Senator Bernie Sanders after he announced his candidacy for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 30, 2015. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Donald Trump announces his run for presidency at the Trump Tower Atrium in Manhattan on June 16, 2015. Photo Credit: Linda Rosier
However, it turns out, 2016 will best be remembered for its combative presidential season, more like a tsunami, that took the country by storm.
Donald J. Trump, a New York real estate mogul and self-absorbed reality TV star braggart; and Bernie Sanders, the junior senator from Vermont and self-described socialist-rode a wave a populism never witnessed before in American politics with such intensity; one that smashed the business as usual mantra permeating establishment politics by endearing themselves to voters with their sharply disparate agendas.
As soon as he announced his candidacy in June, 2015, Trump hit the ground running, seizing on the country's xenophobic fears, hate for undocumented Mexican immigrants, and belief the Obama administration wasn't doing nearly enough to combat terrorism both at home and abroad.
Republican voters flocked to Trump like bees to honey.
Unless Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex) is able to run the table on Trump in the remaining primaries and caucuses, it is hard to imagine Donald Trump not claiming the Republican nomination at the July convention in Cleveland, Ohio even with the prospect of a brokered convention.
The road is much, much tougher for Mr. Sanders; Hillary Clinton, the presumptive nominee, has accumulated a hefty delegate lead with 1,758 to Sanders 1,038. It will take 2,383 delegates (with 1,938 still up for grabs) to claim the nomination. The plain simple math just doesn't seem to favor the longest-serving independent in U.S. congressional history with polls already showing him behind by double digits in New York, his native state. New York's primary is scheduled for April 19th.
Still, Mr. Sanders greatest impact was in pushing Hillary Clinton to the left with his ear-splitting progressive agenda, especially on health care, income and wealth inequality, raising the minimum wage, and climate change.
Though the odds of Sanders capturing the Democratic nomination are slim, his supporters seem to be growing stronger and more vocal in the political revolution the grumpy grandpa with the shock of white hair has sparked, as demonstrated by this YouTube video flooding the internet. https://goo.gl/SPrDLz
So, as both parties make their way to the finish line, I dipped into the archives in order to track how major U.S. newspapers and political pundits drastically changed their opinions and analysis of Trump and Sanders over the last 11 months as they propelled their fringe ideas into mainstream politics.
Here, then, is a timeline of press coverage of two unconventional candidates from the time they threw their hats into the ring up through the Wisconsin primary.
BERNIE SANDERS: FROM FRINGE TO FORMIDABLE CANDIDATE
BERNIE SANDERS, LONG-SERVING INDEPENDENT, ENTERS PRESIDENTIAL RACE AS A DEMOCRAT
NYTimes.com
April 29, 2015
By Alan Rappeport
Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, announced Thursday that he was running for president as a Democrat, injecting a progressive voice into the contest and providing Hillary Rodham Clinton with her first official rival for the party's nomination.
Mr. Sander's bid is considered a long shot, but his unflinching commitment to stances popular to the left-such as opposing foreign military interventions and reining in big banks-could force Mrs. Clinton to address these issues more deeply.
Washington Post Blogs
April 30, 2015
Sanders takes on 'billionaire class' in launching 2016 bid against Clinton;
Advisers believe he can raise $50 million to mount a credible challenge to the Democratic front-runner.
By Paul Kane; Philip Rucker
Sanders is under no illusions about the challenges ahead. His advisers acknowledge how unlikely it is that he could wrest the nomination from Clinton, who is as commanding a favorite for the nod as any non-incumbent in recent history.
"We all understand that Hillary Clinton is an incredibly formidable opponent, and beating her in the Democratic nomination process is going to be extremely difficult," Sanders adviser Tad Devine said. "But I do think there's a path forward for Bernie."
April 30, 2015
Washington Post Examiner
The Democratic National Committee is welcoming Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to the presidential race where he will face off with the party's darling, Hillary Clinton.
After Sanders made his plans known on Thursday, the DNC dispatched a new fundraising letter that said, "We couldn't be more excited to hear him to say he's in."
While the progressive senator said that he shouldn't be underestimated, he is far behind Clinton in all presidential polls. The latest has him at 2 percent in Iowa. Clinton is at 57 percent.
