The Commentariat -- March 7, 2016

Lou Cannon of the New York Times: "Nancy Reagan, the influential and stylish wife of the 40th president of the United States who unabashedly put Ronald Reagan at the center of her life but became a political figure in her own right, died on Sunday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 94." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ... ...

... Nancy Reagan's Los Angeles Times obituary, by Elaine Woo, is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Presidential Race

Rebecca Traister of New York looks forward to a Clinton-Trump general election: "It's hard to imagine there are many voters who are really undecided between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The Clinton supporters want a president to be competent, capable, to understand how to work the levers of political power. The Trump supporters want a president to give jeering voice to their fury, a character through whom they might vent their frustration.... The contest will really come down to who can persuade more of their deeply divided constituencies to come to the polls. And this is the dynamic that should give Democrats chills; because the carnival barker's job is knowing how to draw a crowd." ...

... CW: Still, unless all the rational voters sit this one out, it's hard for me to believe that "undecideds" will decide they want a vulgar, name-calling, bigoted, unstable bully ostensibly running the country.

Todd Spangler & Kathleen Gray of the Detroit Free Press: "With Michigan issues consuming much of the back and forth in a spirited debate Sunday night between the Democratic presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton surprised rival Bernie Sanders by accusing him of failing to support the 2009 auto rescue and joined him in calling for Republican Gov. Rick Snyder to resign or be recalled as a result of the Flint water crisis." ...

... Anne Gearan & Abby Phillip of the Washington Post: "The session included the sharpest exchange yet between the Democratic presidential candidates over their economic plans and records. It included a heated argument over the auto industry bailout...." ...

     ... CW: Clinton clearly got the better of Sanders in the exchange; besides Bernie's rudeness, his argument on the substance was wrong. Although the government did lose money on the auto bailout ($9.3BB) part of TARP, that bailout arguably saved millions of auto industry jobs, thus "making" more than $100BB in industry-related worker-paid taxes. So a big net gain. I'm looking for Krugman to have more to say on this. Clinton cast the right vote on TARP; Sanders did not. That's a problem.

Hillary Clinton & Bernie Sanders debate at 8:00 pm ET Sunday night in Flint, Michigan. Noah Weiland of Politico: "CNN hosts and plans to distribute half a million water bottles to four locations around town before the debate." ...

... New York Times reporters are liveblogging the debate.

Maine Democratic Caucuses

The Washington Post has projected Bernie Sanders to be the winner of the state's caucuses, with 74 percent of precincts reporting. Sanders currently has about 64 percent of the vote; Clinton has 36 percent. ...

... Manuel Tobias of Politico: "Bernie Sanders has won the Democratic caucuses in Maine, according to the Associated Press. The Vermont senator's victory is his third of the weekend, along with wins in Kansas and Nebraska on Saturday, and his eighth state overall." ...

... Kevin Miller of the Portland Press Herald: "U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders won Maine's Democratic presidential caucuses Sunday, defeating Hillary Clinton by a large margin on a day that saw unprecedented turnout statewide. But waits as long as four hours in Portland prompted one Democratic leader to suggest it's time for Maine to replace caucuses with primaries.... Democratic officials estimated that 46,800 people participated in Sunday's caucuses held at more than 400 locations around the state, beating the previous record of roughly 44,000 participants in 2008. The Democratic turnout also dwarfed the 18,650 Republicans who participated in that party's Maine caucuses one day earlier." ...

... Jonathan Swan of the Hill: "Bernie Sanders wheeled out an endorsement of his presidential bid from one of Flint's celebrated political sons just before Sunday night's Democratic debate in that Michigan city plagued by a toxic water crisis. Don W. Riegle Jr., who served in the House and Senate over his career, endorsed Sanders in a press conference held about an hour before the CNN debate between Sanders and presidential rival Hillary Clinton in Flint, Mich. "[Sanders] stands head and shoulders above all the other candidates in either party," Riegle said.... Riegle, who grew up in Flint, used the press conference to attack Bill and Hillary Clinton, saying their policies were bad for his hometown. Former President Clinton's policies 'destroyed the Flint I loved,' Riegle reportedly said."

