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10/29/2018 07:57 AM EDT


By Nolan D. McCaskill (nmccaskill@politico.com or @NolanDMcCaskill)

CONSOLER-IN-CHIEF? -- President Donald Trump is sending mixed messages in the aftermath of a tumultuous week that saw 11 people killed in a Pittsburgh synagogue, more than a dozen high-profile Democrats and donors targeted with mailed pipe bombs and two African-Americans killed at a Kentucky grocery store after the suspected gunman was unable to enter a predominantly black church nearby. "For months, Republican officials have complained privately that President Trump lacks the ability to confront moments of crisis with moral clarity, choosing to inflame the divisions that have torn the country apart rather than try to bring it together," The New York Times' Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman
report.

The president's Jewish daughter and son-in-law implored him to forcefully condemn Saturday's anti-Semitic attack. He did. "Then Mr. Trump went back into partisan mode, assailing his enemies. By the evening's end he was tweeting about baseball, and on Sunday he went after another foe," they write. "The president has made clear he does not see national harmony as his mission. ... He reads the dutiful words of unity and grief and determination that aides put in front of him, but he refuses to stick to the script. His people want a fighter, in his view, and he plans to give it to them." Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc348c3ae4ad867e04e1b7dedbfdea6775f2804af9e3551cb451e8bacef5bf749456123f1303cee05aeefea283119b76

Related: "Trump, GOP defiant amid allegations that incendiary rhetoric contributed to climate of violence," by The Washington Post's Robert Costa and Felicia Sonmez: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc348c3ae4ad867e2d4c9e706d7b3421a7ccf583ba93f2d0dd957286da3305efdb18036d61b23e46b77a8058295f53d6

MAPPING TRUMP'S ROAD TRIP -- The president will hold 11 rallies in six days in the lead-up to Election Day. His final stop will end Nov. 5 in Missouri, according to dates and locations of the campaign schedule obtained by Axios. The list of stops includes Fort Myers, Florida, on Wednesday; Columbia, Missouri, on Thursday; Huntington, West Virginia, and Indiana on Friday; Bozeman, Montana, and Florida on Saturday; Macon, Georgia, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Sunday; Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Cape Girardeau, Missouri, next Monday; and Ohio on an unknown date. "In his final blitz, Trump is going to Trump country within Trump states," Jonathan Swan and Alexi McCammond write. "Not a single
competitive House seat lies within these locations."

The Cook Political Report's Amy Walter called the schedule a "very strategically smart tour" but noted it also appears to "concede the House" by focusing mostly on Senate races. The president is "going to the places where he remains popular, more rural or exurban, and he's staying away from big cities that have suburbs where he's toxic," Walter said. "It's notable, by the way, that he's not spending the last week in places that won him the White House in 2016," such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin or Michigan. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc348c3ae4ad867ea85c5d0c1cffd6938a127e31247cc80352b833dd025455ebd49aa91188ffef8f20e5255f7a282fb0

Related read: "White House tempers hopes of retaining House control," from Alex Isenstadt: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc348c3ae4ad867e2f118979c1bdb42435eb6b17b5d669f115cb81804a889f6322f87bfeecd6274dc62453146301a933

CABINET EXODUS COMING? -- A handful of Cabinet secretaries could leave the Trump administration in the weeks after the midterm elections. "For a president who has already shed or shuffled eight Cabinet officials, that would make for the highest turnover rate in recent history," Nancy Cook reports. "It would also be a major disruption even by the standards of an ever-churning administration -- possibly creating new confusion across departments and agencies and risking multiple bloody Senate confirmation fights." The Senate already has to confirm a replacement for former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, and Nikki Haley will leave her Senate-confirmed post as U.S. ambassador to the United
Nations at the end of the year.

They could be joined by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. "Trump allies said that in choosing replacements the president will have a particular focus on how potential Cabinet members might benefit him politically," she adds. "The two-year mark of any administration offers a natural break in which Cabinet officials depart. The incentive to leave would grow if Democrats win control of the House, giving them control of oversight committees -- and the power to drag top Trump officials to Capitol Hill for televised grillings." More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc348c3ae4ad867e54444ce82c330c30f819e700dc35cad99a2f91b33ac11734e652f76dd22ab7e63484e31db6db0ddd

Related: "In Montana, the Trumps are still testy about Tester and Jackson," via Burgess: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc348c3ae4ad867e3d344b2bd6fe7be9bfd52a9fc5b36551d97f00620217ee169fffc69722baf458e0cf60a2855dc97f

GOOD MORNING! Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Monday, Oct. 29.

