“Pierce Bush (R), a grandson of former President George H.W. Bush, failed to advance out of Tuesday’s primary in his bid for a Houston congressional seat, becoming the first member of his family to lose a race in Texas in more than 40 years,” CBS News reports.
Trump Campaign Shifts Focus to Biden
“President Trump’s political operation is shifting its focus to apparent Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden — and ramping up its efforts to convince Bernie Sanders’ supporters he’s being robbed of the nomination,” Politico reports.
“With Biden suddenly vaulting to the front of the Democratic pack with his array of Super Tuesday wins, Republicans are intensifying their attacks on the 77-year-old former vice president. It represents a dramatic reversal: As late as last week, many in Trump’s circle were certain that Sanders would be their general election opponent and had all but written off Biden.”
“The turnabout could have profound implications for Trump’s political fortunes. Many of the president’s top advisers had been relishing the idea of a match-up against Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist who threatens to alienate the affluent suburbanites who decisively swung to Democrats in 2018.”
Calendar Doesn’t Get Easier for Sanders
Dan Balz: “For the foreseeable future, the calendar will not get easier for Sanders. In coming weeks, the states holding contests, with some exceptions, were ones that he lost to Hillary Clinton four years ago. In some of the states he won in 2016, the shift from caucuses to primaries could hold down his delegate totals even if he were to win again.”
Biden Leads In Michigan
A new Detroit News/WDIV-TV survey in Michigan shows Joe Biden leading Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, 29% to 23%.
They are followed by Mike Bloomberg at 11% and Elizabeth Warren at 7%.
Biden Sees Surge In Fundraising
“Joe Biden went into Super Tuesday with fewer financial resources than other candidates. But he will be in much better shape by the end of the night,” CNBC reports.
“Bundlers loyal to Biden are seeing dozens of new donors, several maxing out with the top allowable $2,800, as he picks up victories in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Alabama, and other states.”
Bloomberg to Reassess After Disappointing Results
“Mike Bloomberg will reassess on Wednesday whether he should stay in the race after getting disappointing results in Super Tuesday primaries despite spending more than a half billion dollars on his campaign,” the AP reports.
“A person close to the Bloomberg campaign confirmed the deliberations.”
What’s Next for Warren and Bloomberg
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Super Tuesday Results
Polls close throughout the night, beginning with Vermont and Virginia at 7 p.m. ET and culminating with California at 11 pm ET.
There are a total of 1,357 delegates up for grabs across 15 states, which is quite a bit considering 1,991 delegates are needed to clinch the nomination.
The New York Times has a good summary of results.
Here are the network projections so far:
- Joe Biden wins in Alabama, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina
- Bernie Sanders wins in California, Colorado, Utah and Vermont
- Mike Bloomberg wins in American Samoa
Leave your reactions in the comments as results come in.
G7 Held Call on Coronavirus, Only the Fed Did Anything
“Finance ministers from the richest nations and their central bankers held a rare conference call early Tuesday. They pledged to do whatever it takes to support a global economy under acute threat from the coronavirus,” Bloomberg reports.
“When they hung up the phone, only a single institution sprang into action. The U.S. Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a half-point — the biggest reduction, and the first one outside of scheduled meetings, since the crisis year of 2008.”
Exchange of the Day
Michael Bloomberg was asked by The Hill about his expectations for Super Tuesday:
REPORTER: Would a third-place finish be good?
BLOOMBERG: If there’s only 3 candidates you can’t do worse than that.
REPORTER: Well there is Elizabeth Warren also.
BLOOMBERG: I didn’t realize she’s still in, is she?
Hume Accidentally Shares Glimpse of His Browsing Habits
Fox News political analyst Brit Hume was caught in an apparently embarrassing situation after a webpage screenshot he shared on Twitter revealed a browser tab for a “Sexy Vixen Vinyl,” The Independent reports.
Hume has since deleted Tuesday’s tweet, but the page he was viewing was captured for posterity by one Twitter user.
Quote of the Day
“I have real problems with this president because he doesn’t tell the truth, he doesn’t honor the Constitution and he’s harming children. My whole message is about children. Anybody who hurts children — I’m a lioness. Watch out.”
— Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in an interview with Variety.
Bloomberg Spent Day In Florida
“Mike Bloomberg spent Super Tuesday hopping around Florida, a state that does not vote until March 17, before heading to an evening rally in West Palm Beach – Donald Trump’s back yard – to await his fate,” The Guardian reports.
One In Three Voters Picked Candidate In Last Few Days
NBC News exit polls show that 29% of Super Tuesday voters say they picked a candidate in just the last few days.
“The share of voters making late decisions is of particular interest this year, as two candidates — Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar — dropped out of the race and endorsed Joe Biden in the 48 hours before polls opened across the country.”
Ex-Trump Adviser Told Mueller Campaign Was ‘Chaotic’
President Trump’s former campaign advisor J.D. Gordon told special counsel Robert Mueller’s team that Trump’s prospective foreign policy team as being run “like a 6th grade student council with no real authority or power” and said that spokeswoman Hope Hicks “lied about contact with Russians,” BuzzFeed News reports.
Gordon also told Mueller’s team that the Trump campaign was “disorganized and chaotic at times” and “believed there were a lot of shenanigans happening at the highest levels.”
Bloomberg Advisers Pushed Him to Drop Out
Gabriel Sherman: “After Joe Biden’s decisive victory in South Carolina on Saturday, Mike Bloomberg’s campaign advisers lobbied Bloomberg to drop out of the race and endorse Biden before Super Tuesday… Some of the sources said that campaign manager Kevin Sheekey and other top campaign officials argued to Bloomberg that the best chance of beating Donald Trump in November would be for Bloomberg to exit the race to bolster Biden’s candidacy as Biden battles with Bernie Sanders for the nomination.”
Said one Bloomberg adviser: “There is a prevailing view Mike should drop out.”
“Campaign officials are privately frustrated that Bloomberg rejected their advice to drop out and pour their resources into helping Biden.”
Said an adviser: “Mike is a data guy, and he’s looking at the numbers thinking, I’ll be damned if I walk away before a single vote is cast for me.”
Bloomberg Says His Only Path Is a Contested Convention
Mike Bloomberg told the Associated Press that his only path to the nomination is through a convention fight and suggested he may not win any states on Super Tuesday.
Said Bloomberg: “You don’t have to win states, you have to win delegates.”
He also suggested that no one will get a majority of delegates and “then you go to a convention, and we’ll see what happens. I don’t think that I can win any other way.”