The Angst of the Elite. Jonathan Chait: "The secret fear lying beneath Rubio's accurate depiction of Trump as a 'con artist' is that Republican voters are easy marks. The Republican Party is constructed as a machine: Into one end are fed the atavistic fears of the white working class as grist, and out the other end pops The Wall Street Journal editorial-page agenda as the finished product. Trump has shown movement conservatives how terrifyingly rickety that machine is and how easily it can be seized from them by a demagogue and repurposed toward some other goal."

Ashley Parker of the New York Times: "Senator Marco Rubio of Florida won the Puerto Rico primary on Sunday, The Associated Press reported, giving him a much-needed victory after a string of losses that threatened to push the Republican presidential nomination further out of his reach." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Maybe that's because Marco is such a good friend to Puerto Rico. Also from Parker's report: "Puerto Rico is embroiled in a debt crisis, with the territory facing a deficit of more than $70 billion. Mr. Rubio took a tough line on the matter in Congress, urging Puerto Rico to focus on improving its economy and fixing its troubled fiscal situation rather than seeking bankruptcy protection."

... Ed O'Keefe, et al., of the Washington Post: "Party leaders, donors and other supporters of Rubio portray a political operation that continues to come up short in its message, in its attention to the fundamentals of campaigning and in its use of a promising politician. The failures have all but doomed Rubio's chances of securing the GOP nomination, leaving him far behind Trump and Cruz in both delegates and states won." CW: Also, could have something to do with the fact that Marco is an obnoxious, preening pipsqueak. But I'd still vote for him for class president if Trump, Fiorina & Cruz were his opponents. ...

... The Smug Factor. James Poulos of the Week says it better: "... Rubio proved that there's something much worse in this populist season than being born on third and thinking you just hit a triple. However subliminal, his sense of upwardly mobile entitlement was weirdly off-putting and perversely reminiscent of the entitled yes-kid who thinks he should get what he wants because he knows exactly how to give his teachers and school administrators exactly what they want. Rather than embodying the 20th-century Republican story of increase earned through luck and pluck, he became an avatar of the 21st-century striver whose stock in trade is his special snowflakehood."

Matt Flegenheimer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Republicans hoping to halt Donald J. Trump's march to their party's presidential nomination emerged from the weekend's voting contests newly emboldened by Mr. Trump's uneven electoral performance and by some nascent signs that he may be peaking with voters. Outside groups are moving to deploy more than $10 million in new attack ads across Florida and millions more in Illinois, casting Mr. Trump as a liberal, a huckster and a draft dodger. Mr. Trump's reed-thin organization appears to be catching up with him, suggesting he could be at a disadvantage if he is forced into a protracted slog for delegates."

Forgot to post this yesterday morning. SNL does a pretty good job in capturing the essence of last week's presidential primary races:

** "American Demagogue." David Remnick of the New Yorker: "As early as 1988, Trump hinted at a run for the White House, though this was understood to be part of his carny shtick, another form of self-branding in the celebrity-mad culture. And now here we are.... Pull the camera back, and Trump can be viewed as part of a deadly serious wave of authoritarians and xenophobes who have come to power in Russia, Poland, and Hungary.... The Republican Party, having spent years courting the basest impulses in American political culture, now sees the writing on the wall. It reads 'Donald Trump,' in very big letters."

... This SNL-produced ad features Donald Trump voters at their best. Hey, it's who they are:

Ted Cruz? An inspiration to every kid in America who worries that he'll never be able to run for president because nobody likes him. He's running. -- Joe Biden, at the Gridiron dinner Saturday

(... Here are a few more jokes made at the Gridiron dinner. The link above includes many of Vice President Biden's remarks.)

