A poll out today shows Ted Cruz beating Donald Trump in Texas by a large margin and Trump beating Marco Rubio in Florida by a comparable margin. So as I understand the rules, this means Cruz is now the Republican nominee.
I’m not sure there’s any better example of how Donald Trump has disemboweled or perhaps lobotomized the GOP than having Mitt Romney be their lead on trying to taunt Trump into releasing his tax returns, warning that he knows about some deep dark secret Trump is hiding.
They don’t know what happened to them, who they are or what to do.
Despite epic anti-Trump rant, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is going down with the ship:
Asked whether he’d endorse the billionaire businessman if nominated, Graham said, “I’ve got a ticket on the Titanic. So I am like on the team that bought a ticket on the Titanic after we saw the movie. This is what happens if you nominate Trump.”
No law school! No bar exam! Just get elected to the Missouri General Assembly and after two years you’ll be a bona fide lawyer! No questions asked! You’ll also be automatically eligible to serve as a state judge!
If this cockamamie bill passes.
It’s been overshadowed by the Supreme Court fight, but this was the week when Senate Republicans began to realize that Donald Trump is their likely presidential nominee. As Lauren Fox reports, they are befuddled.
In desperate, cynical effort to lock down the critical asshole vote in his battle with Donald Trump, Ted Cruz is now personally blocking Flint water deal.
8:42 PM: What’s going to create a good deal of tension and perhaps awesomeness tonight is that Cruz and Rubio probably rightly believe that they can only avoid defeat by landing some sort of crushing knock out blow against Trump. Something as shattering as what Christie did to Rubio.
8:44 PM: I feel like the preying on people’s fears train has probably left the station.
8:46 PM: Hearing opening statements reminds me how desperately the GOP needed a solid candidate in this race to go up against Trump. Didn’t happen.
8:50 PM: Not even joking: Rubio’s mouth already dry.
8:53 PM: Rubio actually doing half way decent here.
9:04 PM: In this discussion about the wall, Trump is not only killing it with his core audience but he’s making it hard to remember that the other candidates are even on the stage.
9:06 PM: The Trump University thing is, I think, one thing that could really hurt Trump. But Rubes ain’t the guy to do it.
9:10 PM: Rubes totally dying here.
9:16 PM: I think Rubio and Cruz have landed some punches on whatever the Polish worker thing is and the ridiculously crooked Trump University but so far at least, I don’t think it’s nearly enough. Trump is still totally dominating the conversation.
9:20 PM: Yep, totally dominating.
9:21 PM: I’m not sure the moderator is going to win this debate over polling methodology with Donald Trump – not with his core audience.
9:25 PM: It’s amazing that we’re having a debate about Justice Roberts “approving Obamacare.”
9:26 PM: I feel like Ted and Hugh’s Federalist Society-speak conversation here basically goes over the heads or under the concern of the great majority of voters watching.
9:30 PM: “Millions of women are helped by Planned Parenthood.” Moments like that are hard to fully quantify or place with Trump. Cervical or breast cancer surveillance, well, yeah. Good point! But basically unspeakable in Republican debate. So I mean, give Trump some credit. Zero reason to say that in a GOP debate. But there it is.
9:33 PM: What is Ben Carson saying?
9:34 PM: Let’s just say it. Rubio looks nervous and a little scared.
9:37 PM: Trump coasting so effortlessly that he’s doing an impromptu comedy routine.
9:38 PM: Not that it’s going to matter but where did Trump get the idea that allowing people to purchase insurance over state lines was part of Obamacare until the last minute and then it got pulled? I mean, what?
9:42 PM: There’s actual a real policy issue that Kasich is talking about now – having transparency about pricing and outcomes. And one of the things Obamacare does is surface more of that information. It’s a real issue.
9:44 PM: I’m sorry but this intra-family risk pooling that Carson is talking about is perhaps the most ridiculous thing anyone has ever said.
9:46 PM: Cruz can’t alpha Trump. But at least he can stomp Wolf Blitzer.
9:49 PM: Cruz has managed to corner Trump into ceding the ‘die in the streets’ position to Cruz.
9:50 PM: This ‘dying in the streets’ debate is a good example of the way Republican elites managed to convince themselves that their middle class and working class supporters are laissez-faire free marketeers who want to cut their own Medicare. Cruz thinks he managed a huge coup by proving that he will let people “die in the streets” whereas Trump will not. Completely meaningless point in policy terms and one that makes him look stupid to basically everyone who’s not employed by a right-wing think tank in Washington. (And because Trump is saying it, everybody gets that we’re talking about white people.)
9:57 PM: Constant audits? Seems like kind of significant? What? (I think the moderators didn’t follow up on the audit thing because they were so floored they didn’t even know what to think.)
10:02 PM: “I haven’t even started on her.”
10:03 PM: Classic Trump: “Last week in Nevada, I beat him in a landslide. Hillary Clinton irk take a look at “USA today,” take a look at the Q poll, I beat her and beat her badly and I only had one little interchange and that was four weeks ago when she said I was sexist and believe me, they had a rough weekend that weekend between Bill and Hillary.”
10:11 PM: It’s disorienting when Trump says things that basically make a lot of sense.
10:15 PM: “One of the saddest things I’ve ever seen.”
10:16 PM: Rubio’s line about Israel-Palestine not being a real estate deal would be a good line if Rubio weren’t losing so badly.
10:18 PM: Interesting that the logic of Kasich’s argument here is that what President Obama is doing now is getting results with China and North Korea.
10:28 PM: All we have to see here is that Cruz and Rubio are lost in this conversation about who wrote a check to John Kerry and did he say something about Libya. They’re lost. None of this matters.
10:30 PM: “This guy is a choke artist and this guy is a liar.” … Rubio: Do you see how he’s being mean again?
10:35 PM: Cruz and Rubio doing so badly even Blitzer’s standing up to them.
10:36 PM: What Rubio just said makes no sense. Apparently doesn’t know what a backdoor is.
10:40 PM: I’m not sure the president is supposed to intervene in on-going Court cases.
10:41 PM: Interesting juxtaposition between three overlapping ridiculous ideas about border walls.