May 10, 2015
BOB SCHIEFFER HOSTS CBS FACE THE NATION
BOB SCHIEFFER: What about Bernie Sanders? Is there any way, any scenario that anyone sees that he would wind up with the nomination?
JOHN HEILEMANN: I think it would be very hard to imagine Senator Sanders to be the Democratic nominee for the reasons we said before. She is -- right now, he is popular, he's got about 18 percent in New Hampshire in our poll. There is a part of the leftward, the furthest left wing of the Democratic Party, finds him appealing, at least at this moment.
Heilemann: She, however, is extraordinarily popular with women in the party, with Hispanics in the party, with African Americans in the party, with union households, with LGBT community. She [Clinton] has great strength with every part for the Democratic nominating electorate, none of which has changed over the course of these very I think substantively serious challenges. And I'm not trying to bring it back to politics.
PBS NewsHour for May 18, 2015
GWEN IFILL: Is there room on the stage for an alternative to Hillary Clinton whose name is Bernie Sanders?
Amy Walter, Cook Political Report: She's [Hillary Clinton] clearly -- on economic issues, I don't know that there is that much room in terms for somebody like Bernie Sanders to outflank her. I think where her problem points are with a lot of these liberal Democrats will be on the trade issue, though likely it will be over by the time we hit Iowa, and really on foreign policy.
The Quad-City Times (Davenport, Iowa)
May 30, 2015
Sanders is far behind in the polls, nationally and in Iowa. A Quinnipiac Poll this month said Hillary Clinton has the support of 60 percent of likely Iowa caucus-goers.
Sanders was next but at only 15 percent.
Still, Sanders pointed to the large crowds he has drawn — and not just Thursday but in previous visits, too.
"I think we will surprise people how well we'll do here," he told the Quad-City Times editorial board Friday.
Washington Post Blogs
May 31, 2015
In a recent Iowa poll, for example, Clinton had the support of 61 percent, Sanders 15 percent and O'Malley 3 percent. National polls have been similar.
Washington Post Blogs
May 31, 2015
And it's not just anecdotal evidence that suggests Sanders's movement in the race. Witness new polling from Quinnipiac University on the Democratic field: Clinton leads the way with 57 percent, followed by Sanders at 15 percent, Vice President Biden at 9 percent, and Martin O'Malley, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee all at 1 percent. Sanders's growth from the last poll is even more eye-catching; he was at 8 percent in an April Q poll, and 4 percent in a March one.
Washington Post Blogs
June 12, 2015
In the six weeks since Sanders announced his presidential campaign, the Vermont independent has emerged as the leading and unlikely rival for the hearts of progressives in the Democratic Party - bolstered by angst on the left and concerns over Clinton's populist bona fides. Enthusiastic supporters have created a special Twitter hashtag -- #FeelTheBern -- to push his candidacy.
Washington Post Blogs
The Fix
Chris Cillizza
June 22, 2015
My guess -- and at this point it is nothing more than a guess -- is that Sanders will wind up being a slightly broader-based [Ron] Paul. He will be able to raise more money than most people guess and will continue to drive total loyalty within 20 percent (or so) of the Democratic electorate. That's enough to put a slight scare into Clinton. Nothing more.
The Examiner (Washington, DC)
June 22, 2015 Monday
Examiner Edition
Sorry Bernie: Voters would choose gay, Muslim, atheist president before a socialist
BYLINE: Paul Bedard, Paul Bedard, Washington Secrets Correspondent
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' surge in the presidential race against Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton continues to gain speed, but a new poll finds that his self-description as a "Democratic socialist" is a killer when it comes to eventually getting voted into the White House.
The Frontrunner
June 23, 2015
A Wall Street Journal NBC News nationwide survey of 247 Democratic primary voters, taken June 14-18, shows Hillary Clinton leading a 2016 field of contenders seeking the Democratic presidential nomination with 75%, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders with 15%, ex-Sen. Jim Webb with 4%, and ex-Gov. Martin O'Malley with 2%.
In what it describes as "a blow" to the White House hopes of Sanders, a self-described "socialist," the Washington Times (6/23, Miller, 641K) reports that in a Gallup poll of 1,527 US "adults," taken June 2-7, 47% said "they would be willing to vote" for a socialist for president, while 50% said they would not.