Isaac Chotiner of Slate: "Ted Cruz's twin victories on Saturday night in Maine and Kansas -- coupled with his strong second-place finishes in Louisiana and Kentucky -- likely mean he will emerge as the long-discussed, as-yet-unglimpsed 'non-Trump' Republican contender.... But Cruz's excellent night is also good news for Donald Trump. Cruz will not only have more trouble solidifying an anti-Trump coalition than Rubio -- or at least a better version of Rubio -- would have. Cruz's success may also mean that the GOP establishment, which despises the Texas senator, will not go all out to stop Trump.... Rubio's campaign ... is almost dead...." ...

... It's a Media Conspiracy! Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) said on Sunday that the media is sitting on explosive negative information about front-runner Donald Trump with plans to run it later in the year to tear the candidate apart.... Cruz called out the media, saying one of the reasons they want Trump to be the eventual nominee is because they know he can't beat Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton. 'Hillary would wallop him,' Cruz said." CW: The idea here is that the media are holding back reports on Trump, which they'll wait to dump until after he's the nominee, to make sure Clinton's general election opponent is the weakest GOP candidate. I guess the media cabal is run by some real dopes; they should have been boosting Bobby Jindal or Jim Gilmore. Those guys are really duds.

Rebecca Savransky: "Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsed Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Sunday via Snapchat and at a rally."

Callum Borchers of the Washington Post: Mitt Romney is "leaving the door open -- just a crack -- to the possibility of being drafted by his party at a contested convention in July. 'I don't think anyone in our party should say, "Oh no, even if the people in the party wanted me to be the president, I would say no to it,'" Romney said Sunday on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' 'No one's going to say that.'" ...

... Paul Krugman: "The good news is that there was a real [economic] policy debate going on within the G.O.P. last week [between Romney & Trump]. The bad news is that it was junk economics on both sides."

CW: If the Republican party wants to save itself from massive embarrassment, it should nominate Jim Webb for president. He's a DINO who used to be a RINO. Sure, he'll say stupid Republican things, but he's a Democrat now, giving the GOP plausible deniability on all fronts. No coattails, of course, but Republicans can sit on the sidelines & laugh their way to oblivion as two Democrats tangle. And who knows? Republicans might rise from the ashes of the flameout.

News Ledes

Washington Post: "The United States launched a series of airstrikes on an al-Shabab training camp in Somalia Saturday, killing 150 militants and averting what a Pentagon official described as an 'imminent threat' posed by the group to both U.S. and African Union troops stationed in the war-torn country."

AP: "Jimmy Carter announced Sunday that he no longer needs treatment for cancer, less than seven months after revealing he had been diagnosed with melanoma that spread to his brain. Carter, 91, shared the news at one of his regular Sunday School classes at Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown of Plains, Georgia."

The Commentariat -- March 6, 2016

Ashley Parker of the New York Times: "Senator Marco Rubio of Florida won the Puerto Rico primary on Sunday, The Associated Press reported, giving him a much-needed victory after a string of losses that threatened to push the Republican presidential nomination further out of his reach." ...

     ... Maybe that's because Marco is such a good friend to Puerto Rico. Also from Parker's report: "Puerto Rico is embroiled in a debt crisis, with the territory facing a deficit of more than $70 billion. Mr. Rubio took a tough line on the matter in Congress, urging Puerto Rico to focus on improving its economy and fixing its troubled fiscal situation rather than seeking bankruptcy protection."

Lou Cannon of the New York Times: "Nancy Reagan, the influential and stylish wife of the 40th president of the United States who unabashedly put Ronald Reagan at the center of her life but became a political figure in her own right, died on Sunday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 94." ...

... Nancy Reagan's Los Angeles Times obituary, by Elaine Woo, is here.

Forgot to post this this morning. SNL does a pretty good job in capturing the essence of last week's presidential primary races:

... AND this ad features Trump voters at their best. Hey, it's who they are:

Presidential Race

Hillary Clinton & Bernie Sanders debate at 8:00 pm ET tonight in Flint, Michigan. Noah Weiland of Politico: "CNN hosts and plans to distribute half a million water bottles to four locations around town before the debate."