FRIDAY'S MOST CLICKED: The Daily Caller's report on Rep. Jim Banks' (R-Ind.) effort to raise small-dollar donations for vulnerable Republicans via StopSpeakerPelosi.com was the winner.

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HOW THE GOP EMPOWERED HOUSE DEMS -- House Republicans in 2015 changed the rules to allow many of their committee chairmen to issue subpoenas without consulting the minority party, a sweeping authority that would become one of a Democratic majority's most potent tools. "Oversight would be one of the few concrete goals that Democrats could accomplish with control of only one chamber of Congress and Trump still in the White House," Anthony Adragna writes. "They have a long list of potential targets, including likely demands for Trump's tax returns and probes into Cabinet members such as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke." More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc348c3ae4ad867eec70703b4c2df3742fb52ca172cb0f05cbfa81cc07467e1569b2c85f55c8ec140dd775f84aa1ae74

That subpoena power, however, could also undermine special counsel Robert Mueller's probe. Democrats plan to look into the president's finances and connections to Russia. "But doing so ... would create tensions between the special counsel and a newly crowned majority party replenished by scores of freshman lawmakers who rode into Capitol Hill on an anti-Trump wave," Darren Samuelsohn warns. "House Democratic aides have been meeting informally in recent months to discuss ways to do their jobs while avoiding stepping on Mueller's toes in 2019, even toying with the idea of calling the special counsel in for a private bipartisan briefing." Much more:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc348c3ae4ad867eaec390f556a46470bb189d2c32d58ffe548c6610df3f02f4db84621f5a48430441161d176eedc7c0

Related read: "The GOP agenda isn't clear yet should Republicans keep the House," per CNN's Lauren Fox and Jeremy Herb: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc348c3ae4ad867e1e154dc0d3003fd955925af5f1bb735ffc36b854a9e309d717e8dbc999bf6429b121c6bd34b072d2

GOP LEADERS UNDER FIRE -- The No. 2 Republicans in the House and Senate have come under fire for their tweets in recent days. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) tweeted the headline of a week-old article that, in the aftermath of the synagogue slaughter, looked as if House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was inciting violence. "If There Is 'Collateral Damage' for Those Who Don't Share Our View, 'So Be It,'" the headline read. Pelosi was talking about climate change in mid-October. Cornyn later called on all politicians to "choose their words more carefully" and said, "No one should encourage violence." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc348c3ae4ad867e778ec30e76c9767dd60c317d6fc685306ba3647ee486987f142b45e7dc50bc62068c8cbd167d2bc9

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) deleted a tweet he had posted accusing a trio of Jewish Democratic donors -- George Soros, Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg -- of trying to "buy" the midterm elections. The tweet came a day after authorities intercepted a possible pipe bomb that was mailed to Soros. Another suspicious package was later addressed to Steyer. Matt Sparks, McCarthy's communications director, told CNN the GOP leader "has and will always condemn in the strongest possible way violence or any acts of attempted violence." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc348c3ae4ad867e8da4954962ed5cd004488bc3e4a8c7b4a37c9b471aa2804a2e866ecc1cb72fae00e2c1cf5819bc9b

Related: "Republicans Aren't Commenting On Their George Soros Attacks, After Soros Conspiracy Theories Played Into A Violent Week," by BuzzFeed News' Lissandra Villa: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc348c3ae4ad867ebd8b5ba6c5cd1f04c722bfbcc6076f77fb61aa1158fd28f90bd53f4a7a943d33b8b333608e2f8e87

SENATE DEMS' CLOSING MESSAGE -- Vulnerable Senate Democrats are closing their campaigns on one issue: the preservation of Obamacare. "Now, with Republicans desperate to reposition themselves and come up with their own health care pitch, ... the question is whether health care will be enough to save [Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)] and Democrats in other key Senate races," The New York Times' Trip Gabriel reports. "Most recently, the mail bombs sent from Florida and the fatal synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh on Saturday have added jagged new pieces with the potential to further disrupt both parties' strategies." Health care has put Republicans on the defensive.

