Thomas Frank Book Event in DC, March 18
RSVP for AFL-CIO-sponsored discussion of Thomas Frank's new book "Listen, Liberal": "Drawing on years of research and firsthand reporting, Frank asserts that the Democratic Party has done too little to advance traditional progressive goals like expanding opportunity, fighting for social justice and ensuring that workers get a fair deal. In this critical election year, Frank calls on Democrats to embrace their historic roots as a way to tackle massive inequality and fix our nation’s broken economic rules."
Michigan Looms Large
Michigan big prize today. NYT: "In Michigan and Mississippi, both parties will hold primaries. Republicans will also hold caucuses in Hawaii and a primary in Idaho. Michigan is a rich opportunity for Mr. Sanders: It’s a state where his populist message could resonate. Mrs. Clinton now leads Mr. Sanders in pledged delegates, and the map does not favor him going forward."
Hillary and Bernie survive Fox News town hall. Politico: "[Clinton] batted back the queries, repeating her standard lines on the email question while telling host Bret Baier the current situation in Libya is 'deeply regrettable,' but that the country would look like Syria without American intervention ... Baier asked Sanders to respond to Clinton’s debate-night claim that he opposed the auto bailout. 'Of course I voted in the one Senate vote where I had an opportunity to support the auto industry,' Sanders said. 'What I did not vote for was the bailout of Wall Street, and Secretary Clinton did vote for that.'"
Top Sanders donors urge him to stay in the race to the convention. Politico: "[Clinton would] like to begin the pivot to the general election. But the relatively small group of pro-Sanders millionaires doesn’t care. In their view, it’s crazy to concede now that the Vermont senator is beginning to string together wins in places as varied as Maine, Colorado and Oklahoma."
Trump Splits GOP
Republicans deeply divided over Trump in WP/ABC poll: "Trump maintains the support of 34 percent of registered Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, compared with 25 percent for Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas ... Only a bare majority (51 percent) of Republicans or Republican-leaning independents say they would be satisfied with the New York billionaire as their nominee..."
Trump or Cruz would help Democrats take Senate, says Roll Call's Stu Rothenberg: "[With] the deep division within the Republican Party, and the possibility of Trump or Cruz leading the national GOP ticket, and all – or at least almost all – of those [competitive Senate] races suddenly look much more uphill. In addition, states like North Carolina, Indiana, Missouri and Arizona look more interesting."
Cruz targets Rubio in Florida. Politico: "The aim: pull enough voters away from Rubio to ensure Donald Trump wins ... Doing that gives Trump a bigger lead in delegates, but it means Cruz has calculated he can catch up."
Romney records robocall for Rubio. NYT: "Offering Senator Marco Rubio of Florida a much-needed boost, if not an outright endorsement, Mitt Romney has recorded get-out-the-vote calls for Mr. Rubio’s presidential campaign that are being sent to voters in the four states voting on Tuesday ... [It's] less about helping Mr. Rubio than it is about sowing doubts regarding Donald J. Trump."
Latinos pursue citizenship to stop Trump. NYT: "...naturalization applications increased by 11 percent in the 2015 fiscal year over the year before, and jumped 14 percent during the six months ending in January ... applications could approach one million in 2016, about 200,000 more than the average in recent years. While naturalizations generally rise during presidential election years, Mr. Trump provided an extra boost this year..."
Kasich says he'll stay in to Ohio no matter what reports NYT.
Breakfast Sides
Senate Republicans shelve budget. NYT: "With the budget stalled in the House, Senator Michael B. Enzi ... announced on Monday that his panel would be putting off any action on a budget for at least this month and probably beyond ... not coming to an agreement when Republicans control the House and the Senate will be an embarrassment..."
"Supporting women includes opposing TPP" says Rep. Louise Slaughter in The Hill oped: "...something that has gone overlooked and under-discussed is the fact that the TPP will tie the United States to countries that do not value the rights of women."