Maine's Democratic primary caucuses are today. Republicans vote in Puerto Rico.

Saturday's Primary & Caucus Results

Where Have You Gone, Marco Rubio? Jose DelReal of the Washington Post: "Sen. Ted Cruz's bid to become the chief alternative to Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump gained steam Saturday, as he secured commanding victories in the Kansas and Maine caucuses while Sen. Marco Rubio withered with a string of third-place finishes.... Taken together, the results marked a devastating rebuke of the Republican establishment, which has settled on Rubio as its standard-bearer. He not only failed to win any states Saturday, but he also finished in third place in every state that voted Saturday except Maine, where he was projected to finish fourth behind Ohio Gov. John Kasich.... Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders defeated former secretary of state Hillary Clinton in the Kansas and Nebraska caucuses. But Clinton's forceful projected win in delegate-rich Louisiana keeps her vast delegate lead for the Democratic party's nomination intact."

The New York Times has full, updated results here.

Democrats

Yamiche Alcindor of the New York Times: "Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, energized by victories Saturday in Kansas and Nebraska, declared that people should not 'write off' his campaign and that the caucus wins show that he has the momentum to gain the Democratic presidential nomination. Mr. Sanders, in an interview from the hotel where he is staying in Detroit, said he won Kansas by a 'pretty good margin' (indeed, it was 2-to-1) and that he expected to do well in contests in Maine, Michigan, California, New York, Oregon and Washington."

Kansas. Sanders won the state with 68 percent of the vote, with 100 percent of the precincts reporting.

Louisiana: Clinton won with 71 percent, with 100 percent of precincts reporting.

Nebraska: Sanders won with 56 percent, with 89 percent reporting.

Republicans

Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump's losses underlined his continued vulnerability in states that hold time-intensive caucuses: He has lost five of seven such contests. He has performed far better in states holding primaries, which require less organization, and some of which also allow Democrats and independents to vote in Republican races.... A notably restrained Mr. Trump, addressing supporters and reporters in West Palm Beach, Fla., called on Mr. Rubio to withdraw from the race. 'I want Ted one-on-one, O.K.' Mr. Trump said.... The results on Saturday represented another stinging setback for Mr. Rubio.... Mr. Rubio, who backed out of trips to Kentucky and Louisiana on Friday to make three stops across Kansas, has an increasingly narrow path and is confronting the prospect of a humiliating loss in his own state next week. He has won just a single state, Minnesota, and lags well behind Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz in delegates." ...

... Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "... Marco Rubio downplayed his performance in the four states that held GOP caucuses or primaries on Saturday, saying that he had had long known 'this would be the roughest period of the campaign.' Speaking primarily in Spanish at a press conference in Puerto Rico, where voters will head to the polls on Sunday, the Florida senator noted that the contests in Kansas, Maine, Kentucky and Louisiana are proportional, saying he'll leave them with more delegates than he started with. But so far on Super Saturday, Rubio has failed to meet the threshold to qualify for any delegates in Louisiana and Maine." ...

... CW Translation: I lost all but one one of the first 22 states to vote or caucus, but just you wait. ...

... Jonathan Swan of the Hill: "... Marco Rubio on Saturday declined to say whether he will drop out of the race if he loses his home state primary in Florida. 'Well, I've never based my campaign on one state, but I can tell you this, we will win the state of Florida,' Rubio said at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)."

Kansas. Cruz won the state with 48 percent of the vote, 100 percent of the precincts reporting. Trump was second with 23 percent, 100 percent reporting.

Kentucky. Trump won the state with 36 percent of the vote, 100 percent of the precincts reporting. Cruz was second with 32 percent, 100 percent reporting.

Louisiana. Trump won the state with 41 percent of the vote, 100 percent of the precincts reporting. Cruz was second with 38 percent, 100 percent reporting.

