Ted Cruz talks with Lucas Marmolejos, 7, at a rally in Houston last night. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Good morning from Little Rock. Today’s 202 comes to you from the 501 area code. Ahead of next Tuesday’s SEC Primary, I’ve chosen Arkansas as the launching point for a five-day road trip around five Southern states.
THE BIG IDEA:
Ted Cruz still does not have a single colleague in the U.S. Senate supporting his campaign. Until yesterday, when Greg Abbott endorsed him in Texas, he didn’t have any sitting governors either.
But, as he scrambles to stop his Southern firewall from cracking apart on Super Tuesday, Cruz can count on the strong support of many state representatives and senators.
Here in Arkansas, the Cruz campaign unveiled endorsements from 18 Arkansas state legislators yesterday. Several had backed favorite son Mike Huckabee until he dropped out after the Iowa caucuses.
Cruz decided years ago to very intentionally build relationships with these relatively-unknown elected officials, believing they could be helpful to his national ambitions and knowing that he’d face strong opposition from the party establishment.
The investment has paid off. Across the so-called SEC Primary states that vote March 1, Cruz has been methodically touting his support from these legislators: 43 in Texas, 23 in Tennessee, 15 in Georgia and 12 in Oklahoma. The question now is whether these will lead to votes.
State Sen. Jason Rapert said he first “got to know the Cruz story” during a 2013 trip to Israel with the senator’s father, Rafael, and has been enamored since then. He recently sponsored a bill that will lead to the Ten Commandments going up on the grounds of the Arkansas capitol. He noted that this was possible only because Cruz successfully defended the constitutionality of Texas’ display as the state’s Solicitor General. “I truly believe he’s the closest thing we’ve had to a Ronald Reagan in my lifetime,” Rapert said during an interview in the capitol’s rotunda, with portraits of Huckabee and Bill Clinton hanging on the walls beside him.
The Republican governor, Asa Hutchinson, endorsed Marco Rubio on Monday after the Florida senator drew a crowd of 2,000 in Little Rock. Cruz’s endorsers argued that their support is more consequential because they go door-to-door, unlike the governor. State Rep. Rick Beck said lots of his neighbors have been calling him at home asking who he thinks they should vote for. Of the governor’s endorsement, state Rep. Bob Ballinger said: “I’m sure it helps him some, but in the end the voters are closest to the legislators.”
Until 2012, Democrats controlled both chambers of Arkansas’ legislature. Many of Cruz’s elected endorsers came in as part of the tea party wave that gave the GOP their majorities. State Sen. Linda Collins-Smith, who represents a rural area along the northeast border with Missouri, said she appreciates firsthand how hard it is to stand up to party leadership. “He’ll stand alone,” she said of Cruz. “I like that he’s willing to do that.” Added state Rep. Jack Ladyman, “I don’t believe he’ll ever compromise on his core beliefs.”
Cruz’s aggressive quest for endorsements has brought many controversial figures into his camp. His state chairman in Tennessee is an anti-Shariah Law activist who pushed a resolution in 2012 criticizing Republican Gov. Bill Haslam for having a Muslim employee. In Mississippi, Cruz has the support of Chris McDaniel, the state senator who challenged Thad Cochran in a 2014 primary. And, in South Carolina, Cruz named Lee Bright a co-chair of his campaign and then took heat over the state senator’s vehement support for continuing to fly the Confederate flag above the Capitol.
— For his part, Trump received his first congressional endorsements yesterday: He won the backing of Reps. Duncan Hunter (Calif.) and Chris Collins (N.Y.).
Donald Trump in Little Rock on Feb. 3. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
— Bigger picture, Arkansas is both a microcosm of the larger three-way GOP contest and a bellwether for Super Tuesday. Cruz, Rubio and Trump each have stops planned here this weekend. Rubio is going to Bentonville – the headquarters of WalMart – on Saturday and then coming back on Monday. Cruz has a big rally scheduled in Little Rock Saturday, and his backers on the ground say he plans to attend a church service in northwest Arkansas on Sunday morning.
Astute observers say Cruz does not have the state wired, but he does have a path to victory. It boils down to finding a way to win evangelicals again and making inroads with libertarians.Trump, who drew a characteristically huge crowd in Little Rock the night after the Iowa caucuses, does not have the level of organization across the state’s 75 counties that both Cruz and Rubio do. Neither does he have endorsements from elected officials. But that didn’t matter in South Carolina or Nevada.
