Dem Debate Tonight 9 PM ET on CNN
Debate tonight is "Bernie's Big Moment" says The Hill: "If the two-hour encounter goes well for Sanders, it could create more momentum ... On the other hand, a misfire could place a ceiling on his hopes..."
Sanders gets second congressional endorsement before first debate. W. Post: "Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) said Monday that he had decided to back Sanders, citing the 'massive crowds' he is drawing on the campaign trail, which Ellison argued are an indication that Sanders could drive up voter turnout."
Larry Lessig flirts with third-party candidacy. W. Post quotes: "If the party won’t allow me to run as a Democrat, that creates a lot of pressure to think about a different way of running that would allow me to make this case to the American people."
Clinton joins union rally outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. NYT quotes: "You have a right to safe working conditions, you have a right to a living wage, and you have to say yes to all of that and you have to say no to efforts to prevent you from organizing, and that means saying no to Donald Trump.”
Right Turns On Paul Ryan
Conservatives lobby to stop Rep. Paul Ryan from becoming Speaker. NYT: "He is being criticized on issues ranging from a 2008 vote to bail out large banks to his longstanding interest in immigration reform to his work on a bipartisan budget measure ... Lately, they have focused on Mr. Ryan’s enthusiastic support for free trade, traditionally a policy that has gotten broad Republican support but is now being used as a bat against him."
"Ryan freezes race for speaker" reports Politico: "...until he flatly rules it out, the other potential candidates for the chamber’s top job — a list nearly two dozen names long and growing — are forced to proceed gingerly."
Breakfast Sides
Sheldon Adelson may back Rubio, reports Politico: "A formal endorsement ... could come as soon as the end of the month ... The two men also have detailed policy discussions, especially about international affairs..."
Trump says he would eliminate the EPA and Education Department reports WSJ.
"Fixing America’s roads would essentially pay for itself" says Larry Summers in W. Post: "To be very conservative, assume that proper infrastructure investment policies would save motorists ... $54 billion a year ... it works out to 40 cents per gallon gasoline consumed in the United States. So if we were able to raise the gas tax by 40 cents and repair our highways and roads, we would create no new net burden on consumers ... since our cost estimate is conservative, the net effect on consumers would most likely be positive."
