“Look, Donald Trump do whatever you need to do to get elected to this country because we need a change.”
— David Duke, quoted by the Los Angeles Times, on Donald Trump disavowing the former Ku Klux Klan leader’s endorsement.
“Look, Donald Trump do whatever you need to do to get elected to this country because we need a change.”
— David Duke, quoted by the Los Angeles Times, on Donald Trump disavowing the former Ku Klux Klan leader’s endorsement.
Survey Monkey tracking finds that support for Donald Trump and his rivals was essentially unchanged in the 11 Super Tuesday states before and after last week’s GOP debate.
“Trump’s support after the debate (37%) was just a single percentage point higher than before (36%), support for Cruz was just two points lower (dropping from 25 to 23%), while Rubio’s vote ticked up just one percentage point (from 17 to 18%).”
New York Times: “That strategy is beginning to take shape, with groups that support Mrs. Clinton preparing to script and test ads that would portray Mr. Trump as a misogynist and an enemy to the working class whose brash temper would put the nation and the world in grave danger. The plan is for those themes to be amplified later by two prominent surrogates: To fight Mr. Trump’s ability to sway the news cycle, Mr. Clinton would not hold back on the stump, and President Obama has told allies he would gleefully portray Mr. Trump as incapable of handling the duties of the Oval Office.”
“Democrats say they risk losing the presidency if they fail to take Mr. Trump seriously, much as Republicans have done in the primary campaign.”
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“About 30 black students who were standing silently at the top of the bleachers at Donald Trump’s rally here Monday night were escorted out by Secret Service agents who said the presidential candidate had requested their removal before he began speaking,” the Des Moines Register reports.
Walter Shapiro: “Under these circumstances, there would be nothing anti-democratic about GOP leaders using every mechanism in their power to stop Trump. Gaming the rules, after all, is what Ronald Reagan tried against Jerry Ford in 1976.”
“It is worth remembering that — even with a delegate lead or a majority — Trump would face built-in disadvantages in Cleveland. Paul Ryan would be the convention chair and other GOP insiders would probably control relevant committees like convention rules and party platform. In some states, Trump does not get to pick his delegates slates, but instead is saddled with party stalwarts of dubious loyalty.”
Politico: “Top Republicans — including governors who convened an emergency conference call on Monday on which Trump was Topic A — expect the real estate mogul to carry as many as 10 states on Tuesday night, an outcome that would deal a body blow to Sen. Ted Cruz, who has staked his campaign heavily on the Southern states holding nominating contests, and to Sen. Marco Rubio, who has yet to win a primary and isn’t expected to do so on Tuesday.”
“Trump’s march to the nomination has set off a wave of anxiety across the Republican Party establishment as top officials weigh whether to endorse him — or denounce him as anathema to the party’s values. Reflecting that angst, on Monday morning, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the heads of the Republican Governors Association, convened fellow governors for an unusual conference call to discuss how the primary was unfolding — and Trump was a central topic of conversation.”
A new Landmark/WSB Georgia Poll finds Donald Trump leads with 39%, followed by Marco Rubio at 20%, Ted Cruz at 15%. John Kasich and Ben Carson “are hovering in the single digits.”
Trump is up seven points since the firm’s last poll released a week ago.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders, 70% to 23%.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) “raised serious concerns about Donald Trump’s surging presidential bid, becoming the highest-ranking congressional Republican to express fears about the real estate mogul’s candidacy,” CNN reports.
Said Cornyn: “We can’t have a nominee be an albatross around the down-ballot races.”
New York Times: “Hoping to avoid a repeat of the messy fight for the Republican nomination in 2012, the party drew up a calendar and delegate-selection rules intended to allow a front-runner to wrap things up quickly.”
“Now, with Republicans voting in 11 states on Tuesday, the worst fears of the party’s establishment are coming true: Donald J. Trump could all but seal his path to the nomination in a case of unintended consequences for the party leadership, which vehemently opposes him.”
FiveThirtyEight: Who’s on track for the nomination?
Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D) is out with a brutal ad tying Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to Donald Trump. Expect to see many more ads like this in U.S. Senate races around the country.
“The New York Times is sitting on an audio recording that some of its staff believes could deal a serious blow to Donald Trump who, in an off-the-record meeting with the newspaper, called into question whether he would stand by his own immigration views,” BuzzFeed reports.
Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura (I) tells the Associated Press that he’s split between backing Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump for president.
Said Ventura: “People give them no PAC money, no special interest money. To me, that’s the most important thing.”
“Does anybody think Donald Trump is a racist? I don’t. I mean, I really don’t. I don’t know of anything in his life that indicates that this man has racist tendencies.”
— Mike Huckabee, in an interview on Morning Joe.
Here are some new of the Republican presidential race in states that vote tomorrow:
Alabama: Trump 42%, Rubio 19%, Cruz 16%, Carson 11%, Kasich 5% (Monmouth)
Oklahoma: Trump 35%, Cruz 23%, Rubio 22%, Kasich 8%, Carson 7% (Monmouth)
Texas: Cruz 33%, Trump 32%, Rubio 17%, Kasich 7%, Carson 6% (ARG)
Massachusetts: Trump 47%, Rubio 15%, Cruz 15%, Kasich 11%, Carson 2% (UMass)
Justice Clarence Thomas has asked questions during a Supreme Court argument for the first time in 10 years, the AP reports.
“Thomas’ unusual silence over the years has become a curiosity. Thomas has said previously he relies on the written briefs and doesn’t need to ask questions of the lawyers appearing in court.”
Jonathan Chait: “The old Rubio strategy was not successful at winning primaries, but it was successful at making people like Rubio. Rubio has ranked at or near the top of lists of voters’ favorite second-choice candidates. As Nate Cohn points out, Rubio has time to catch up and overtake Trump, even if he loses every state on Super Tuesday. But Rubio’s strategy hinges upon successfully taking down Trump without losing his own currently wide, but relatively shallow, base of support. Will Republicans still like the new, mean, pee-pants-calling, dick-length-mocking Rubio just as much as the old, winsome version?”
“It is possible that Rubio’s mockery will finally bring down Trump. But even if so, Rubio’s popularity might come down along with him. In that case, the conflict will redound to the benefit of the candidate who is currently running the now-discarded Rubio game plan: John Kasich. The Ohio governor is using versions of the old, well-received Rubio message about refusing to attack fellow Republicans and bringing people together.”
New York Times: “Mr. Trump, unlike most presidential candidates, does not shrink from addressing, and in some ways legitimizing, the wildest of hypotheticals… Part hair-salon gossip, part purveyor of forwarded conspiracy emails, Mr. Trump has exploited the news cycles of an Internet era in which rumors explode like fireworks and often take a long time to burn out. Mr. Trump’s willingness to touch on what passes for fact on fringe websites puts him in a unique class for a national major party front-runner.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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