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By Heather Caygle | 10/12/2016 07:51 AM EDT


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

With assistance from Rachael Bade

A FORK IN THE (LEADERSHIP) ROAD- House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have taken two very different tacks to Donald Trump's candidacy and the latest fallout from the tape of Trump talking about groping women is no different. McConnell has gone quiet, seeing no upside to sparring with Trump, while Ryan came out swinging, saying he'll no longer campaign with or defend the GOP nominee.

Rachael and Burgess explain: "The divergent strategies of the nation's two leading Republicans highlighted their contrasting personalities and political imperatives: Ryan, the high-minded policy guru with potential White House aspirations of his own, and McConnell, the cunning, cautious behind-the-scenes operator with no room for error in an awful election environment for Senate Republicans."

So whose strategy is better? Depends on whom you ask. "'As a general rule of political thumb I always believe the best thing to do is see what Paul Ryan does and then do the exact opposite,' scoffed a second Republican official loyal to the Senate side. 'Everyone on that side of the Hill is playing checkers.'" Their story: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=572d570929d44143db2b139a0d0ba8b33b9fc36053b59aa912ecea09a9699cba

TRUMP GOES ROGUE-With just 27 precious days until the election, Donald Trump turned his ire toward members of his own party Tuesday, declaring the "shackles" have been removed and lashing out at Ryan (a "weak and ineffective leader") and "foul mouthed" Sen. John McCain. "Disloyal R's are far more difficult than Crooked Hillary. They come at you from all sides. They don't know how to win - I will teach them!" he tweeted at one point. This morning the Trump campaign is expected to hold a call with its biggest supporters in Congress. Stay tuned.

Trump further criticized Ryan on Bill O'Reilly's show Tuesday, telling the Fox News host he didn't want Ryan's support and implying he might not be speaker next Congress. "I'm just tired of nonsupport and I don't really want his support. This happens all the time - if you sneeze, he calls up and announces, 'Isn't that a terrible thing.' So look, I don't want his support, I don't care about his support," Trump said. Cristiano Lima with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cbf6245070544e8cb99fe36d027acd0cbb48e1cd2de4826b80ecf479dc61d7ce

Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong didn't directly address Trump's incendiary comments when asked for a response, saying in an email, "Speaker Ryan is fighting to ensure we hold a strong majority next Congress, and he is always working to earn the respect and support of his colleagues."

FIRST IN HUDDLE: PELOSI'S Q3 HAUL-- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi brought in nearly $35 million for Democrats during the third quarter of this year (including $29 million for the DCCC), further cementing her role as Democrats' big money raiser as she surpasses her fundraising total for the last election cycle. Pelosi has raised nearly $128 million for House Democrats this cycle, already surpassing the $101 million she brought in during the 2014 election. The scoop from your Huddle host: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cbf6245070544e8cf5185d231d58d2afb32d2c4455f644d3026a926046fbfdb9

WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY, OCT. 12. You're reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill. Guys, as a lifelong Cubs fan (you can thank my PawPaw for that), I'm still in shock over last night's big comeback, moving the Cubbies one big step closer to the World Series!

Tuesday's most-clicked: You guys loved the Trump-Clinton/Time of My Life debate mashup. I knew you would.

TODAY IN CONGRESS- The House and Senate are out.

AROUND THE HILL- Not much. But everybody say hi to my Huddle co-host Jolene, a temporary addition this week: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cbf6245070544e8c0849876faba510f5031a9dbc74e9d10e05fbe9f4db2b418d She's a pretty good writer but not so helpful when trying to eat my computer charger while I'm on deadline.

REP. FARENTHOLD, CALL YOUR OFFICE- "Asked on MSNBC whether he would still support Trump even if the Republican presidential nominee said he liked raping women, [Texas Rep. Blake] Farenthold suggested he might - eventually adding he'd 'consider it.' Farenthold quickly apologized after the interview was over," reports Aaron Blake for the Washington Post. Farenthold was previously sued by a former staffer who claimed he sexually harassed her and the case was settled out of court.

