Progressive Breakfast: Donald Trump Will Not Be President of the United States

MORNING MESSAGE

In a populist time, Trump’s bluster plays well ... But Trump’s appeal is distinctly limited. He’s insulted women, and his bigotry alienates black and Hispanic voters as well as anyone with a sense of decency ... In contrast, the populist challenger in the Democratic Party, Bernie Sanders, scores highest of all candidates among voters for favorability, honesty and integrity, caring about your needs, sharing your values ... Not surprisingly, he easily beats Trump in hypothetical presidential matchups, 48 to 42 percent.

CAN GOP SURVIVE TRUMP?

“Trump shatters the Republican Party” says Politico: “Suddenly, there are three strands of the Republicanism … Ted Cruz is the leader of the traditional conservative purists. Marco Rubio [leads] the once-dominant, now diminished, mainstream lane of the GOP. But it is Trump’s new alliance of angry populists that is ascendant … ‘Trump has gotten voters who are so angry that they are willing to put their ideological concerns aside,’ said Patrick Murray, a pollster at Monmouth University…”
Not a done deal, says Bloomberg’s Jonathan Bernstein: “It takes two things. The first one Republicans finally did, when party actors broke clearly for Marco Rubio this past week … The second part is to take Trump down. A myth has evolved that negative ads don’t work against Trump … We’re not talking about someone with 70 percent of the vote and an insurmountable lead…”
GOP donors “shy away” from taking on Trump. Politico: “The deepest-pocketed operation on the right, the network helmed by the billionaires Charles and David Koch, had seriously debated launching an aggressive assault on Trump, but … that’s now highly unlikely. And the Karl Rove-conceived Crossroads outfits also are sitting out the party’s bitter primary, instead spending their cash attacking Democrats..” (“Megawusses” says Krugman.)
Little overlap between Trump and Sanders voters. NYT’s Tom Edsall: “Both candidates have tapped into the frustration of those stuck on the middle and bottom rungs of the economic ladder … [But s]ix percent of all voters said they would consider voting for both men … supporters of Trump and Sanders oppose each other on three out of four of these moral values: care, proportionality, and loyalty/authority. They agree only on their support for liberty.”

DEMS MEET AT TOWN HALL

Clinton pressed on speech transcripts in CNN town hall. Mother Jones: “‘Will you agree to release these transcripts? They have become an issue,’ [Chris] Cuomo asked. ‘Sure, if everybody does it, and that includes the Republicans … Why is there one standard for me and not for everybody else, Chris?’ Clinton responded…”
Sanders rallies Virginia. USA Today: “… Sanders told a crowd of about 4,500 gathered at Scope Arena … that if they don’t get involved, ‘the big money interests will win.’ … Tuesday’s event marked another detour from the South Carolina campaign trail for Sanders … [He’s in] Missouri and Oklahoma on Wednesday and to Ohio on Thursday.”

REPUBLICANS WON'T CONSIDER SCOTUS NOM

Judiciary Committee Republicans refuse to hold any Supreme Court hearings, after Sen. McConnell clamps down dissent. The Hill: “McConnell gave potential dissenters little chance to gather momentum on Tuesday … He called the Republican members of the Judiciary panel into his office for a special meeting to make sure everyone was on the same page. [Then] the Judiciary Committee released a letter signed by all the Republican members of the panel recommending that no hearings be held this year.”
“Dems rage” reports The Hill: “‘Sen. McConnell is going to have to wear the collar for it. He has decided that his Republicans will not do their job. Our message to them is very, very clear. Three words: do your job,’ Durbin told reporters.”
Obama blogs at SCOTUSblog: “…as Senators prepare to fulfill their constitutional responsibility to consider the person I appoint, I hope they’ll move quickly to debate and then confirm this nominee so that the Court can continue to serve the American people at full strength.”

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