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10/07/2016 07:56 AM EDT


By Heather Caygle (hcaygle@politico.com or @heatherscope)

WILL RYAN HIT THE STAGE WITH TRUMP? That's the big question heading into this weekend, where Speaker Paul Ryan and Donald Trump are both slated to appear at Wisconsin's Fall Fest on Saturday. Trump initially asked to campaign with the House speaker, who responded by inviting him to the annual festival in Ryan's district, Rachael reports. But the big question is what kind of public appearance (if any) will the two make together?

"Maintaining daylight from Trump has given Ryan some plausible separation from Trump - especially if the real estate mogul loses big and Ryan seeks to lead a post-2016 GOP rebuilding effort. The difference between endorsing Trump on paper and being photographed with him onstage - assuming Saturday's event produces such a moment - is significant," Rachael writes.

And if you were wondering just how enthused Ryan's folks are about the big event, the announcement that Trump would even be at the festival came in the third paragraph of the press release with this note attached: "All questions related to Mr. Trump should be directed to the Trump campaign."

AYOTTE HITS CRUZ, THEN FUNDRAISES WITH HIM- GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte released an ad this week implicitly bragging about standing up to Sen. Ted Cruz during the government shutdown and then hours later was set to fundraise with the Texas firebrand in the Lone Star State, reports Kevin Robillard. Ayotte's campaign "didn't want to address her past relationship with Cruz, instead attacking Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan for relying on outside spending."

REPUBLICANS <3 PETER WELCH- When Vermonters head to the voting booth in November, at-large Rep. Peter Welch will be on the ballot as a Democrat and a Republican. Welch won an unprompted GOP write-in campaign and after learning the news on a European CoDel with GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (Welch was the only Democrat on the trip), he accepted the nomination.

"I said, 'Kevin, there's good news and bad news. You've got a new member of the Republican conference,'" Welch told Huddle. McCarthy's ears "perked up" at first, Welch said, before he quickly dashed the GOP leader's hopes. "The bad news is I'm going to be representing the Sanders wing of the Republican party."

And guess who couldn't be happier? Republicans. They just can't get enough of the Bernie-Sanders-backing, card-carrying progressive. "He's universally liked on my side of the aisle," said GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy, who couldn't stop gushing about Welch during an interview Thursday, saying he's an all-around trustworthy member. Some of Welch's other buddies in Congress include RSC Chairman Bill Flores and House Freedom Caucus Member Mick Mulvaney.

FEELING FROGGY ON FRIDAY, Oct. 7. You're reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill. Thursday's most-clicked: You guys really loved the link to Beach Boys' Surfin' USA.

Weekend football schedule: Bama plays Arkansas away, kickoff at 7 p.m. on ESPN. The LSU vs. Florida game (set in Gainesville) along with a handful of other matchups have been postponed due to Hurricane Matthew.

TODAY IN CONGRESS- The House is out. The Senate meets in a pro forma session at 2 p.m.

AROUND THE HILL- Emails mysteriously going unanswered starting around 3 p.m. Secret happy hour, anyone?

YOUNG'S WIDOW BACKS CRIST- Beverly Young, the widow of long-time Rep. Bill Young, is backing Democrat Charlie Crist in the race for Young's old seat over incumbent David Jolly, a former aid to the late lawmaker. "Mrs. Young has been fiercely critical of Crist in the past too, but had a falling out with Jolly shortly after he won the special election and laid off staffers who used to work for Young," reports Adam Smith for the Tampa Bay Times.

PIC DU JOUR- Sen. Steve Daines has an awesome recess ride: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=12b13065541c38beba1da363db333ce186e5aac63c9e3b767ae26eb5d56f8191

NAME DROPPING- "For the first time, some political groups under the umbrella of the billionaire conservative donors Charles G. and David H. Koch are embracing direct endorsement of Senate candidates - a marked shift from the more generic, issue-oriented ads and outreach such nonprofit organizations typically employ to steer voters to chosen candidates," reports Carl Hulse for the New York Times. Who's on the lucky list? Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Joe Heck, running to replace Harry Reid in Nevada.

NRA SPENDS BIG IN SENATE RACES- The NRA is spending millions to help the GOP maintain control of the Senate, finds a new analysis by Newsweek's Emily Cadei. In September, "the NRA poured $8.5 million into eight of the most competitive Senate races-more than any other outside group besides the two major political parties and their aligned super PACs. The gun group even outspent the network of advocacy organizations funded by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch."

On the other side: "Two leading PACs aimed at stopping gun violence focused on just one Senate race last month: New Hampshire. Americans for Responsible Solutions-a PAC founded by mass-shooting survivor Gabby Giffords... ran $1.1 million worth of TV and digital ads opposing Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte. And Independence USA, a PAC funded by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg... kicked in $2.6 million on its own set of anti-Ayotte ads."

REID HOLDS NOTHING BACK- "Donald Trump 'raped and pillaged' Atlantic City during his time running casinos in the New Jersey city, Harry Retheid said on Thursday during an extended attack on everything from Trump's pronunciation of Nevada to his refusal to release his tax returns," Burgess reports. "'This is a man who wouldn't listen to his own staff about how to pronounce the name of our state,' Reid said."

But he wasn't done yet: The Senate Minority Leader also took a swipe at RealClearPolitics' James Arkin for asking a perfectly reasonable question about what Catherine Cortez Masto needs to do in the closing weeks of the campaign to win. "I don't want to let any of the air out of your balloon here buddy, but RealClearPolitics is one of the worst, because all you do is average the polls that have been taken-all of them are wrong," Reid said on the call.

Arkin's response? He tweeted he was feeling much better after the Cleveland Indians triumphed over the Red Sox in Game One of their playoff series last night.

SCHOLARSHIP STARTED TO HONOR FINANCE STAFFER- Hoops for Youth has set up a scholarship to honor the late Senate Finance staffer Jim Lyons, who died after suffering cardiac arrest at the group's annual charity game. Folks who want to donate to the youth scholarship can email Paul Miller (pmiller@mwcapitol.com). And the game, which friends say was beloved by Lyons, has been rescheduled for Nov. 29.

SCHUMER GOES FOR EXTRA POINT IN NEW AD- Did you guys know Sen. Chuck Schumer is up for reelection? If you didn't, don't feel bad-he has a 46-point lead in the most recent poll. But that doesn't stop Schumer from trying to shore up the clutch Buffalo Bills vote in his latest ad. "Who's your favorite Buffalo Bill of all time?" a narrator asks, to which Bills icon Jim Kelly enthusiastically responds "Chuck Schumer!"

PERDUE: 'WE'RE DOING OUR JOB'- Georgia Sen. David Perdue has a message for all those naysayers who claim Senate Republicans aren't doing their job by stonewalling Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland: "I saw we are doing our job," he writes for USA Today. "The upcoming presidential election will not only determine the direction of our country, but also serve as a referendum on the balance of the Supreme Court for generations."

THURSDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER- Ben Goodman was the first to guess that Rep. Al Gore was the first member to speak once the House started live televised debate in 1979.

TODAY'S TRIVIA- Ben with today's question: In honor of the Nationals kicking off the NLDS against the Dodgers tonight, which lawmaker (also a former professional baseball player), organized the first congressional baseball game between Democrats and Republicans and what baseball teams did he play for? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in Monday's Huddle. Get at me: hcaygle@politico.com

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