sen. McConnell' ... 'We have a chance to have the hardest-working Senate majority leader for the next six years.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6d9fb102f7816b416ba5a9d6ac62dc717d0a247e9d6c96e0327757ecc1668ce4
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6d9fb102f7816b416ba5a9d6ac62dc717d0a247e9d6c96e0327757ecc1668ce4

PRYOR, COTTON SPAR IN ARKANSAS -- John Lyon for Arkansas News: "U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor and U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton sought to portray each other as loyal to non-Arkansans during their first debate Monday, with Pryor claiming Cotton answers to out-of-state billionaires and Cotton accusing Pryor of being in lockstep with President Barack Obama ... In his opening statements, Pryor, who is seeking a third term, criticized Cotton for attending an event earlier this year in California with billionaire donors where he was praised for voting against the farm bill."

--"'That applause is still ringing in his ears, and those dollar signs are still in his eyes,' Pryor said. 'Congressman Cotton has allowed his ambition to get the best of him. He will do anything, say anything, vote however he can so that he can get their money to win this race. He has his billionaires, but I have you.' Cotton, a first-term 2nd District congressman, said in his opening statements that he and his wife, Anna, are expecting a baby boy and do not want him to grow up in a poorer, less-secure world than they did, but he said the policies of President Obama have created that kind of world."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6d9fb102f7816b41ec8cfbdab7fa3ef229f2c6ad7ff3e08c47c5068abccd65bd
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6d9fb102f7816b41ec8cfbdab7fa3ef229f2c6ad7ff3e08c47c5068abccd65bd

--And now, a brief break from the debate coverage with this Wall Street Journal story, where Patrick O'Connor writes that the Pryor-Cotton race could be a test of whether voters want a more aggressive military policy:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ffb92f9440f8401ed2d98aaf2a1af606af3fbfe0d55f2de380
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ffb92f9440f8401ed2d98aaf2a1af606af3fbfe0d55f2de380

OLD DOMINION BRAWL - The Washington Post has the recap of the Virginia Senate debate between Democratic Sen. Mark Warner and Republican Ed Gillespie, from Richmond: "Republican Ed Gillespie attacked U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner for discussing the possibility of a federal judgeship for the daughter of a Democrat who was on the verge of quitting the evenly split state Senate and throwing control to the GOP. In the pair's third and final campaign debate in Richmond on Monday, the Republican underdog used the very first question as an opportunity to bring up Warner's recently revealed job talks with the son of former state senator Phillip P. Puckett."

--"Warner responded that he simply called Puckett's son to 'brainstorm' potential jobs for the senator's daughter, Martha Puckett Ketron."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ff68c9cf327e80a7e2e09899f33eb370b630d7f7a7845e8d9f
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ff68c9cf327e80a7e2e09899f33eb370b630d7f7a7845e8d9f

--Meanwhile, the Richmond Times-Dispatch story notes both Warner and Gillespie said President Barack Obama was too slow to act on Ebola:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ff4b11327ac227a2cdf77e67ed5e3d77bb48bb2def381e5e82
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ff4b11327ac227a2cdf77e67ed5e3d77bb48bb2def381e5e82

--If you want to read just one story on highlights from yesterday's three debates, the AP has you covered:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ff64997f3fbd09d548efba02cb72de0d77b8716dc6520eef2a
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ff64997f3fbd09d548efba02cb72de0d77b8716dc6520eef2a

CLICK OF THE DAY - "Boehner, Speaker of the House, Visits McP's Irish Pub"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ffdfb7e136eee6bdc9ad66dd28c6fbf3f809c2d3e0eb807fdd
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ffdfb7e136eee6bdc9ad66dd28c6fbf3f809c2d3e0eb807fdd (h/t @scottwongdc)

--Huddle's fave excerpt from that story: "During the last song, 'Whole Lotta Love,' by Led Zeppelin, [Coronado, Calif., local Lisa] Tresner and her girlfriends all stood up to dance. 'It looked like Mr. Boehner was going to dance with us,' said Tresner. 'He stood up and started to dance a little bit, but as people started shooting video he and the Secret Service made their escape.'"