The most likely outcome is that Trump, Cruz and Rubio will close to evenly divvy up the state’s 40 delegates.
The stakes are high for Cruz. Unlike the spin coming from the candidate and his top advisers, the elected officials supporting Cruz here freely acknowledge that they think he must win several states outright on Super Tuesday to stay viable. They say he cannot afford third place finishes in the region.
Cruz could be in trouble in his home state of Texas. He and Trump are tied at 32 percent each in a SurveyUSA poll published last night by the Dallas TV affiliate WFAA. Rubio pulled 17 percent.
In the story leading today’s print edition, Dan Balz and Philip Rucker quote a bunch of tip-top Republican strategists saying it will be FATAL for Cruz, Rubio or John Kasich if they lose their home state.
National Review reported last night that some of the conservative activists in a secretive cabal that voted to back Cruz are having second thoughts and will defect to Rubio if he fares poorly on Super Tuesday. There was a conference call Tuesday night to reevaluate whether they’re behind the wrong horse. Another call has been scheduled for next Wednesday morning, Tim Alberta reports.
Cruz will have a chance to get his groove back during a debate tonight in Houston from 8:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern on CNN/Telemundo. If Trump is going to be stopped, he needs to be put on the defensive. One of the problems with achieving that goal is that Cruz and Rubio have largely been focused on killing the other, so that they can become the main alternative to The Donald.
Speaking last night at a county party dinner in Houston, Cruz noted that it was the 180th anniversary of the Alamo. He then recited William Barret Travis’ “VICTORY OR DEATH” letter, which every school child in Texas learns growing up. “Today, just like the brave heroes of the Alamo, we are besieged by a government that is undermining our basic constitutional rights,” Cruz said. “And I believe now, just as in 1836, it will be the people of Texas who stand together and say: Enough is enough!”
Marco Rubio in Houston last night. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)
— After delicately avoiding direct attacks, Rubio went after Trump by name last night. At a late-night rally in Houston, he criticized “The Art of the Deal” author for suggesting he could solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and accused him of believing that “parts of Obamacare are pretty good.”
— Two history lessons that may give the Stop Trump forces, and specifically Rubio, hope:
Bill Clinton did not win any of the first four contests in 1992. His first outright victory, in Georgia, came on Super Tuesday.
Ronald Reagan lost the first six primaries in 1976 when he challenged then-President Gerald Ford. “The situation was so bleak in the Reagan camp that some aides were privately exploring jobs in Ford’s fall campaign,” Lou Cannon, who covered that campaign for The Post, writes on RealClearPolitics. “But Reagan did not quit. He won a North Carolina primary he’d been expected to lose and battled Ford all the way to the Republican National Convention in Kansas City, giving himself a flying head start for 1980.”
In a new commercial this morning, Rubio tries to claim the Reagan mantle:
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Welcome to the Daily 202, PowerPost’s morning newsletter.
With contributions from Breanne Deppisch (@b_deppy) and Elise Viebeck (@eliseviebeck)
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:
— Eight in 10 Hispanic voters have an unfavorable view of Trump, and 7 in 10 have a “very unfavorable” view of him – more than double the percentage of any other Republican candidate, according to a new Washington Post-Univision poll. The findings show the stark movement between now and June, when fewer than six in 10 Hispanics had a “very unfavorable” view of the businessman. Dan Balz and Scott Clement lay out the problem for Republicans if Trump wins the nomination. We measured the possible GOP contenders against Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders: “While all trail badly among Hispanics at this point, Trump does the worst — losing the Hispanic vote to Clinton by 73 to 16 percent. That 57-point gap is little changed from a 54-point deficit recorded last June, but is significantly wider than the 44-point margin by which former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney lost Hispanics four years ago and bigger than in any presidential exit poll since the 1970s.” A silver lining for the anybody-but-Trump crowd: “More than 6 in 10 Hispanic voters said Trump’s views on immigration are not representative of the Republican Party overall.” Meanwhile, in the Democratic horserace, Clinton leads Bernie 2-to-1 with Hispanic voters.
