Smart Politics reviewed the Republican delegate tracker counts at five prominent news outlets (AP, CBS, CNN, NBC, FiveThirtyEight) and found that none are identical, with disagreements in 11 state contests and no outlet agreeing on the delegate count for any of the top three candidates.
Trump Has Made Ryan’s Job Harder
Washington Post: “When he was drafted into the speaker’s chair four months ago, Ryan acknowledged the job would be difficult. But, thanks to Trump, it has become much worse than that. He has come to embody the party establishment’s existential conflict: deeply wary of Trump’s divisive antics but reluctant to reject him entirely.”
Sanders Wins In Maine
Democrats Debate in Michigan
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are debating in Flint, Michigan at 8 p.m. ET.
The New York Times has a good recap.
Bush Mulls Endorsement Before Florida Primary
A former Jeb Bush campaign official who asked not to be identified to speak more freely believes it’s a “possibility” Bush will endorse Marco Rubio, especially if Bush thinks it can “make a big difference and slow Trump down,” CNN reports.
Why Rubio Could Finish Third in Florida
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American Demagogue
David Remnick: “It was all so funny once. For a long time, Trump, with his twenty-four-karat skyscrapers, his interesting hair, and his extra-classy airline, was a leading feature of the New York egoscape. The editors of the satirical monthly Spy covered him with the same obsessive attention that Field & Stream pays to the rainbow trout.”
“No American demagogue––not Huey Long, not Joseph McCarthy, not George Wallace––has ever achieved such proximity to national power.”
Rubio Wins Puerto Rico
Sen. Marco Rubio will win the Republican primary in Puerto Rico, CNN projects.
“With nearly three-fourths of all votes on the island, according to early results, Rubio could top the 50% threshold required to win all 23 of Puerto Rico’s delegates.”
Why You May Not Like Ted Cruz’s Face
Neurologist Richard Cytowic told Quartz that the unusual movements of Sen. Ted Cruz’s face may make him seem less sincere to the human brain than other candidates.
Said Cytowic: “The normal way a face moves is what’s called the Duchenne smile, named after the 19th century French neurologist. So the mouth goes up, the eyes narrow and the eyes crinkle at the outside, forming crows feet. Cruz doesn’t give a Duchenne smile. His mouth goes in a tight line across or else it curves down in an anti-Duchenne smile. So he doesn’t come across as sincere at all.”
Trump Quote of the Day
“I would love to take on Ted one-on-one. That would be so much fun.”
— Donald Trump, quoted by Politico, on his desire for a two-man primary race with Sen. Ted Cruz.
Cruz Claims Media Sitting on Explosive Info on Trump
Sen. Ted Cruz claims that the media is waiting on explosive negative information about Donald Trump “with plans to run it later in the year to tear the candidate apart,” The Hill reports.
Said Cruz: “I think an awful lot of reporters — I can’t tell you how many media outlets I hear, you know, have this great exposé on Donald, on different aspects of his business dealings or his past, but they said, ‘You know what? We’re going to hold it to June or July.”
The Day the GOP Establishment Died
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Romney Opens the Door to Becoming GOP Nominee
Mitt Romney would not rule out becoming the Republican Party’s nominee in a NBC News interview.
Said Romney: “I don’t think anyone in our party should say, “Oh no, even if the people in the party wanted me to be the president I would say no to it.” No one’s going to say that.”
Kasich Bets Everything on a Contested Convention
Gov. John Kasich knows “his only road to the Republican presidential nomination runs through a contested GOP convention this summer, and he doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with that,” Politico reports.
Said Kasich: “What’s the big deal about that, other than it’s exciting? Think about how much education our kids are going to get, about the way in which we pick a president… I think it will be very cool.”
Romney Sees Trump as Likely Nominee
Mitt Romney admitted on CNN that Donald Trump is the “likely” nominee — but also hinted strongly that a contested convention is “a realistic scenario” that Republicans need to consider.
Trump Holds Big Lead in Michigan
A NBC News/Marist poll in Michigan finds Donald Trump way ahead with 41%, followed by Ted Cruz at 22%, Marco Rubio at 17% and John Kasich at 13%.
A CBS News poll finds Trump leading with 39%, followed by Cruz at 24%, Rubio at 16% and Kasich at 15%.
Both polls are wildly different than one from American Research Group released yesterday.
Clinton Up Big In Michigan
A CBS News poll in Michigan finds Hillary Clinton leading Bernie Sanders, 55% to 44%.
A NBC News/Marist poll finds Clinton leading Sanders, 57% to 40%.
Sanders Wins But Makes Up Little Ground
Sen. Bernie Sanders “stayed alive on Saturday, but it will take a dramatic reversal of political fortunes for him to overtake Hillary Clinton,” Politico reports.
“Sanders scored wins in the Kansas and Nebraska caucuses, riding support among the state’s largely white electorates to win by a comfortable margin in both states. But Clinton won overwhelmingly in Louisiana, with Sanders again unable to compete in a state with a large bloc of non-white voters.”
“The problem with a draw for Sanders, however, is that he started Saturday in a deep hole to Clinton, having secured 432 delegates to her 1,066. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination. On Saturday, 109 delegates were up for grabs, and given Clinton’s projected margin of victory in Louisiana, she and Sanders will take home similar shares of that total.”
