Violence Erupts In Trump Campaign
Attendee of Trump rally punches black man in the face. Politico: "'Yes, he deserved it. The next time we see him, we might have to kill him,' said John McGraw, 78, in an interview with 'Inside Edition' ... 'We don’t know who he is. He might be with a terrorist organization.'"
Trump campaign manager throws reporter to the ground. Politico: "Donald Trump's spokesperson flatly denied on Thursday that campaign manager Corey Lewandowski roughed up a reporter for the conservative website Breitbart, and suggested she was fabricating the incident in a desperate bid for attention. A roughly two and a half minute audio recording of the incident obtained by POLITICO — while not definitive — supports the reporter's version of the events..."
Trump university students pressured to give good ratings. NYT: "...hundreds of pages of legal documents, as well as interviews with former students and instructors, suggest the surveys themselves were a central component of a business model that, according to lawsuits and investigators, deceived consumers into handing over thousands of dollars with tantalizing promises of riches."
Trump Skates In Debate
Mellow Republican debate: "When challenged by his rivals on the debate stage Thursday, Trump brushed them back briefly, as though they weren't worthy of his response. It was a cautious performance from a candidate known for the exact opposite. None of the other final four contenders ... seemed especially eager to challenge him."
"Trump rivals try to blur the differences on trade. W. Post: "'My position has always been we want to have free trade, but fair trade,' said Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio). 'But we don't want to lock the doors and pull down the blinds and leave the world.' ... [Cruz] made a feint toward protectionism but then swung right into his free-market principles ... Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) took a similar tack."
Time explores why Trump's rivals didn't attack: "Marco Rubio’s restrained performance had its roots in regret [to] resorting to personal insults ... Cruz’s immediate goal is to let Trump winnow the field by winning Florida ... For Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a subdued debate was business as usual."
Trump turns right on health care. Politico: "...his language has changed — to boilerplate GOP ideas which date back to the Reagan administration. In the last few days, a batch of GOP establishment talking points have appeared on his website, lining up his radically anti-establishment campaign with mainstream Republican thinking on how to build a better health care system."
Hedrick Smith warns GOP not to dismiss populist uprising: "... with widespread alienation among the Republican rank-and-file, the GOP elite’s effort to excommunicate Trump may backfire. It may not only wind up splitting the Republican Party, as pundits now suggest, but it may further stoke the fires of class conflict within the Republican Party..."
Dems Fight For Florida
Bernie tells FL to ignore the polls. W. Post quotes: "What all of the pundits said, and what all of the media said, is Bernie Sanders and the political revolution can’t win in Michigan. Guess what? We won in Michigan.… if there is a large voter turnout ... we are going to win here in Florida.”
Bernie targets Latinos in 5-minute Spanish-language spot. The Atlantic: "The Spanish-language ad illuminates the challenges [a female farmworker] faces in trying to provide for her family. 'Voy a luchar mientras,' she says in Spanish: 'I will always fight.' About three-quarters of the way through, Sanders is shown speaking at a meeting of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, decrying the conditions at the farmworker’s field."
Obama on the Rise
Obama approval at 3-year high. Gallup: "President Barack Obama earned a 50% job approval rating for the week ending March 6, his highest weekly average since May 2013 ... Obama is doing significantly better than his most recent predecessor, George W. Bush, who had a 32% job approval rating in March 2008."
State dinner for Canada PM emphasizes climate crisis. NYT: "Mr. Obama and Mr. Trudeau also pledged to cooperate in preserving the Arctic, and to move more quickly to carry out agreements made in climate talks in Paris last year."
NYT on when Obama may nominate SCOTUS justice: "...many on Capitol Hill expect the announcement to come before the Senate breaks next week for two weeks into early April, allowing Democrats to press a new front in the nomination fight just as Senate Republicans return home to face questions about it. And they anticipate that Mr. Obama would make a decision before he leaves on what will be a high-profile trip to Cuba on March 21."