— In a brazen move to defy the Justice Department, Apple is working on security measures that could make it impossible for the government to break into a locked iPhone. (Ellen Nakashima and Todd C. Frankel)
— The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans issued an emergency order that abortion rights groups say will result in the closure of three of Louisiana’s four existing abortion clinics. The court said a 2014 state law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have special relationships with local hospitals may go into effect as a legal challenge against it works its way through the courts. In January, a lower court had temporarily blocked the law. (Sandhya Somashekhar)
— Two adults and a two-year-old child were killed when a tornado touched down in southeastern Virginia. The same storm caused more than 10,000 homes and businesses in the D.C. area to lose power.
GET SMART FAST:
The 25 people who occupied the Oregon wildlife refuge pleaded not guilty to blocking federal government officials from performing their duties.They each face up to six years in prison. (Mark Berman and Leah Sottile)
A bipartisan group of senators reached a deal to funnel funding to Flint, Mich., and other cities with aging lead pipes. “The agreement includes $70 million in credit subsidies for water infrastructure projects, $100 million for subsidized loans and grants to help states with spoiled water supplies and $50 million for public health programs.” (Kelsey Snell)
President Obama will nominate Carla Hayden, an African-American woman, to be the 14th Librarian of Congress. “Hayden is the chief executive of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, a job she has had for 22 years. She drew praise and criticism for her decision to keep the library open during last year’s protests over the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody. (Peggy McGlone)
The felony prosecution of Rick Perry has ended after the state’s highest criminal court dismissed an abuse-of-power indictment. (AP)
Republicans applauded a decision by Attorney General Loretta Lynch to keep immigrants slated for deportation in federal custody rather than return them to state custody, including sanctuary cities. (Politico)
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) has a “mild” form of prostate cancer for which he’s being treated. He said he doesn’t expect the treatment to interfere with his job. ( Philly.com)
A lawyer for Kennedy relative Michael Skakel says that his client “did not get a fair shake” during his 2002 trial for murdering Martha Moxley. Skakel was convicted and served 11 years of a 20-year sentence before being released in 2013 when a judge ruled he did not receive an adequate defense. State prosecutors want his conviction reinstated, and there was a hearing yesterday. (The New York Times)
Baquer Namazi, the father of an Iranian-American imprisoned by Iran, was himself taken into custody by the regime. The 80-year-old is an American citizen and may have been taken to the country’s notorious Evin Prison, where his son has been held since October. (The New York Times)
Stanford received a $400 million gift from Nike co-founder Phil Knight. The university already has a $22 billion endowment and is again the most selective school in the country, admitting a lower percentage of applicants than Harvard, Princeton or Yale. (Danielle Douglas-Gabriel)
Researchers in Houston announced that they have developed the first hospital-based, rapid diagnostic test for Zika, an advance that they said should help public health officials identify if — or, more likely, when — infected mosquitoes reach the United States this summer. (Ariana Eunjung Cha)
A pro-Trump robocall delivered to Minnesota and Vermont voters is urging them not to vote for a “Cuban” like Rubio or Cruz. The calls are being made by the American National PAC, which is led by white nationalist Daniel Johnson. “The white race is dying out in America and Europe because we are afraid to be called ‘racist,'” the call said. “I am afraid to be called racist. Donald Trump is not a racist, but Donald Trump is not afraid. Don’t vote for a Cuban. Vote for Donald Trump.” Trump has previously disavowed the PAC. (The Daily Beast)
SCALIA SUCCESSION FIGHT:
Brian Sandoval at the National Governors Association meeting in D.C. on Saturday. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
— The White House is considering a Republican governor from a swing state — Nevada’s Brian Sandoval — to replace the late Antonin Scalia, Mike DeBonis and Juliet Eilperin scooped. Though he says he isn’t the one “pushing” Sandoval, retiring Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) — who has a friendly relationship with Sandoval — says he would support the governor if nominated. (The two met at the Capitol Monday while Sandoval attended the NGA meeting in Washington). But Senate Republicans — who have vowed to block consideration of anyone Obama nominates — said a Sandoval nomination wouldn’t change their thinking. “This is not about the personality,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas).
