Gawker: “Last week, George Mason University announced that its law school would be renamed, at the request of an anonymous donor who gave $20 million to the program, after the late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia: the Antonin Scalia School of Law at George Mason University—ASS Law. (Or ASSoL.)”
The New York Times says the school will now be renamed again to The Antonin Scalia Law School.
Donald Trump “plans to shift gears in the coming weeks, and give a series of policy speeches in settings more formal than the freewheeling rallies that have become his political signature,” the Washington Post reports.
“Among the topics he will address are how to strengthen the nation’s military, specific education reforms and the criteria by which a President Trump would select Supreme Court justices. The campaign hopes to stage those speeches in settings such as economic clubs in various cities and possibly the National Press Club in Washington.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary.
Ted Cruz won the Republican primary, beating Donald Trump and John Kasich.
“Bernie Sanders sat down with the New York Daily News editorial board last Friday, seeking its endorsement in the upcoming April 19 Empire State primary. It did not go well for the senator from Vermont,” the Washington Post reports.
“Time and again, when pressed to get beyond his rhetoric on the evils of corporate America and Wall Street, Sanders struggled. Often mightily. (The Daily News published the full transcript of the interview today so you can check it out for yourself.)”
Longtime Donald Trump ally Roger Stone “is threatening to make public the hotel room numbers of Republican National Convention delegates who switch from Trump to another candidate,” Politico reports.
Said Stone: “We’re going to have protests, demonstrations. We will disclose the hotels and the room numbers of those delegates who are directly involved in the steal… We urge you to visit their hotel and find them. You have a right to discuss this, if… your votes are being disallowed.”
“Top officials at the Republican National Committee explained the intricacies of a contested convention Tuesday afternoon to roughly two dozen veteran GOP operatives,” Politico reports.
“The meeting at the RNC’s Capitol Hill headquarters included discussion about bound delegates and how the party will organize the timing of multiple rounds of balloting… RNC officials made the case that there is plenty of time built in during the convention to strategize between ballots.”
A report compiled by the House Office of Congressional Ethics alleged that there is “a substantial reason to believe” that Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) broke federal law and House ethics rules in connection with his offshore hedge fund, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
The House Committee on Ethics also announced that the resulting investigation requires “further review.”
“The prime minister of Iceland submitted his resignation… succumbing to political pressure two days after an enormous leak of documents from a secretive Panamanian law firm about offshore shell companies and tax shelters,” the New York Times reports.
“The resignation of the prime minister, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, signaled the first prominent political casualty from the document leaks known as the Panama Papers, which have shed a harsh light on the private financial activities of many rich and powerful people.”
For the first time, the Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll shows Ted Cruz leading the GOP field nationally with 39%, followed by Donald Trump at 37% and John Kasich at 23%.
David Plouffe: “Negative. In fact, Hillary Clinton has strengthened her hold on the nomination in the most recent contests. Because for every state that holds a contest, more delegates come off the board, and the percentage of remaining delegates Sanders has to win grows larger. The hill Bernie Sanders has to climb becomes more and more steep. Like a sheer, rock cliff.”
“I believe Hillary Clinton has zero chance of not being the Democratic nominee. But she still is going to lose a bunch of states to Bernie Sanders the rest of the way into the clubhouse. Here’s my sense of how the race will play out from now to June.”
For members: Why Clinton May Be Much Stronger Than She Seems
“If he wins Wisconsin, the contest is over.”
— Karl Rove, quoted by Politico, on Donald Trump.
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) signed a law allowing employers to refuse service to gay couples, the AP reports.
The bill also would allow people to not recognize the gender identity of transgender people.
Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver told CNN that he believes the Democratic primary fight will continue until the convention.
Said Weaver: “If you look at the math, if you want to talk about math, the truth is is that it is very, very, very unlikely that either candidate, either Secretary Clinton or Sen. Sanders, will go into the convention with a majority needed of pledged delegates in order to win.”
“Weaver acknowledged that while super delegates count toward the nomination, they don’t officially count until they vote at the convention.”
“Donald Trump’s campaign is increasingly falling into disarray as the Manhattan billionaire braces for a loss in Wisconsin that could set him on course for an uncertain convention floor fight for the Republican presidential nomination,” Politico reports.
“As the final stretch of this hard fought GOP primary bogs down into a delegate fight among party insiders and operatives that likely won’t be decided until the July convention in Cleveland, Trump’s singular star power appears to be no longer enough—and his campaign’s months-long lack of attention to other fundamentals is emerging as a hindrance to his ability to clinch the nomination outright.”
Rick Klein: “For a day, at least, your frontrunners are also your underdogs. Wisconsin has taken Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump off-message, if not off-track, in the most anticipated single primary since the first four voting states. The stakes are particularly high for Trump, with a setback at the virtual midpoint of voting poised to narrow his path to a majority of delegates.”
“Part of what’s striking is how much Trump has changed his tone in a state that’s threatening to humble him. Just in the last few days, he said it was a mistake to circulate an unflattering picture of Ted Cruz’s wife; cleaned up policy positions on abortion after giving contradictory answers; and has seemed to recognize his problems among women, bringing his own wife out with him on the trail. For most any candidate, such moves may hardly draw notice. Trump is not on an apology tour. But for a man who virtually never admits a mistake, Wisconsin is shaping up as a teaching opportunity – and has already impacted the course of the campaign.”
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (R) “made perhaps his most heartfelt apology yet on Monday, repeatedly asking the people of Alabama for forgiveness for the scandal that has engulfed his administration,” the Birmingham News reports.
Said Bentley: “I’ve asked God to forgive me because that’s the most important thing. I want back in His fellowship. And so I asked God to forgive me. But I asked other people to again forgive me and I’ve already done that and I have truly asked the people of this state – they’re the folks who love me and are the best people in the world – I have asked them to forgive me.”
The Fix: “But wait a minute. Forgive him for what? Bentley hasn’t ever admitted to the affair he has been accused of. “
First Read: “Here’s what does explain it — there is maybe no other state in the country where the conservative and progressive movements are so well organized, thanks to the political battles there over the past five years. Think about it: On the GOP side, there is perhaps no more successful state Republican party than there is in Wisconsin. And the Democratic side, while it hasn’t been as successful in these political fights, is turbo-charged and unfraid when it comes to ideology.”
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.