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By Burgess Everett | 04/07/2016 07:12 AM EDT


(@burgessev or beverett@politico.com)

JOE SESTAK'S LAST STAND: Over the past week, Democrats announced they would spend about $1.5 million in Pennsylvania this month. But it's not directed toward beating Pat Toomey, but helping Katie McGinty and preventing Joe Sestak from winning the nomination. This is the type of intervention that would make a tea party activist's head explode, and it's all personal, not ideological. I trekked up to DelCo, Pa., to find out what all the fuss is about, and learned that Democratic efforts to control Sestak's campaign staff are the genesis of one of the ugliest intraparty feuds around right now. "The infighting here threatens to do significant harm to Democrats' hopes in the general election in
Pennsylvania, a state that's essentially a must-win for the party's hopes of wresting the Senate from Republicans. 'It's a disgrace,' fumes David Landau, chairman of the Delaware County Democratic Party, which is hosting Sestak on this warm April night. 'It's personal. They don't like him. Joe's quirky sometimes. He's independent. He's not going to always do what the leadership tells him to do.'"

A snapshot of the former admiral: "A few minutes later, Sestak bursts into the county Democratic dinner with a junior aide in tow, an hour after the speaking program has begun. He shakes hands, kisses female attendees and dashes through an extemporaneous speech before leaving the stage to applause. At one point, attendees chant, "Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe' ... It's Sestak's last event of the day, and he's a busy guy; he offers 10 minutes for a Q&A. But when the topic comes around to his strained relations with party honchos, Sestak can't help himself ... 'We'll win because of our approach to people. Look: That 422-mile walk which the DSCC felt was wrong? And this book which I published? They said
you shouldn't do something like that,' Sestak said, slipping into one of dozens of military metaphors he'll use during the interview. 'How do you govern by captaining the ship? How do you win without the trust of the crew? For me, I have to do it this way.'" Read the rest: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e28be684dfed4bb4fb1820011ce706ba2a1d27899f118ab8c193ae33ddb26d84

AND TO THE WEST: T&I Committee Chairman Bill Shuster is once again facing off against primary challenger Art Halvorson, but this time things are a little different ... Shuster told a local Pa. paper that his girlfriend Shelley Rubino, doesn't lobby the committee in her capacity at Airlines for America. Not exactly true, Anna and Jake report. "Airlines for America responded that Rubino does, in fact, still lobby the powerful committee, while avoiding Shuster himself and his staff. 'As a Democrat lobbyist, she has long-standing professional relationships with many members of Congress and staff. There is no change in her role at A4A,' said the trade group's spokeswoman Jean Medina. Shuster's
spokesman Casey Contres said that the Pennsylvania Republican meant that Rubino doesn't lobby Shuster's aides on the committee." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e28be684dfed4bb4e71a9f09f63ee93f144a379044150a2d558b302673059c7e

SANDERS GOES THERE: This ought to go down well in the Democratic Caucus today. Sen. Bernie Sanders says that Hillary Clinton is "not qualified" to be president, a new escalation in a race that had been pretty dang tame by presidential primary standards. Hanna Trudo has more: "'She has been saying lately that she thinks that I am, quote unquote, not qualified to be president. Well let me, let me just say in response to Secretary Clinton: I don't believe that she is qualified if she is, if she is, through her super PAC, taking tens of millions of dollars in special interest funds' ... Following Sanders' remarks, Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon denied that she had said the Vermont senator
wasn't qualified to be president ... Clinton did, however, decline three times on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' on Wednesday to say that Sanders is qualified." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e28be684dfed4bb41e2b5ee8a996e65e86222b554bdcc1d7feb963cb33e699f9

GOP TRIES TO MAKE SOMETHING STICK TO HASSAN: Over the past week, outlets in New Hampshire and Massachusetts have been piecing together a burgeoning scandal at the prestigious Phillips Exeter school that was overseen by Tom Hassan. Now Republicans are trying to drag down Tom's wife Maggie, the governor of New Hampshire and a Senate candidate in the key race against incumbent Sen. Kelly Ayotte. "Hassan's husband, Tom, was in the midst of a six-year stint as principal of the elite school in 2011 when Rick Schubart, a longtime teacher, was forced to relinquish his post after an allegation that he had an improper sexual relationship with a student beginning in 1977 ... In an interview, Ayotte
said Hassan has not done a good enough job explaining what happened with Schubart and why. The New Hampshire Republican would not say whether this was an issue for Hassan's husband to deal with, or whether it is a more serious charge that could sink her Democratic opponent's campaign. 'Only she can answer that,' Ayotte said." Bres and I have it: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e28be684dfed4bb407adaa8a2af71459f3d80816048ce00a831bee1250fdf721

Good 'morrow. And welcome to the Huddle, your play-by-play guide to everything Capitol Hill, where everyone is getting so tense it's beginning to feel like election season. Please send tips to beverett@politico.com and follow along on Twitter @burgessev.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate is in at 9:30 a.m. and will continue working on the FAA bill, with votes possible on a number of amendments. The House is still on chill.