— This will almost certainly NOT happen, for many reasons, but such a move would put more moderate Senate Republicans up for reelection in a bind. And even floating a Republican makes it harder for Republicans to defend not taking meetings with the president or granting a hearing. Independent voters would be more receptive to Democratic arguments that Republicans are simply being obstructionists. As Mike and Juliet reported: “This is one reason why I have not wanted to shut the door on considering a nominee,” said Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), one of two Senate Republicans who is at least open to a confirmation hearing. “We may well be sent a nominee who is deserving of thorough vetting and consideration.” (Elise Viebeck profiles the governor here.)
– Meanwhile: “Justice Scalia spent his last hours with members of this secretive society of elite hunters,” by Amy Brittain and Sari Horwitz: “When Justice Antonin Scalia died 12 days ago at a West Texas ranch, he was among high-ranking members of an exclusive fraternity for hunters called the International Order of St. Hubertus, an Austrian society that dates back to the 1600s … Members of the worldwide, male-only society wear dark-green robes emblazoned with a large cross and the motto “Deum Diligite Animalia Diligentes,” which means “Honoring God by honoring His creatures,” according to the group’s website. Some hold titles, such as Grand Master, Prior and Knight Grand Officer. The Order’s name is in honor of Hubert, the patron saint of hunters and fishermen.”
— “Scalia’s traveling companion in Texas was a prominent Washington lawyer,” by Jerry Markon: “C. Allen Foster had been the subject of mystery in the days after Scalia’s body was found Feb. 13 inside a ranch bedroom. Authorities said Scalia had traveled to the luxury Cibolo Creek Ranch with a friend but they repeatedly declined to identify him … Foster, a 74-year-old Louisiana native, is a prominent lawyer in Washington. In 1993, he went before the Supreme Court to argue a case on behalf of Hispanic Republicans in Florida who said the state’s reapportionment plan diluted their voting strength. During the argument, Scalia didn’t spare Foster, asking him tough questions he was known for flinging at lawyers from the bench.”
— Some are speculating that the unplugged breathing device at Scalia’s bedside the night of his death could have contributed to his death because he had sleep apnea. (Ariana Eunjung Cha)
MORE ON THE DEMOCRATIC RACE:
— Bill Clinton stumped for his wife at Virginia’s Hippodrome Theatre in Richmond’s Jackson-Ward neighborhood, once known as the “Harlem of the South.” It was a mostly African-American audience and the former president keyed in on issues important to the black community like police brutality, criminal justice reform and voting rights. Polls show Bernie within 12 points of Hillary in Virginia, which holds its primary on Super Tuesday. (Patricia Sullivan and Jenna Portnoy)
— Bernie drew more than 9,000 to a rally in Tulsa, and 2,500 were turned away. (Oklahoma votes Tuesday.) An earlier rally in Kansas City, Mo., lured 7,500. (John Wagner)
— Harry Reid endorsed Hillary and plans on campaigning with her. (Anne Gearan)
— Speaking at a historically black college in Sumter, S.C., Clinton called it “deeply disrespectful” that Senate Republicans are refusing to consider Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court. (Anne Gearan)
South Carolina voters listen to Hillary speak yesterday at a town hall in Sumter, S.C. (Photo by Melina Mara/The Washington Post)
WAPO HIGHLIGHTS:
A Russian missile cruiser on patrol in the eastern Mediterranean. (Vadim Savitsky/Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
— “Three days before a planned cease-fire in Syria, there is widespread uncertainty over how it will be implemented and monitored, and what is likely to happen if it does not hold,” Karen DeYoung reports. “Russia and the United States are preparing by Friday to exchange maps delineating their separate assessments of where the Islamic State and al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra are located in Syria. Both groups are excluded from the cease-fire and an end to Russian bombing. The two governments will also provide each other with lists of combatant organizations on each side that have agreed to observe what a U.S.-Russia agreement calls a ‘cessation of hostilities,’ senior U.S. officials said. Many within the Obama administration, particularly in the Pentagon, deeply mistrust Moscow’s intentions. The White House, in a series of high-level meetings in the past two weeks, has requested military and other options in the event the deal collapses.”
