MORNING MESSAGE
If
Republicans go through with their promised obstruction, the dispute will be
incorporated into the fierce partisan rhetoric in this fall’s elections ... But,
suggestions that this will be a central issue in voters’ minds are overdone. ...
What the coming battle will do, however, is continue to politicize the Supreme
Court, exposing judicial decisions as political choices rather than legal ones.
Even as contention over social issues — civil rights, women’s rights, gay
marriage, LGBT rights — continues to rage, the new populist movements in both
parties will likely increasingly challenge the court for its corporatist
ideology and elitist composition.
DEMS DUEL IN NEVADA TOWN HALL
Sanders
knocks Bill Clinton’s welfare reform record at MSNBC/Telemundo town hall. W.
Post: “Sanders said among the differences he had with Clinton during the
1990s was ‘so-called welfare reform,’ which Sanders said had the effect of
‘scapegoating’ vulnerable people. ‘That legislation ended up increasing extreme
poverty,’ Sanders said during the forum…”
Candidates
pledge changes in immigration policy. W. Post: “Hillary Clinton on Thursday
pledged to repeal an immigration provision that blocks undocumented immigrant
from returning to the United States legally for a wait period of either three or
ten years … Sanders, when faced with the same question from the woman earlier in
the event, responded that he would work with Congress to address the issue.”
SANDERS HITS STRIDE IN NEVADA
Bernie
visit to Nevada in 2014 lit a spark. Politico: “The buzz generated by
Sanders’ initial sermon on economic inequality led to a second invite last year
— months before Sanders announced his presidential bid — when the Culinary Union
hosted the senator for another economic town hall event. The first gathering was
mainly attended by older, white progressive men, but the second event attracted
a more diverse crowd … ‘There was already a grassroots movement in place that
allowed them to hit the ground running,’ [the union’s political director, Yvanna
Cancela] said…”
Clinton
“firewall” threatened. NYT: “…dueling pep rallies pointed to how hotly
contested the race here has become — particularly among Latino voters … A
victory for Mrs. Clinton would not be as remarkable a feat as it would be for
Mr. Sanders, given her history in Nevada and months of hard preparatory work.
But a loss could raise concerns among Democrats about her viability.”
Charles
Koch agrees with Bernie Sanders in W. Post oped: “The senator is upset with
a political and economic system that is often rigged to help the privileged few
at the expense of everyone else, particularly the least advantaged … I agree
with him [though] I disagree with his desire to expand the federal government’s
control over people’s lives.”
Sanders
tops Clinton in one national poll, trails in another. W. Post: “Hillary
Clinton continues to lead Bernie Sanders by 11 points nationally [in the NBC/WSJ
poll]. Nothing shocking there, though it’s closer than it used to be … An hour
later, Fox News dropped a bombshell … Sanders has a 3-point lead…”
Sanders
wins endorsement from Nevadan African-American group. W. Post: “The Clark
County Black Caucus, an organization based in Nevada’s most populous
jurisdiction, announced its support Thursday for Sanders … saying the
endorsement of Sanders ‘wasn’t a very difficult decision.'”
Michael
Bloomberg teases run. NYT: “‘This really has been a race to the extremes,’
Mr. Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, said in remarks at his
philanthropic foundation … the current candidates ‘sense that America has lost
faith with its institutions.’ But ‘instead of trying to fix it,’ he added, the
candidates are ‘trying to exploit it.’ ‘The list of supposed villains we hear
about is long,’ Mr. Bloomberg said, but the solutions are ‘in short
supply.'”
KRUGMAN ESCALATeS WONK WAR AGAINST SANDERS
NYT’s
Paul Krugman accuses Sanders campaign of “fuzzy math.”: “…the [Prof. Gerald]
Friedman analysis has been highly praised by campaign officials … And the
analysis is really something … Friedman’s jobs projection … has the employed
share of American adults soaring all the way back to what it was in 2000 [but]
by 2026 more than a quarter of U.S. adults over 20 will be 65 and older,
compared with 17 percent in 2000. Sorry, but there’s just no way to justify this
stuff.”
TNR’s
David Dayen criticizes the anti-Sanders economists: “…his economic growth
numbers would simply eliminate the GDP gap that was created by the Great
Recession and was never filled in the subsequent years of slow growth—which
should be the goal of public policy, however ‘extreme’ it sounds … troubling is
how Democratic mainstream economists use these tactics to boot anyone not
preaching from the incrementalist gospel out of the serious club.”
TRUMP HIT HARD BEFORE SC FINISH
Buzzfeed
uncovers 2002 interview in which Donald Trump backs Iraq invasion: “In the
interview, which took place on Sept. 11, 2002, Stern asked Trump directly if he
was for invading Iraq. ‘Yeah I guess so,’ Trump responded. ‘I wish the first
time it was done correctly.’ … Trump, asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper at a town
hall on Thursday about the Stern interview, said, ‘I could have said that … When
you’re in the private sector, you get asked things, and you’re not a politician,
and probably the first time I was asked. By the time the war started, I was
against it.'”
Trump
tangles with Pope Francis. NYT: “After the pontiff’s remarkable contention
that Mr. Trump ‘is not Christian’ in proposing deportations and a wall with
Mexico, the candidate said Francis’ criticisms were ‘disgraceful’ … Mr. Trump’s
attack on Francis reflected a political calculation that criticizing the pope
would not hurt him with conservatives and might even improve his standing in
South Carolina…”
Trump
SC lead shrinks in NBC/Marist poll: “Donald Trump is now leading Saturday’s
South Carolina Republican primary by 5 points — down from his 16-point lead in
the state a month ago … Trump gets support from 28 percent … while Ted Cruz gets
23 percent. They’re followed by Marco Rubio at 15 percent, Jeb Bush at 13
percent, and John Kasich and Ben Carson at 9 percent each.”
Last
stand for Cruz and Bush? NYT: “South Carolina will render a brutal and
perhaps final verdict on Jeb Bush’s campaign if he does not at least finish
close to Senator Marco Rubio of Florida … Senator Ted Cruz of Texas will face
new questions [if] Donald J. Trump [cuts] into his support from evangelical
Christians.”
Candidates
attack Obama’s upcoming visit to Cuba. W. Post: “…the president will visit
Cuba in March in an attempt to bolster the controversial diplomatic deal [and]
meet with dissidents … [Cruz] tweeted in response … The President should be
advocating for a free Cuba!” … [Rubio] accused Obama of rewarding the Cuban
government’s tyranny.”
BIDEN SIGNALS "CONSENSUS" SCOTUS PICK
VP
Biden tells MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Obama will pick “consensus candidate” for
SCOTUS. W. Post quotes: “I think we ought to be able to find a consensus
candidate that meets that criteria. Because the Senate does have a right to have
a say in who — and what the philosophy of the nominee is. But they only get to
dispose. The president proposes.”
Pick
could come in three weeks, says Sen. Harry Reid reports The Hill.
Progressive
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