A new survey from Gallup found that of 11 background characteristics voters would consider in choosing their next president, that of socialist was dead last, with just 47 percent saying that they would vote for a socialist, and 50 percent saying they wouldn't.
The New York Times
June 25, 2015
Sanders an Unknown Among Black Voters
By PATRICK HEALY and JONATHAN MARTIN
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is climbing in the polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, and he has drawn thousands of people to rallies for his presidential campaign recently in Denver and Minneapolis. But the shooting last week in Charleston, S.C., has highlighted a daunting obstacle he faces in the Democratic primary contest: Black voters have shown little interest in him.
Even his own campaign advisers acknowledge that Mr. Sanders is virtually unknown to many African-Americans, an enormously important Democratic constituency.
Though he led sit-ins as a civil rights activist in the 1960s, helped the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. pull off a surprising campaign victory in Vermont in 1988, and espouses liberal policy ideas broadly popular with many Democrats, Mr. Sanders has had little direct experience with black voters as a politician in a state that is 95 percent white. And they have been largely absent from his campaign events so far.
Des Moines Register
June 26, 2015
In Iowa, Clinton leads Sanders 50 percent to 24 percent. That's an 8-point increase for Sanders since a Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll in late May
In New Hampshire, it's Clinton at 56 percent and Sanders at 24 percent, a six-point increase for Sanders since polling by Bloomberg Politics and partners in May.
Although Sanders is indeed enjoying something of a mini-surge in the two states, the polls show he's almost certain to hit a ceiling eventually, said Purple Strategies' Doug Usher.
The McDonough County Voice (Illinois)
July 1, 2015
Democrats swoon for Sanders;
Commentary By David Shribman
Sanders will very likely win no primaries next year either. But Clinton will feel his presence at every stop, in every state.
David M. Shribman is executive editor of the Post-Gazette
Tampa Bay Times
July 5, 2015
SANDERS PEEKING OUT FROM FRINGE
ADAM C. SMITH, TIMES POLITICAL EDITOR
The latest poll of New Hampshire primary voters, by WMUR and CNN, found that Clinton's 21-point lead over Sanders two months ago has dropped to 8 points, 43 percent support to 35 percent. That is within the poll's margin of error. None of the other announced Democratic candidates - former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Sens. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island and James Webb of Virginia - topped 2 percent.
A Quinnipiac University Iowa poll released last week found Clinton with an overwhelming 19-point lead over Sanders. But the Vermonter's support had doubled in less than two months, and Clinton's lead had been cut by more than half.
The Christian Science Monitor
July 7, 2015
Why Hillary is afraid of Bernie
According to reports, in May, Clinton led Sanders 60 percent to 15 percent, according to a May Quinnipiac poll. Last week the same poll showed Clinton at 52 percent to Sanders's 33 percent.
And a new Quinnipiac University poll found he doubled his share of Democratic supporters in Iowa in just seven weeks
"I think we underestimated that Sanders would quickly attract so many Democrats in Iowa who weren't likely to support Hillary," an anonymous Clinton adviser told the New York Times. "We're working hard to win [Sanders supporters] over, but, yeah, it's a real competition there."
Los Angeles Times
July 8, 2015 Wednesday
How far can Sanders go?
By DOYLE McMANUS
A Sanders presidency? Sorry, liberals. It's not going to happen. But the Vermont socialist will have accomplished some of what he set out to do - and his speech at the Democratic National Convention will be worth staying up for.
Tampa Bay Times
July 10, 2015 Friday
Politifact.com Edition
DID BERNIE SANDERS VOTE AGAINST BACKGROUND CHECKS AND WAITING PERIODS FOR GUN PURCHASES?
BYLINE: LINDA QIU
Sanders' record on guns has been the subject of liberal ire ("Bernie Sanders, gun nut") as well as conservative glee ("Sorry liberals, Bernie Sanders is a gun nut"). So we wanted to take a look at his vote on the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, a landmark piece of gun control legislation.
The Brady Act mandated that everyone who wanted to buy a handgun had to wait five days while local law enforcement ran criminal background checks. (After 1998, the firearm dealers became responsible for conducting the checks.)