— “The billion-dollar question: With Trump’s surge, will Bloomberg run?” by Paul Schwartzman: “Looming over the deliberations is the question of which party a Bloomberg candidacy would hurt more. With polls suggesting that Bloomberg would draw more Democratic than Republican voters, it makes little sense that Trump’s surge would prompt the former mayor to run. That said, Bloomberg’s viability may be strengthened if Clinton is damaged by a drawn-out nomination process … On a logistical level, Bloomberg’s campaign would need to quickly assemble an army to gather more than 900,000 signatures needed to qualify for the ballots in all 50 states, with a parade of rolling deadlines beginning this spring.”
— “How a well-timed hug stands as a defining moment in a season of vitriol.” Stephanie McCrummen talked to 21-year-old Brett Smith about the hug he received last week from Ohio Gov. John Kasich after sharing that a friend had committed suicide, his parents divorced and his dad lost his job. Smith was stunned by the viral reaction to the moment: “As he struggled to pull out of a deep depression, he found a welcome distraction in the presidential election playing out on the cable TV news shows. He never missed debate nights, which was when an answer Kasich had given struck him — that opposing gay marriage did not mean you couldn’t love gay people. Smith began paying closer attention to the candidate who often spoke of the need for Americans to slow down and show compassion. He tried to get a job with the campaign, which never responded. He tried to get a job with Kasich’s super PAC, which didn’t work out, either. So when he found out Kasich was going to be speaking an hour away, he went.” Watch the moment below:
SOCIAL MEDIA SPEED READ:
— Mitt Romney predicted that there is a “bombshell” in Trump’s tax returns and slammed the wealthy businessman for refusing to disclose his filings. “I think we have good reason to believe that there’s a bombshell … I think there is something there,” Romney said on Fox News. “The reason I think there is a bombshell in there is because every time he is asked about his taxes, he dodges and delays.” The 2012 GOP standard bearer, whose own taxes became a big issue in that campaign after he dodged and delayed, said: “There are things that could be issues, and when people decide they don’t want to give you their taxes, it’s usually because there’s something they don’t want you to see.” (Jose A. Del Real)
Trump quickly fired back:
Mitt Romney,who totally blew an election that should have been won and whose tax returns made him look like a fool, is now playing tough guy
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2016
When Mitt Romney asked me for my endorsement last time around, he was so awkward and goofy that we all should have known he could not win!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2016
Kanye West is thinking about freedom:
What is your definition of true freedom? There is no true freedom without economic freedom.
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 24, 2016
Paul Ryan had this reply:
Good point. https://t.co/NbuYiIhu1p
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) February 24, 2016
There’s nothing like a Bernie Sanders action figure:
This exists. pic.twitter.com/Z9TjEUc8ev
— Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) February 24, 2016
The Clinton campaign shared a more somber moment:
Back to Trump, he’s acting even more confident:
When Ted Cruz quits the race and the field begins to clear, I will get most of his votes – no problem!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2016
Trump performed well at Regent University, Pat Robertson’s school:
Nothing but admiration for Trump in this highly evangelical crown. Lots of applause lines, very warm reception.
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 24, 2016
Looks like Trump is sponsoring sock puppet Twitter accounts to boost his hype:
It appears Trump campaign created spam accounts with Latino names who all tweeted exact same thing in past 2 minutes pic.twitter.com/wHacPOK3qM
— Niraj Warikoo (@nwarikoo) February 24, 2016
@pourmecoffee unearthed old Trump tweets about Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson:
Now’s a good time to note the GOP is about to nominate someone who got really mad about Kristen Stewart cheating pic.twitter.com/IgNzywryyn
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) February 24, 2016
Meanwhile, Rubio is now calling Trump his main rival:
Rubio fundraising email – “Marco’s main rival now, Donald Trump…” pic.twitter.com/PWcvF9QOJj
— Betsy Klein (@betsy_klein) February 24, 2016
Cruz was happy to be back in Texas:
From NPR’s legal affairs reporter:
#SCOTUS sources say Cruz asked to sit w Scalia clerks @ funeral. They said no. Then GOP leadership said no bc he wasn’t 1 of them either.
— Nina Totenberg (@NinaTotenberg) February 24, 2016
Madeleine Albright phone banked for HRC:
In Houston, @madeleine is calling some Texans to urge them to vote early for @HillaryClinton! #GOTV #MarchMatters pic.twitter.com/EkQJNemsef
— Ian Sams (@IanSams) February 24, 2016
It was a grey day on Capitol Hill:
Today in #DC.
