5 Stories You'll Care About in Politics This Week

— -- Here’s a glimpse at some of the stories the ABC News political team will be tracking in the week ahead:

MCCARTHY'S ERROR

Kevin McCarthy isn’t House speaker yet, but his words have consequences. Republicans are scrambling to explain the House majority leader’s too-candid linking of the Benghazi committee and presidential politics, taking the GOP off-message even in a week that featured a new batch of Hillary Clinton’s emails. House leadership elections to replace Speaker John Boehner on Thursday will test McCarthy’s goodwill and pull among colleagues, in addition to the lingering unrest inside the GOP’s sizable tea party wing. McCarthy is hoping to avoid a second ballot in his bid to become House speaker.

SYRIA'S BUSINESS

President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin had hardly finished their awkward toast when Russian planes started attacking targets in Syria. Putin’s true intentions are typically hard to read. He may be simultaneously trying to defeat ISIS, prop up the Assad government and elbow the United States out of regional relevance. The conflict in Syria has drawn new contrasts in the 2016 race: Donald Trump flip-flopped with a vow to send refugees home, and Hillary Clinton is breaking with the Obama administration – and joining most of the GOP candidates - in advocating a no-fly zone. The turn toward foreign policy is a potential moment for Marco Rubio and other candidates who hope their resumes serve them well in the race.

BURN AND BERN

There’s nothing wrong with a $32 million campaign warchest … until you look at what it took to get there, and what it didn’t take a certain other candidate to come close. Hillary Clinton enters the fall stretch with a cash advantage over Bernie Sanders – and, most likely, all the Republican candidates. But she spent an estimated 90 percent of the money she brought in last quarter, and a grueling pace of fundraisers has been needed to get there. By contrast, Bernie Sanders is sitting on $26.5 million, according to his campaign, and has sliced into Clinton’s polling lead without even buying TV ads yet. Meanwhile, another mass shooting could focus liberal voters’ attention on Sanders’ record on gun control.

VEEP SPACE

The first Democratic debate is drawing near, but it looks like there will extra space on the stage. Vice President Joe Biden has blown past self-imposed deadlines of summer, end of summer, and the beginning of October, and still hasn’t declared his 2016 intentions. Now the deadlines get real: Forget the Oct. 13 first debate, but look to the early November start of ballot filing cutoff dates to be the real motivating factor in forcing a Biden decision. Insiders say he looks more likely to run than not, though few claim to be inside the vice president’s head.

RAND WATCH

It’s come to the point for Rand Paul’s presidential campaign that this actual statement was released late in the week: “Rand Paul for President remains fully committed to the 2016 presidential race.” Why the doubts? The polling threshold announced for the next GOP debate leaves him on the cusp of missing the main event. Ted Cruz is almost mocking him by pointing out the former Ron Paul supporters who are on the Cruz bandwagon now. Donald Trump is predicting Paul’s exit from the race. And Paul found himself closing out another disappointing fundraising quarter having to raise money for his Senate – not presidential – campaign. Paul’s is among the most disappointing campaign of the cycle, with a candidate who seems not to be having much fun.