But before Brady became law, it underwent many transformations. Sanders, elected to the House of Representatives in 1990, voted on it numerous times, virtually almost always in opposition:
- In May 1991, Sanders voted against a version that mandated a seven-day waiting period for background checks, but the bill passed in the House.
According to Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver, Sanders' reason for opposing the Brady bill was two-fold. First, he believed implementing a national waiting period was federal overreach. And second, he was doing his job.
"He wasn't opposed to states having (waiting periods) if they wanted to. The Republicans wanted to repeal waiting periods in states that had them, and Bernie voted that down," Weaver said. "He said he would be against waiting periods, and he kept his word to the people of Vermont."
July 12, 2015 Sunday
JOHN DICKERSON HOSTS CBS'S "FACE THE NATION"
DICKERSON: Jeffrey, I want to ask you switching a little bit here now Democratic politics. We saw a coordinated attempt by the Clinton campaign this week in different places all to say we're taking Bernie Sanders very, very seriously. What did you make of that?
JEFFREY GOLDBERG, THE ATLANTIC: Well, I mean, it's useful for them to build up a candidate they believe. And unless they have a radical misunderstanding of American politics, they believe correctly who will never get the Democratic nomination. He's a 73-year-old self-professed socialist from the people's Republic of Burlington, Vermont. I mean, he's not going to get the nomination.
So, it's useful when they do vanquish him to say, we took on a huge juggernaut of a candidate.
New Haven Register
July 12, 2015
Editorial: Can honesty and integrity defeat money?
Not everybody is convinced, however, that Sanders can stand the heat of a long-term campaign, especially against Hillary Clinton. Nate Silver, the genius behind FiveThirtyEight, has concluded Sanders very well could win in New Hampshire and Iowa, but lose everywhere else. While Sanders has been picking up voters in the two states, writes Silver, "Nationally, by contrast, Sanders has just 15 percent of the vote and has been gaining ground on Clinton only slowly."
The Associated Press
July 16, 2015
Democratic activists still not quite ready for Clinton
By KEN THOMAS and LISA LERER, Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP) - Three months into Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign for president, there are fresh warning signs she may be falling short with some Democratic voters whose enthusiasm will be essential to her success in 2016.
Clinton has also come up lukewarm on another measure of Democratic enthusiasm: money. Of the $47.5 million that Clinton raised, less than one-fifth has come from contributions of $200 or less. Sanders, meanwhile, pulled in more than three-quarters of his $15.2 million haul from small-dollar donors.
Washingtonpost.com
July 19, 2015
Bernie Sanders isn't Barack Obama, and 2016 isn't 2008
By Dan Pfeiffer
History says that Clinton is likely to be our nominee and that Sanders is doomed to repeat the fate of Bradley and the rest. Of course, history said the same thing about Obama, and there's a reason that people say "anything is possible in politics." But the odds are that by this time next year, the 2008 campaign will remain the exception, not the rule.
Washington Post Blogs
The Fix
August 13, 2015
The one big reason neither Donald Trump nor Bernie Sanders can keep this up
By Aaron Blake
But unfortunately for Sanders and Trump, this lack of focus on electability is very unlikely last. So it's not-so-surprising to see a candidate like Sanders (or Trump) rise to the top.
Voters are actually pretty smart in that they know these guys probably can't win. A June Monmouth poll showed 59 percent of Democratic voters said Sanders would have a worse chance than Clinton; only 13 percent thought he'd have a better chance. A CBS News poll last month, meanwhile, showed 78 percent of Democratic voters said Clinton was their most electable candidate, while just 5 percent said that of Sanders. That's even as 17 percent supported Sanders.
As the election nears, the stakes become clearer. Casual voters suddenly become quite interested in actually winning in November.
The New York Times
August 16, 2015 Sunday
Is Clinton Really in Danger?
By NATE COHN.
The Sanders surge has slowed over the last month. Yes, a poll out of New Hampshire has him leading Mrs. Clinton. But Iowa and New Hampshire were always going to be his strong spots -- just as liberal havens like Seattle and Boulder, Colo., are favorable terrain.