A photo posted by Emanuel Cleaver, II (@repcleaver) on Feb 24, 2016 at 11:16am PST
Kevin McCarthy wished Frank Luntz a happy birthday:
Sean Duffy took a coffee break ahead of a CNN hit:
In honor of her 3500th show, Greta Van Susteren remembered eating moose chili with Sarah Palin in Alaska:
Mitch McConnell congratulated her:
Congratulations to @Greta, one of the hardest-working interviewers there is, on her 3500th show. #Greta3500
— Leader McConnell (@SenateMajLdr) February 24, 2016
GOOD READS FROM ELSEWHERE:
Paul Ryan bows his head in prayer during a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony to honor “the Foot Soldiers of the 1965 Voting Rights Marches” at the Capitol yesterday. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
— New York Times, “Republican race puts Trump, Ryan on collision course,” by Jennifer Steinhauer: “Panicked Republicans question whether Mr. Trump will be able to unite a Republican-controlled Congress that would normally be expected to promote and promulgate his agenda, an internal crisis nearly unheard-of in a generation of American politics. On nearly every significant issue, Mr. Trump stands in opposition to Republican orthodoxy and his party’s policy prescriptions — the very ideas that Mr. Ryan has done more than anyone else to form, refine or promote over the last decade.” If Trump wins the GOP nod, “he will become the titular head of the Republican Party, and lawmakers like Mr. Ryan will be expected to fall in line for the balance of the campaign. It is something that many in the party think may be impossible.” As always, the best quote comes from Lindsey Graham: “You’re hitting on a very big problem, which is that Trump is not a Republican. I have no idea how we reconcile a Trump agenda with a Republican agenda. How do we write a platform?”
— The Associated Press, “Rubio pushed for land deal as he backed law limiting critics,” by Chad Day, Jack Gillum, and Julie Pace: “Rubio stood before Miami-Dade County officials in May 2002 and pushed them to permit a multimillion-dollar industrial development to be built on restricted land near the Florida Everglades. Two months earlier, Rubio — a rising Republican star in the state Legislature — backed a law that made it harder for people to challenge the kinds of developments he advocated for as a private attorney. Around the same period, Rubio also requested state money to be earmarked to benefit a flood-prone area around the development project … Todd Harris, a senior adviser for Rubio’s presidential campaign, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Rubio never lobbied in the traditional sense because that was illegal under state law. But Harris said the part-time nature of Florida’s Legislature meant that ‘virtually every legislator makes their living from outside employment.’”
— The New Yorker, “The Rubio and Cruz delusion,” by Ryan Lizza: “In Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, Trump’s opponents could credibly argue that beating expectations, but not beating Trump, was a kind of victory. Rubio’s surge to third place late in the Iowa campaign was meaningful. John Kasich’s surprising second-place finish in New Hampshire was impressive. Even Rubio’s bounce back in South Carolina, after his dismal debate performance and fifth-place showing in New Hampshire, suggested that perhaps he would emerge as Trump’s main alternative. But, in Nevada, Trump exposed Rubio, Cruz, and Kasich as paper tigers. Trump’s share of the vote grew by more than thirteen points over his South Carolina margin, and he won almost every demographic and ideological subset of the electorate.”
— Daily Beast, “Requiem for a Republican autopsy,” by Betsy Woodruff: “In early 2013—which now seems about as long ago as 1913—the Republican National Committee brought together a brain trust of party elders to figure out what had gone wrong. Barack Obama had just throttled Mitt Romney, the party lost ground in the Senate, and voters who weren’t in the Old Christian White Man demographic seemed increasingly uninterested in buying what the GOP was selling … Fast-forward three years, and the [autopsy] report has become a fascinating historical document—a failed prophecy of what could have been, a window into an alternate universe that never came to be, and a testament to just how totally clueless Republican Party leaders were at the time about the political dynamics that would shape 2016. Trump might as well have read this document and done the exact opposite of what it said.”