EBOLA FIGHT TURNS POLITICAL - The New York Times's Jonathan Weisman: "The public health concerns about Ebola have now spread to both political parties, which are engaged in a finger-pointing policy debate that could jar midterm elections just weeks away. For a week, Republicans have advocated severely limiting - if not eliminating - flights from West Africa, accusing President Obama of complicity in a looming epidemic for failing to take their advice. On Monday, Democrats joined the debate, blaming Republican budget cutting for the government's failure to prepare for Ebola."

--"[I]n recent days, the debate has turned toward policy prescriptions and more specific criticism. Last Wednesday, 27 House members - including three Democrats - wrote to Mr. Obama to urge him to put into effect a travel ban and visa restrictions for the citizens of West African countries battling the epidemic."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ff9ddd396a7a4bcb2349f0bf1e416662a7689e233db8b5d0de
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ff9ddd396a7a4bcb2349f0bf1e416662a7689e233db8b5d0de

--Bloomberg reports that increased Ebola money could come in the next government appropriations bill. The current funding runs out Dec. 11.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ffe0a8b29ecfe19a9c51a20c5ac4f818087048dce5238272bc
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ffe0a8b29ecfe19a9c51a20c5ac4f818087048dce5238272bc

--In case you forgot, the United States still doesn't have a surgeon general as it combats Ebola both domestically and abroad. Vivek Murthy's confirmation has been held up in the Senate for months over his views on gun control, and nearly 70,000 signed an online petition to urge senators to clear Murthy for the post. The Hill:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ff7aa2cd4b8d184db2fcf3bfc1f7fd680f3d57ffacc367694e
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ff7aa2cd4b8d184db2fcf3bfc1f7fd680f3d57ffacc367694e

JOHN MICA ALERT - A House Oversight subcommittee is holding a hearing examining potential abuses into the Government Purchase Card program. The title of the hearing? "Gym Memberships, Gift Cards, and Hair Salons: Examining the Misuse of Government-Supplied Credit Cards." It's at 1 p.m. in 2154 Rayburn.

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, OCT. 14, 2014 and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of all the action on Capitol Hill. We're three weeks away from Election Day 2014 - please send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints, and corrections coming to
mailto:skim@politico.com
skim@politico.com . If you don't already, please follow me on Twitter @seungminkim.

My new followers include @_DJ_Jordan and @DafnaLinzer.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - [INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK]

AROUND THE HILL - Political scientists Alan Wiseman of Vanderbilt University, and Craig Volden of the University of Virginia will discuss their new website and book that grades members of Congress - "Legislative Effectiveness in the United States Congress: The Lawmakers" -- at the National Press Club, Zenger Room, at 1 p.m.

THE GOP'S 'SECRET' STAR - National Journal profiles Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), running for a promotion to the Senate: "The 60-year-old Republican representative is on pace to win West Virginia's Senate race with ease: With just three weeks before Election Day, polls show her leading Democratic nominee Natalie Tennant by double-digits. And she's winning that success not despite a boring campaign-but exactly because of it."

--"Capito's drama-free approach has quietly made her one of the Republican Party's best candidates of 2014. She might not generate headlines, but her savvy and relatively centrist approach have her poised to win one of the GOP's most impressive victories: winning a Senate seat in West Virginia for the first time since the 1950s. And if some people find that dull, Capito doesn't care."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ff20cf4dbfab485633bc7097272972a8e85a8d648513b6ce1d
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ff20cf4dbfab485633bc7097272972a8e85a8d648513b6ce1d

RIDIN' AROUND TOWN WITH CHUCK - Next idea: Early-morning yoga (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ff6410815a1fdd4fc370bbd07e01e526832141f11ddc943549
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=92052ce5f25665ff6410815a1fdd4fc370bbd07e01e526832141f11ddc943549 ) with Harry Reid. The New York Daily News: "In shorts, sweatshirt, shades and a helmet, Sen. Chuck Schumer travels incognito most Saturdays - pedaling around the boroughs in a cherished reconnaissance ritual that gives him an up-close, unfiltered view of the city. As he biked through Brooklyn with a Daily News reporter last week, Schumer answered his flip phone without slowing his roll."