Maine. Cruz won the state with 46 percent of the vote, 100 percent of the precincts reporting. Trump was second with 33 percent, 100 percent reporting.

CW: So in a brokered convention, somebody tell me how the boys in the back room would justify throwing the nomination to Rubio when perhaps two-thirds of the voters & caucus-goers will have chosen Trump or Cruz. Dream on, Marco. I have seen the future, & it is a confederate think-free tank.

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump said he would seek to 'broaden' laws regarding the torture of terrorism suspects, a day after he said that as president he would be 'bound by laws and treaties' that he would not order the military to violate." ...

... Maureen Dowd thinks it's "wicked fun" watching Trump & his adversaries. I wrote a comment (and a so-far unpublished follow-up noting Haberman's report linked above) on one aspect of the "fun" in the Comments section of Dowd's column on one aspect of the "fun." ...

... Heil Drumpf! Janie Velencia of the Huffington Post: "On Saturday..., footage surfaced of Trump at a rally in Orlando, Florida, that was eerily reminiscent of 1930s Nazi rallies. Toward the end of his speech, Trump can be seen addressing the crowd forcefully. He tells them to raise their right hand and asks them to repeat after him that they will vote for him for president, no matter what." Thanks to MAG for the link. Here's the video:

... Marianne Zumberge of Variety: "In a Saturday morning email blast announcing the sixth episode of his web series 'Horace and Pete,' [comedian Louis] C.K. included a lengthy postscript urging readers not to vote for Trump." CW: The P.S. is pretty good & might have more resonance with Trump voters than would Mitt Romney's complaints about Trump's random thoughts on international trade. ...

... Dylan Byers of CNN: "Donald Trump consulted with his campaign manager during the first commercial break at Thursday night's Republican debate, violating ground rules from Fox News stating that candidates would not be allowed to have contact with their campaigns, rival campaign sources told CNNMoney. While that exchange was the clearest violation of debate rules to date, the sources said, it followed a pattern: At multiple debates, Trump has consulted with his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski backstage even though it was expressly forbidden by the networks." CW: I'm sure everybody is shocked that Trump cheated on his debate test.

Kyle Cheney & Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "Cruz and Trump ... agree on one thing: It's time for their other rivals to drop out.... Now, Cruz is pouring resources into Rubio's home state of Florida, where polls show Trump leading -- and where a Rubio loss would effectively end his campaign. Cruz's maneuvering is even more striking because he's is unlikely to compete for a win in Florida, which awards all of its delegates to the top finisher. Instead, his decision to open 10 offices there on Friday seems aimed at suffocating Rubio's support and knocking him out of the race." ...

     ... CW: Not sure how great a tactic this is, at least in terms of crushing Rubio. It seems to me the Tailgunner is likely to take more votes from Trump than from Rubio. Both Cruz & Trump are courting the angry-nut voter while Rubio is pretending to be the moderate, establishment candidate. ...

... Eliza Collins of Politico: "Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday. Cruz was named the winner with 40 percent of the attendees' support, while Florida Sen. Marco Rubio came in second place with 30 percent. Donald Trump, who was scheduled to speak at CPAC on Saturday morning before pulling out, came in third place with 15 percent, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich had 8 percent." ...

... Frances Langum of Crooks & Liars: "A sizable number of attendees at a Ted Cruz speech booed and then walked out when the Texas Senator criticized Donald Trump. Trump didn't attend the conservative convention this year...."

Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "Gov. John Kasich of Ohio released partial tax returns on Saturday showing that he and his wife earned more than $5 million from 2008 through 2014. Mr. Kasich follows two of his Republican opponents, Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, who released partial tax returns last weekend. Their actions, followed by Mr. Kasich's disclosure on Saturday, add to the pressure on Donald J. Trump to release his returns."