THE TOOMEY TWO-STEP- Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey is still sidestepping questions about whether he'll support Trump at the ballot box. Kevin Robillard from Villanova, Pa.: "If there was ever a moment for Toomey to declare, once and for all, he wouldn't vote for Trump, Tuesday morning was it. ... But while Toomey... was willing to condemn both Trump and Hillary Clinton, he only ruled out voting for the Democrat, declining to definitively say whether or not he would vote for Trump in November."

DEMS FOCUS DOWN-BALLOT AS TRUMP FANS FLAMES- With Trump declaring war on his own party, Democrats are considering shifting significant resources down-ballot to guarantee control of the Senate next Congress. "Priorities USA Action, a Democratic group that has focused entirely on electing Democrat Hillary Clinton, is seizing on the trouble at the top of the ticket to expand its focus into Senate contests," reports USA Today's Fredreka Schouten.

"The election's best-funded super PAC with more than $133 million raised through the end of August, could run ads to help Democratic candidates in New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Nevada, according to an individual familiar with its plans... Fergus Cullen, a former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, said Trump's last-minute 'murder-suicide' mission against his own party may be too much for [GOP Sen. Kelly] Ayotte and other Republicans to withstand."

TWEET DU JOUR-Erica Werner (@ericawerner): Wikileaks reveals Harry Reid does not linger over dinner See the pic: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cbf6245070544e8c41082121fca62c6dfda983ca4a9c53fd2a42dd18b5a42f30 (h/t Seung Min)

STAND BY ME- So far, red-state Senate hopefuls like Indiana Rep. Todd Young and Sens. Roy Blunt of Missouri and Richard Burr of North Carolina are all continuing to back Trump. "All three are in must-win Senate races for the GOP. Republicans are defending 24 seats next month, many in blue and purple states, and cannot afford to cede ground in more conservative states, Burgess writes.

"Young had been 'seriously considering' whether to withdraw his endorsement... [but] "with Trump maintaining a statistically significant lead in the Hoosier State and former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) narrowly leading the race to succeed retiring Indiana GOP Sen. Dan Coats, Young is looking to ride Trump's coattails while Republicans viciously attack Bayh as a Democratic insider who enriched himself after leaving the Senate in 2010."

FLIP-FLOP FISCHER- Just days after calling on Trump to step aside, Sen. Deb Fischer reversed her stance, "telling a local radio station that it's 'not a tough choice' to back him just three days after she urged him to quit," reports Kyle Cheney. "What Fischer had actually said was that 'It would be wise for [Trump] to step aside and allow Mike Pence to serve as our party's nominee.' She said in the radio interview that she would no longer advocate that position because Trump had already made up his mind."

ALASKA LAWMAKERS STEP DOWN FROM STATE LEADERSHIP- Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan voluntarily stepped down from their leadership posts in the Alaska GOP after calling on Trump to step aside, reports Becky Bohrer for the AP. "State GOP chairman Tuckerman Babcock said Murkowski and Sullivan held their party leadership posts by virtue of holding elected office and would have those positions restored after the election."

MAINE GOV. ATTACKS COLLINS OVER TRUMP- Pine Tree State Gov. Paul LePage ripped into Sen. Susan Collins earlier this week, bashing the GOP moderate for her lack of support for Trump and calling on the GOP nominee to 'show some authoritarian power' if elected.

More from Burgess: "The shot at Collins is rare instance of intraparty conflict between Republican statewide elected officials of the same state. While clearly from different wings of the party, Collins has generally refrained from criticizing LePage for his antics, even when LePage left a lewd voicemail for a Democratic state lawmaker that had been criticizing him."

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER- Kirtan Mehta was the first to guess that Charles Taft, younger brother of William Howard Taft, owned the Cubs for a time in the early 1900's.

TODAY'S TRIVIA- Kirtan has a math-related question for y'all today: Congress recently overrode President Obama's veto, a first in his presidency. As a result, to date, President Obama has had 8 percent (1 law) of his vetoes overturned. Despite having the same number of vetoes in his presidency as President Obama (12), what percentage of President George W. Bush's vetoes were overridden? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in tomorrow's Huddle. Get at me: hcaygle@politico.com

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