--" 'What's up? I'm on the bike!' he said, making his way along Bedford Ave. in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was on the other end, eager to discuss the midterm elections. But the chat would have to wait. 'He knows, he calls me all the time,' Schumer said."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8c2b0caf0f6273ffbf72c4a32c755648fd98b309e6258ae04fb5d2aa909e7843
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8c2b0caf0f6273ffbf72c4a32c755648fd98b309e6258ae04fb5d2aa909e7843

--Fact check - True, that Reid dials Schumer constantly. From the Huffington Post in July: "'I bought 10 of them in case they run out,' says Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), laughing and extending the [black LG flip phone] across the table to be examined. It starts to buzz in his hand, the LED display flashing excitedly. 'It's Harry.' He flips the phone open and we go off the record."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8c2b0caf0f6273ffa3b745be72a24e74fcab2c4b6225621e3c1bca87a5621337
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8c2b0caf0f6273ffa3b745be72a24e74fcab2c4b6225621e3c1bca87a5621337

--Schumer's bicycle also made a cameo during the Senate Gang of Eight markup last year:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8c2b0caf0f6273ff6d338135fff3a2bfd2aeeb3f42e703593b236fc2708e7fa4
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8c2b0caf0f6273ff6d338135fff3a2bfd2aeeb3f42e703593b236fc2708e7fa4

CORNYN TO CRUZ: LET'S GOVERN - The second-ranking Senate Republican sits down with the Austin American-Statesman and has some advice for Texas's junior senator: "'Some people have told me that the 2016 election is right around the corner and you are going to have a tough time dealing with people who are aspiring to run for president to cooperate with the majority,' Cornyn said [during the interview with the American-Statesman Editorial Board]. 'The truth is if they don't, then we're not going to be able to do anything and we'll be mired down in the same dysfunction we're currently in.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8c2b0caf0f6273ffb9376bd41f835b392564cad460d9aacb04eb08f06a4534ef
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8c2b0caf0f6273ffb9376bd41f835b392564cad460d9aacb04eb08f06a4534ef

2014'S STARS OF THE HOUSE - The midterms are still three weeks away, but it's already clear who the standouts of the incoming freshman class will be. POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt has the list, which includes bomb-throwers, warriors, political operators, the strivers, and the dragon slayer (Dave Brat).
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8c2b0caf0f6273ff0fab480eae2ad3b4561b4f7568b8a82944ab9898e7ccbb02
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8c2b0caf0f6273ff0fab480eae2ad3b4561b4f7568b8a82944ab9898e7ccbb02

BOEHNER'S DIGITAL GURU - The New York Times goes behind the scenes and talks to the mastermind behind the buzzy videos coming from the Speaker's office: Caleb Smith, his director of digital communications. From the story: "Mr. Smith has convinced Mr. Boehner and his staff that letting Boehner be Boehner on video would be good for him and help the office build followers using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media."

--"'I think that in general people are craving authenticity from their elected leaders,' said Mr. Smith, who worked at the Financial Services Committee before joining the speaker's staff ... Mr. Smith has become a constant presence, and Mr. Boehner has taken note. 'He is kind of a pain because every time I turn around, he's there,' said Mr. Boehner, who was, of course, kidding, since he has been sold on the value of social media in politics."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8c2b0caf0f6273ff86ba4b9bd25037f483dd62fb23875b51154d5583bf2c4090
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8c2b0caf0f6273ff86ba4b9bd25037f483dd62fb23875b51154d5583bf2c4090

HOT CLICK: CORY BOOKER, COLUMNIST - Buzzfeed's Andrew Kaczynski digs up the writings from Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) when he was a student at Stanford University. Among the topics covered by the young Booker: Race, his religious faith, dating and his 180 turn from homophobia.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8c2b0caf0f6273ff30cdf623ee9db55b73804dec7e128b5f9594756b8207f0eb
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8c2b0caf0f6273ff30cdf623ee9db55b73804dec7e128b5f9594756b8207f0eb

--Side note: Your Huddle host is relieved her senior year columns for her high school paper, "West Side Story," aren't available online.

MONDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Michael Toulouza and Aaron Merkin of the Committee on States tied to be the first to correctly answer that Jimmie Davis (served as Louisiana governor), Roy Acuff (ran for Tennessee governor) and Tex Ritter (ran for Tennessee Senate) were the three members of the Country Music Hall of Fame who have run for major political office.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Michael has today's question: What U.S. president was the first president to be born in a hospital rather than at home? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email
mailto:skim@politico.com
skim@politico.com .

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