The Commentariat -- March 5, 2016

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked a Louisiana law that its opponents say would leave the state with only one abortion clinic. The court gave no reasons, though it did say that its order was 'consistent with' one last June that blocked part of a Texas abortion law.... Only Justice Clarence Thomas noted a dissent from the order Friday, suggesting that the vote had been 7 to 1, but justices do not always disclose their dissenting votes on such orders. In the order blocking the Texas law in June, the court's four most conservative members noted their dissents, making it clear that the vote had been 5 to 4."

Presidential Race

The Louisiana primary for Democrats & Republicans is today. Both parties are holding caucuses in Kansas. Democrats caucus in Nebraska, too, & Republicans also caucus in Kentucky & Maine. ...

... Ed Kilgore has more on the weekend's primaries & caucuses.

Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton will join Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont at a town hall event hosted by Fox News on Monday night in Detroit, the network announced.... Her campaign initially said she would not be able to make the event, citing travel restrictions, but on Friday reversed course."

Dana Milbank: "Hillary Clinton has a knack for turning triumph into tedium.... But there is, in this case, a silver bullet for Clinton: She can make Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) her running mate. Though formal deliberations have yet to begin, the notion of a Clinton-Warren dream team has already been contemplated at Clinton's campaign headquarters in Brooklyn.... Trump will portray Clinton as a status-quo candidate out of touch with the common man. Warren, better than anybody, refutes that charge."

Eliza Collins of Politico: "Former Democratic presidential candidate Jim Webb won't be voting for Hillary Clinton, but he hasn't ruled out casting his ballot for Donald Trump." CW: Oh, go home & wave your Confederate flag, Jim.

All the GOP Presidential Candidates Suck. Orlando Sun-Sentinel Editors: "The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board is not going to make an endorsement in Florida's March 15 Republican presidential primary because the kind of person who should be running is not in the race. We cannot endorse businessman Donald Trump, hometown Sen. Marco Rubio or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz because they are unqualified to be president. Ohio Gov. John Kasich is the best of the bunch, but if you measure a candidate by the caliber of his campaign, Kasich's lack of traction and organization make a vote for him count for little."

Kendall Breitman of Bloomberg: "Mitt Romney ... said he would support an effort to deny Donald Trump the nomination at the party's convention in July if Trump doesn't have enough delegates to win on the first ballot." ...

... Michael Barbaro, et al., of the New York Times: "The furious campaign now underway to stop Mr. Trump and the equally forceful rebellion against it captured the essence of the party's breakdown over the past several weeks: Its most prominent guardians, misunderstanding their own voters, antagonize them as they try to reason with them, driving them even more energetically to Mr. Trump's side." ...

... Paul Krugman: "... protectionism was the only reason [Mitt Romney] gave for believing that Trump would cause a recession, which I think is kind of telling: the GOP's supposedly well-informed, responsible adult, trying to save the party, can't get basic economics right at the one place where economics is central to his argument."

The Donald's Latest Gymnastic Feat: Flipflop on a Waterboard. Allegra Kirkland of TPM: "Donald Trump acknowledged Friday that he would have to adhere to international laws on torture if he became the next U.S. president. In a statement sent to the Wall Street Journal, Trump said he understands that 'the United States is bound by laws and treaties and I will not order our military or other officials to violate those laws and will seek their advice on such matters. I will not order a military officer to disobey the law.' The GOP frontrunner previously had a much more enthusiastic attitude towards the extrajudicial treatment of terrorism suspects. As recently as Thursday night's Republican debate in Detroit, Trump said, 'Can you imagine these people, these animals over in the Middle East that chop off heads, sitting around talking and seeing that we're having a hard problem with waterboarding? We should go for waterboarding and tougher than waterboarding.' He also said he would 'take out' the families of terrorists in a December interview with Fox News.... Trump said during Thursday's debate that military leaders would not 'refuse' him if he ordered them to commit war crimes...." ...