AROUND THE HILL - At 9 a.m., Sen. Heidi Heitkamp meets with Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland in Hart 110. At 10 a.m. Sen. Lindsey Graham rocks a pen and pad on his trip to the Middle East in the Senate Press Gallery. At 11:30 a.m. Sen. Richard Blumenthal meets with Garland in Hart 706. At 12:45 p.m. Sen. Sherrod Brown meets with Garland in Hart 713. At 3 p.m. Sen. Chris Coons meets with Garland at 3 p.m.

WEDNESDAY'S MOST CLICKED LINK: Our story on Cruz and The Establishment was No. 1.

SPEAKING OF CRUZ: Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn is still being asked when he's going to support his junior colleague. Let me hazard a guess: He'll probably just support the nominee? "'My position is, I just don't think it's appropriate for a United States senator to be picking the nominee,' Cornyn said on a conference call with reporters on Wednesday. 'I think it's the voters and the delegates, and I'm more than happy to support the nominee they choose.'" Texas Tribune: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e28be684dfed4bb48fb35343967b4b909a6fbdc76693c25a527b76120156cca9

Boosted about Trump loss: Bolton finds that GOP senators had a spring in their step Wednesday after Cruz beat Donald Trump in Wisconsin. "The thumping Donald Trump suffered in Tuesday's Wisconsin primary has given new hope to GOP senators that their party won't enter November with the businessman as their presidential nominee ... 'it's going to be contested because he's not going to get to 1,237 and that's good for the Republican Party,' said Sen. Jeff Flake." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e28be684dfed4bb44a424af5d9076ba753e8ef7ba408b3fd5c7901a764b486f0

STAFFERS BEHAVING BADLY -- Republican: Bres the beast reports that former Rep. Paul Broun's chief of staff David Bowser has been indicted for misuse of official funds and trying to block an ethics probe into the matter. Broun is running for office again and Bowser currently serves as a top aide to Rep. Mimi Walters. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e28be684dfed4bb4ee87d4678018e778c0a8d9bc265beb5dea15f4f92a95490d

Democratic: NBC4's Scott MacFarlane reports that Rep. John Conyers' chief of staff Cynthia Martin has pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property. Martin "initially refused to repay $13,000 mistakenly deposited in her savings account. Martin's misconduct involved her savings account in the Wright Patman Congressional Federal Credit Union, a credit union with branches inside the Capitol and the Rayburn and Longworth House Office Buildings, investigators said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e28be684dfed4bb4a2dab563f34b6ea2017e6f74b7d330a53bd3a74eb5791e85

DON'T PLAY: This is a good one from the San Diego Union-Tribune. "The Federal Election Commission is questioning Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, for his use of campaign funds to pay for video games on 68 separate occasions - something the congressman is attributing to a mistake by his son, followed by several unauthorized charges." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e28be684dfed4bb4e3bf067a54e99792d95e740ca49ff5d108f11ba7876fcef5

McCARTHY ANNOUNCES OPIOID PLANS: Looks like President Obama might have an anti-drug addiction bill to sign later this year. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy writes in InJo: "The President's own proposals to combat opioid addiction demonstrate that there is ample opportunity to reach a bipartisan consensus, and the Senate's recent work to combat opioid addiction shows bicameral legislative interest. We will review all of these ideas as we move forward in scheduling legislative action. House Committees should complete work on legislation in April, and I plan to bring these bills for a vote on the House floor in May." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e28be684dfed4bb4895804396ac430e97b4571777012b0ab86e6b1fd35af28f4

REPUBLICANS NOT WORRIED AT ALL ABOUT ANGLE: Nope, they aren't attacking Sharron Angle in her run against Rep. Joe Heck for the Nevada Senate early or anything. Alex Roarty has the tale from 2010: "NRSC leaders wanted to talk about politics and policy with their newly minted nominee, but when the conversation turned to Social Security, they learned they had a big problem. Angle, according to two people in the room, talked about the entitlement program as if its cash reserves were literally stored in a 'lockbox,' located in a government facility in West Virginia." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e28be684dfed4bb4b69607684027c560176d2b48a76bad13d3fa23dfc26eee98

STABENOW TRIES TO PUT ME OUT OF A JOB: Sen. Debbie Stabenow takes to 1st Street NE to quiz passers-by on what would happen if they ... didn't do their job. Yes, it is a continuation of the Democratic messaging on the Supreme Court that we've now heard hundreds of times, but it's worth it to see Stabenow playing a newsie. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e28be684dfed4bb409bd0f4180058aedbacaffc520cb1bacdc91714e2293169d

JOHNSON ON JOHNSON ON BASEBALL IN WISCONSIN: Presented without comment, here's Sen. Ron Johnson tweeting about Sen. Ron Johnson appearing on a video screen at a Brewers game wearing a Brewers uniform. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e28be684dfed4bb4d595c6bebe10649a42bd1324c05eca253448751f3cf4bb8d

WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Jack Howard was the first to answer that James Garfield was not even a candidate for President until the 5th ballot and never received more than 50 delegate votes in a single round of balloting--until the final ballot in which he won the nomination.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Paul Kane has today's question: As senator, Hillary Clinton was the lead sponsor on three bills that became law. What was the most recent one? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at beverett@politico.com

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