— The New Republic, “How Cruz lost the evangelical vote,” by Elizabeth Bruenig: “If the Cruz campaign was still hoping, up until Tuesday night, that evangelicals would emerge en masse behind him, they’re now likely rethinking their game plans. While polling did reveal higher-than-usual evangelical turnout in Nevada, those voters hardly united behind Cruz, who finished both third overall and third among evangelicals, taking only 23 percent of the evangelical vote to Trump’s 40 and Marco Rubio’s 26 … While evangelicals tend to vote as a solid Republican bloc in general elections, there are (as with any religious group) distinctions within their ranks. And while Cruz might have shaped his message to appeal to a particular subset of evangelicals, that portion simply hasn’t shown itself to be large enough to deliver on Cruz’s hopes for an evangelical blowout.”
HOT ON THE LEFT
Abortion clinics are closing at a record pace. From Bloomberg: “Abortion access in the U.S. has been vanishing at the fastest annual pace on record, propelled by Republican state lawmakers’ push to legislate the industry out of existence. Since 2011, at least 162 abortion providers have shut or stopped offering the procedure, while just 21 opened … Texas, which in 2013 passed sweeping clinic regulations that are under scrutiny by the Supreme Court, saw the most [closures]: at least 30.”
HOT ON THE RIGHT
The #FreeStacy Twitter exodus has begun. From the Federalist: Twitter suspended the Twitter account of “ardent anti-feminist Robert Stacy McCain … In response, actor Adam Baldwin — an extremely popular Twitter user with nearly a quarter of a million followers — tweeted one final time, deleted the rest of his nearly 10,000 tweets, and quit Twitter for good. A short while later, Ace of Spades — the Frank Lloyd Wright of conservative Twitter rants — signaled that he, too, intends to more or less abandon Twitter.”
DAYBOOK:
On the campaign trail: Republican candidates debate in Houston. Hillary Clinton is in Kingstree, Florence, Myrtle Beach and North Charleston, S.C. Bernie Sanders is in Flint, Mich., Chicago and the Cleveland area.
At the White House: President Obama participates in a panel discussion as part of the White House Precision Medicine Initiative, holds a meeting with his National Security Council and delivers a related statement. Vice President Biden is in Mexico City for the U.S.-Mexico High-Level Economic Dialog.
On Capitol Hill: The Senate meets at 9:30 a.m. At 1:45 p.m., the Senate proceeds to consideration of a resolution related to the death of Antonin Scalia. The House meets at 12 p.m. for legislative business, with votes on the Fraudulent Joinder Prevention Act scheduled for between 2:45 and 3:45 p.m.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“You’re hitting on a very big problem, which is that Trump is not a Republican,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). “I have no idea how we reconcile a Trump agenda with a Republican agenda. How do we write a platform?”
NEWS YOU CAN USE IF YOU LIVE IN D.C.:
— “Wednesday’s warmth exits emphatically with non-stop gusty winds over the next couple of days and falling temperatures. Spring is not to be denied though, as we are likely to have a pretty good stint of warmer than normal weather Sunday into next week,” the Capital Weather Gang reports.
— An alarming assault on transparency: The Virginia General Assembly is considering a bill that would keep the identities of police officers secret by classifying their names as “personnel records,” thus exempting them from FOIA requests. (Tom Jackman)
— Metro will spend $120 million to bring cellphone service to underground tunnels. ( Paul Duggan)
— The shooting that wounded a man aboard a Metro train in Anacostia Tuesday occurred after the victim tried to retrieve money taken during a robbery. (Peter Hermann)
— A Maryland Senate committee approved a bill imposing stiffer fines for adults who provide alcoholic beverages to underage kids. Adults would receive sentences of “up to one year and/or a fine of up to $5,000 for first offense. They would receive two years of incarceration and/or a $7,500 fine for a second or subsequent offense.” (Ovetta Wiggins)
— The Caps lost to the Canadiens 4-3.
— The Wizards lost to the Bulls 101-94.
VIDEOS OF THE DAY:
Meet Nevada governor Brian Sandoval:
Akon praised the Nation of Islam for offering protection to Beyonce, who has been under fire from critics who say her Super Bowl performance went after the police:
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Trump said he would pick a political insider as his vice president but declined to float names:
Another Rubio surrogate, Rep. Cresent Hardy (R-Nev.), struggled to answer a question about what he’s actually accomplished in the Senate:
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The White House released another clip of the 106-year-old woman who hung out with the Obamas:
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Bill and Melinda Gates talked about superpowers on the Tonight Show:
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Clinton released an ad about Flint:
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