... Nick Gass of Politico: "Donald Trump has pulled out of the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, opting to campaign in Kansas and Florida instead.... While Trump had spoken at past CPAC events, his speaking slot this time drew backlash from conservative critics who had accused event organizers of being in the tank for [him].... Politico reported Wednesday that Trump has donated more than $100,000 to the ACU [which sponsors CPAC], including a $50,000 check in 2015.... On Thursday, National Review reported on efforts to stage a walkout during Trump's speech, coming from a tri-corn hat-wearing CPAC attendee from Georgia named William Temple." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Ken Vogel of Politico: "Donald Trump spent five years building a mutually beneficial relationship with the organization that hosts the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, filling its coffers with at least $150,000 in cash and scoring coveted speaking slots that started him on a course towards winning the Republican presidential nomination. But he ended up canceling what would have been his biggest CPAC speech at the last minute amid plans for protest and disruptions.... Trump also bristled at their insistence that he answer questions from a journalist of their choosing onstage after his speech, according to sources familiar with the planning." ...

... Max Ehrenfreud of the Washington Post: "Whatever critics might say about failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney, everyone at least agrees that he has done well for himself as a businessman. There is no such consensus regarding Donald Trump.... A recent analysis suggests the extent of Trump's underperformance is vastly greater than previously recognized. The new results emphasize the degree to which Trump has relied on his family's wealth and connections in order to create his fortune." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "In an interview on NBC's 'Today' show, [Marco Rubio] said he didn't feel bad about introducing penis jokes into the presidential race. 'Oh, no. Please,' Rubio said. 'I mean, Donald Trump has now spent a year doing this on a regular basis. In fact, there was not a speech or debate that Donald Trump does that he doesn't personally offend or try to offend somebody.' Besides, he said, he only made the comment 'one time, to a guy who needs to be stood up to.' And because it was in response to another attack from Trump, it was fair to defend himself." ...

... For one thing, Trump steaks weren't all that tasty; for another, they cost upwards of $50/pound.

Nick Gass: "Ben Carson is suspending his bid for the presidency, the retired neurosurgeon announced Friday, speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland. 'Even though I might be leaving the campaign trail, you know there's a lot of people who love me, they just won't vote for me. But I will still continue to be heavily involved in trying to save our nation,' he said." CW: Very reassuring. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Eliza Collins: "Ben Carson has a new job. During his Conservative Political Action Conference address today, the retired neurosurgeon will announce he will serve as national chairman of My Faith Votes, a nonpartisan organization focused on getting Christian Americans to the polls, according to a statement...."

... The quality of the GOP presidential debate last night was such that Charles Pierce thought it best to begin the discussion with a photo of some Klansmen on a Ferris wheel. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Margaret Hartmann provides video of some of of the more newsworthy moments of the debate, with commentary. Here Marco shows he can be fast on his feet, riffing off Trump's answers to questions about his flipflopping wherein he extolled the importance of "flexibility." (Also linked yesterday.):

Beyond the Beltway

The Legacy of Bobby Jindal. Chico Harlan of the Washington Post: "Louisiana now stands at the brink of economic disaster. Without sharp and painful tax increases in the coming weeks, the government will cease to offer many of its vital services, including education opportunities and certain programs for the needy.... Many of the state's economic analysts say a structural budget deficit emerged and then grew under former governor Bobby Jindal, who, during his eight years in office, reduced the state's revenue by offering tax breaks to the middle class and wealthy. He also created new subsidies that aim to lure and keep businesses. Those policies, state data shows, didn't deliver their hoped-for economic growth." ...

... Kevin Litten of the New Orleans Times-Picayune: "The Louisiana Senate set the table on Friday (March 4) for the House to raise $147 million in revenue or make more budget cuts after a tumultuous day in the Capitol that exposed fissures of distrust among the two chambers. A communication breakdown between the House and Senate initially caused gridlock over the Legislature's state budget resolution. The Senate only agreed to pass a controversial budget cuts bill after the House made it clear it wouldn't pass any more tax increases until the cuts were approved." ...