A closer look at the polls shows that he [Sanders] is simply not within striking distance of winning the nomination. His support has run into a wall: Women, blacks and Hispanics continue to support Mrs. Clinton by a wide margin, as do white moderate and conservative Democrats.
Des Moines Register
August 30, 2015
Clinton leads; Sanders closes in
By, Jennifer Jacobs
Liberal revolutionary Bernie Sanders, riding an updraft of insurgent passion in Iowa, has closed to within 7 points of Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential race.
She's the first choice of 37 percent of likely Democratic caucus goers; he's the pick for 30 percent, according to a new Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll.
Addison County Independent (Vermont)
September 3, 2015
Gregory Dennis: Why Bernie’s campaign will burn out
By Gregory Dennis
OPINION
But — there’s that word again, that awful “but” — Bernie Sanders is not going to be the next president.
We’ve seen this movie before. By next April after the March Madness primaries where only extremely well-funded candidates can compete, he might not even be an active candidate anymore.
So yes, political miracles do happen. But Barack Obama is truly one in 6 billion.
The Washington Post
September 4, 2015
Why Clinton remains inevitable – almost
Charles Krauthammer
WASHINGTON -- Unless she’s indicted, Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic nomination.
Yes, Bernie Sanders has risen impressively. But it is inconceivable that he would be nominated. For one thing, he’d be the oldest president by far -- on Inauguration Day older than Ronald Reagan, our oldest president, was at his second inaugural.
And there is the matter of Sanders being a self-proclaimed socialist in a country more allergic to socialism than any in the Western world. Which is why the party is turning its lonely eyes to joltin’ Joe Biden.
The Boston Globe
September 7, 2015
Sanders now leads Clinton in N.H., poll shows
Vermont senator drawing crowds across campaign
By Ali Elkin, Bloomberg News
NEW YORK — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has pulled ahead of Hillary Rodham Clinton among New Hampshire primary voters in an NBC/Marist poll released Sunday.
Forty-one percent of potential Democratic voters polled said they support Sanders, 32 percent chose Clinton, and 16 percent said they would support Vice President Joe Biden.
When pollsters excluded Biden, who has yet to decide whether he will run, Sanders's lead over Clinton grew to double digits — 49 percent to 38 percent.
Waycross Journal-Herald (Georgia)
September 8, 2015
Prediction: Trump, Sanders Will Fade
By COKIE ROBERTS AND STEVEN V. ROBERTS, UNIVERSAL UCLICK SYNDICATE
We’ve covered 13 presidential elections, and based on that background, we remain convinced that neither Trump nor Sanders will win his party’s nomination — let alone the White House.
We have seen these "surges" many times before. Voters take a summer fling with a new and seductive romance. But when it comes time to settle down, to pick a partner for the long haul, to vote for someone who might actually be president, their mood changes.
Washington Post Blogs
September 14, 2015
Poll: Sharp erosion in Clinton support among Democratic women;
Female voters - the bedrock of her base - have doubts as questions arise about Clinton's character.
By Karen Tumulty
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Hillary Rodham Clinton is suffering rapid erosion of support among Democratic women - the voters long presumed to be her bedrock in her bid to become the nation's first female president.
The numbers in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll are an alarm siren: Where 71 percent of Democratic-leaning female voters said in July that they expected to vote for Clinton, only 42 percent do now, a drop of 29 percentage points in eight weeks.
The New York Times
September 14, 2015 Monday
Sanders and the Black Vote
By CHARLES M. BLOW
An August Gallup Poll found that Hillary Clinton's favorability among African-Americans was 80 percent, while Sanders's was 23 percent. Two-thirds of blacks were unfamiliar with Sanders. This could pose a problem after the contests in overwhelmingly white Iowa and New Hampshire, where he has surged to tie or best Clinton, give way to contests in Southern states with much more sizable black populations.
Washingtonpost.com
October 1, 2015
Sanders nearly matches Clinton in quarterly fundraising
By Matea Gold; John Wagner
Former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton's front-runner status in the Democratic presidential primary fight was jolted Wednesday by a new and unexpected vulnerability: a financial one.
