GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Inside Congress, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Tuesday, Sept. 10, where we saw everyone from Andrew Cuomo to Tim Tebow to Sophia Bush roaming the halls Tuesday. WHAT REPUBLICANS WANT TO HEAR Republicans tell us they are planning to tune into the debate and — stop us if you’ve heard this before — hope to hear Trump focus on policy. “What I’d like to hear from the former president is a focus on [Harris’] voting record. … And he should be focused on her positions she had when she ran for president in 2020, and it should not be character attacks,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), who is running for reelection in a battleground district. Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) urged Trump to run a “repeat” of the first debate, when the focus the next morning centered largely on renewed questions about Biden’s age. “He has a lot of policies to talk about that are 180 degrees from hers,” Hern said. But the political landscape has changed dramatically since that first debate. Democrats swapped Harris for Biden, a move they hope will inject new enthusiasm with voters come November. Trump has been criticized for personal attacks against Harris. And some House Republicans have raised concerns about holding onto the majority. It’s not just Trump’s policies they want to hear on the debate stage. They want the debate to highlight his and Harris' different views on issues like the border, which Republicans are trying to make a wedge issue for voters, and foreign policy. And they are hoping that Harris’ answers will help turn voters off who might have considered supporting her after she rose to the top of the ticket over the summer. “There's a big presidential debate tonight. I think everybody around the country is asking the question: Who is the vice president? And what does she actually stand for?" Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Tuesday. Bacon quipped of Harris: “I’d like to hear her positions on anything.” — Jordain Carney FIRST IN THE NATION, BUT NOT FOR HOUSE PRIMARIES Granite Staters head to the polls Tuesday night to vote for the Democratic nominee to succeed retiring Rep. Ann McLane Kuster (D-N.H.), one of the very last primary races this cycle. The matchup between Colin Van Ostern and Maggie Goodlander has tested alliances in one of the ugliest primary contests this year, our Ally Mutnick, Sarah Ferris and Lisa Kashinsky reported in a story Tuesday morning. Kuster’s advocacy for Van Ostern has rubbed some of her allies in the state the wrong way, especially after she took part in a pro-Van Ostern ad going after Goodlander for having donated to Republicans and accusing her of not being committed enough to defending abortion rights. It was that TV ad — and the corresponding POLITICO story — that inspired Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) to endorse and donate to Goodlander on Tuesday. She also used her email list to fundraise for her. She said she was motivated by “the fact that they're attempting to somehow weaponize Maggie's personal experience” as if “somehow, even having gone through this, she can't be trusted on abortion.” (Porter was referring to Goodlander’s experience with a traumatic late miscarriage, forced to deliver her stillborn baby in a hotel bathtub because in the post-Roe era, she couldn’t receive medical care in time.) “I don't want to see qualified women discouraged from pursuing office because of the negative personal attacks that come at them,” Porter said. Kuster defended her own approach, saying that “four years ago, we were in a full blown battle for the House of Representatives, and she was contributing to far-right Republicans. I don't think that should be a secret.” And she also chafed at the surge in outside spending by VoteVets, which is supporting Goodlander and has spent more than $1 million on ads in the district, according to AdImpact. "If they're going to come in and try to buy the district, New Hampshire is not for sale," Kuster said. Regardless, the seat is likely to stay in Democratic hands. President Joe Biden won it by nine percentage points in 2020. — Ally Mutnick, Nicholas Wu and Sarah Ferris
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