... CW: Undaunted by (or trying to deflect attention from) his disgraceful, irresponsible performance as governor & his laughable presidential bid, Jindal wrote an op-ed that appeared in Thursday's Wall Street Journal in which he blamed President Obama is to blame for Donald Trump's dominance in the Republican presidential primary: "After seven years of the cool, weak and endlessly nuanced 'no drama Obama,' voters are looking for a strong leader who speaks in short, declarative sentences.... Without President Obama, there is no Donald Trump." Yep. Everything is Obama's fault, Bobby. Why, you would be our next president if President Obama hadn't ruined it for you. Then you could bankrupt the whole country instead of just one little state. ...

... "Bobby Jindal: President Obama Caused Trump by Being Too Intellectual and Mature." Jonathan Chait: "This is your fault, Democrats. If you had elected a red-faced, racist bullying lout as president, then Republicans would be reacting today by rallying around somebody who's intellectual, humble, and non-abusive, and we'd all be in fine shape. But nooooooo. You had to nominate a wonkish, emotionally controlled law professor, forcing Republicans to turn to an unhinged racist reality-television star in response." CW: I'm feeling so ashamed.

Charles Pierce: Wisconsin Gov. "Scott Walker ... got together with his pet legislature and blew up the state's non-partisan Government Accountability Board in favor of a terrarium for political cronies. The first inhabitants were installed this week and, boy howdy, one of them is a real pip.... It's a measure of what Scott Walker has wrought in Wisconsin that Martha Mitchell's former minder has a job policing the state's political ethics."

Ian Millhiser: "The Supreme Court of Alabama dismissed a so-called 'Motion for Clarification and Reaffirmation of the Court's Orders Upholding and Enforcing Alabama's Marriage Laws' on Friday, effectively reaching the unremarkable conclusion that they cannot halt the Supreme Court of the United States' decision that marriage equality is the law of the law. It took them 170 pages to explain this conclusion."

Katherine Krueger of TPM: "A Tea Party lawmaker who once demanded Muslim visitors to her Capitol office pledge allegiance to the U.S. and renounce terrorism lost her re-election bid by just over 100 votes this week, The Dallas Morning News reported. Texas state Rep. Molly White wrote on Facebook that 'after prayers and conversations' with supporters, she plans to request a recount of Tuesday's Republican primary race, which she lost by just 118 votes.... As a freshman lawmaker, White was also named the worst Texas House member on LGBT issues, a distinction she bragged about on Facebook."

TMZ: "A construction worker found a knife buried on the perimeter of the former O.J. Simpson estate ... and it's currently being tested by the LAPD in a top secret investigation ... law enforcement sources tell TMZ.... We're told a construction worker found the knife years ago.... The weapon is a folding buck knife. Our law enforcement sources say the construction worker took the knife to the street, where he saw an LAPD cop. He told the officer where he found the knife and the cop took it. Turns out the cop -- who worked in the traffic division -- was off duty at the time, working security for a movie shoot at a house across the street.... Our sources say the officer took the knife home and kept it ... for years." Read on. Via New York. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Richard Winton & Joseph Serna of the Los Angeles Times: "At a news conference at LAPD headquarters Friday morning, Capt. Andy Neiman ... told reporters that it was unclear why the officer waited nearly two decades to hand over the knife. 'I don't know why that didn't happen or if that's entirely accurate or if this whole story is possibly bogus from the get-go,' he said." ...

... The Washington Post story is here. ...

... Never Mind. Andrew Blankstein of NBC News: "A knife found over a dozen years ago on land where O.J. Simpson once lived appears to be inconsistent with the 1994 murders of the former football star's wife and her friend, multiple law enforcement sources told NBC News."

News Lede

New York Times: "Pat Conroy, whose tortured family life and the scenic marshlands of coastal South Carolina served as unending sources of inspiration for his fiction, notably the novels 'The Great Santini,' 'The Lords of Discipline' and 'The Prince of Tides,' died on Friday. He was 70." ...

     ... CW: Most underappreciated writer in the U.S. Don't see the movies. Read the books.