The subject of protecting people with pre-existing conditions "has lit up polls, monopolized advertising budgets and driven a national strategy for Democrats, who are defending 10 Senate seats in states Mr. Trump won and are relying heavily on health care as a defining issue in key states including Arizona, Florida, West Virginia and Nevada," he writes. Republicans, meanwhile, have been "insisting in TV ads featuring their family members that they, too, support affordable care for people with pre-existing conditions. Their claims come after years of lawsuits and congressional votes by Republicans to gut or weaken the health care law's protections of expensive chronic illnesses." More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc348c3ae4ad867ef245a545d0438730a0d3cfec1c76f9f1831ef61b8d24f14c2290b7dd4975c8ae174a44fc36eb7d9d

THE ANTI-TRUMP REPUBLICAN -- Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), a former FBI official, isn't like most Republicans who are running for reelection. "Fitzpatrick is campaigning as the anti-Trump, one of the few Republicans around the country to boldly separate himself from a president who remains wildly popular in his own party," The Washington Post's Colby Itkowitz writes. He didn't vote for Trump in 2016. He backs gun-control measures, earning him an "F" rating from the NRA. He voted against Obamacare repeal, disapproved of family separations at the border and opposed the White House's travel ban. He even introduced legislation requiring presidential candidates to release their tax returns.

"Fitzpatrick can't even explain why he is a Republican other than to say that his older brother, Michael G. Fitzpatrick, who previously held the seat, registered him as one when he was young," she notes. "But in an election year that is all about Trump, that affiliation alone could cost the 44-year-old congressman his reelection in a seat key to Democrats' strategy to win back control of the House." Fitzpatrick said several Democrats have asked him why he won't switch parties. His answer? "If I did that, I'd be doing exactly what I'm speaking out against, that labels matter. They shouldn't matter." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc348c3ae4ad867e9e58c538ac273d790e78ca031406c3dbab039145db1329982c83c1088c2e352cbb5a863cc036083a

Related reads: "The Midterms Loom. Here's Where Dems' Fight For The House Will Be Decided," from HuffPost's Kevin Robillard: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc348c3ae4ad867e487deabe225266d603ad581bccf8ac2ae88c74076ebcc73d24277aa1dd1a177c31ac6dee6912e20a and "Republicans Rushing to Save House Seats From Onslaught of Democratic Money," via The New York Times' Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc348c3ae4ad867ed6b08dc2865117039f91edc183a023f14a23179de75091a33ee05518d3165f0211442c710bfc47b4

REMEMBERING TYRONE GAYLE -- Capitol Hill is mourning the loss of Tyrone Gayle, who succumbed to colon cancer last week. Gayle, 30, was Sen. Kamala Harris' (D-Calif.) press secretary and a former aide to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. "Mr. Kaine officiated at Mr. Gayle's wedding in May to Beth Foster, a legislative assistant to Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington State," The New York Times' Niraj Chokshi writes. "So many people had taken to social media to remember Mr. Gayle on Friday that for some of the afternoon "Tyrone" and "#GayleNation" were trending topics on Twitter in the Washington region." More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc348c3ae4ad867e801dd5aeb0111383d8a96a236b41f7141ba8ff7f12760ef3e0e1b4fde1d1b43f5d55bd7459f267f6

Jesse Lehrich, Organizing for Action's communications director and a former Clinton spokesman, has set up a memorial fund that has raised more than $63,000. "Unfortunately, Tyrone's body had given all it could give in his epic fight with cancer, and ... he passed away peacefully, surrounded by friends and family," he wrote. "But his spirit soars on, flying above us, forever pulling us up." The GoFundMe: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc348c3ae4ad867e4383d27fe8eab0432f34d092806cce381a8cce5a642e0b3f9f7588aff0dd2e061735b7d60977aaaa

TODAY IN CONGRESS -- The House and Senate are out.

FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER -- Stan Shipley was first to correctly guess that 39 people have been elected president. Donald Trump is the 45th president because Grover Cleveland is the 22nd and 24th president, and five presidents only served through succession.

TODAY'S TRIVIA -- Who is the longest-serving president, how many presidential elections did he win and how many years did he serve? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way: nmccaskill@politico.com.

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