The more than $28 million that Clinton's campaign announced Wednesday it had raised in the third quarter was nearly matched by the more than $25 million that Sen. Bernie Sanders brought in, thanks to small contributions that came in for him at a faster clip than even in President Obama's campaigns.
The New York Times Blogs
(Ross Douthat)
October 15, 2015
Why Bernie Can't Win
OPINION
But Hillary isn't hated by Democrats; they still like her, even if the rest of the country doesn't at the moment, and they like Sanders in part because liking him seems like a way to make her more likeable (that is, more liberal) as well. And that, in turn, puts a pretty hard-seeming ceiling on his insurgency, because the party doesn't want to turn against the frontrunner in a truly fundamental way, and so the arguments that a normal insurgent would need to deploy against her - again, character arguments above all - are likely, if deployed, to hurt him as much or more than her.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Barring an indictment, she's got this.
Des Moines Register
October 22, 2015
Gap between Clinton and Sanders tightens
By, Jennifer Jacobs
The race is really on.
Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have grown in popularity in Iowa, and the gap between them has slimmed to 7 percentage points, 48 percent to 41 percent, without Joe Biden in the race, a new Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll shows.
The Washington Post
October 29, 2015 Thursday
Can this revolution last?
By Harold Meyerson
When Sanders says - as he does in every speech - that he's seeking to build "a revolution," that's not just rhetoric. What Sanders understands in his bones is that every period of progressive reform in U.S. history has come as a result of massive street heat, of energized movements that push policymaking elites to the left
Movements are built from the bottom up, not the top down. Nonetheless, Sanders's campaign is the largest specifically left mobilization - and by "specifically left," I mean it demands major changes in the distribution of income and wealth and major reforms to U.S. capitalism - that the nation has seen in at least a half-century. The question that looms before the campaign is less whether it can win Sanders the Democratic nomination, much less the presidency - goals that look, to put it mildly, daunting. Rather, it is whether its volunteers can help form an enduring left movement without which a future Democratic president and Congress won't be able to enact even minor changes to income distribution or minor reforms to a capitalism that erodes the middle class.
His formidable task requires, first, that Sanders's legions understand the unique historic opportunity that their coming together presents: That their victory in all probability won't be putting Bernie in the White House, but creating a surging and enduring left. That, in turn, requires them to give as much thought to forming or joining autonomous post-campaign organizations, and envisioning post-campaign mobilizations, as they now do to advancing Sanders's candidacy. Indeed, they need to start forming such organizations today, while they are together campaigning for Sanders, and in the process even reach out to other progressives who may not be for Sanders. These endeavors can't and shouldn't be undertaken by the Sanders campaign itself. They fall exclusively to the volunteers.
Washingtonpost.com
November 5, 2015
Nice guy Bernie Sanders won't finish first, but he's still winning
By Dana Milbank
He's amiable and avuncular - and, to judge from his easy smile at Wednesday's event, happy. Why shouldn't he be? He has already succeeded beyond all expectations, even his own. His campaign has elevated his liberal issues, changed the conversation within the Democratic Party and forced the likely nominee to take a populist tack. Sanders's genteel campaign won't win him the nomination (it was never going to), but it has been healthy for the Democrats and helpful to Clinton.
Washington Post Blogs
December 18, 2015
Poll: Clinton leads Sanders by 2-to-1, with wide edge on managing terrorism;
In a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, Clinton's numbers remained steady, while Sanders's support dipped.
By Scott Clement
Hillary Clinton holds a 2-to-1 national lead over Bernie Sanders in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, enjoying a wide advantage on handling terrorism while trailing her rival more narrowly on honesty, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Clinton receives 59 percent of the support among Democratic-leaning registered voters, while 28 percent back Sanders. Clinton's standing changed little from the 60 percent received a month ago, while the Vermont senator's support dipped from high of 34 percent in November. Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley stands at 5 percent, compared with 2 percent in October.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
December 20, 2015 Sunday
Fired Sanders staffer with Phila. ties not a cheat, associates say
By Maria Panaritis; Staff Writer
Joshua Uretsky, the Philadelphia man fired as data chief for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders after a controversial data breach involving Hillary Clinton's campaign, is an idealist and a progressive but not someone who would do something untoward to gain electoral advantage, friends and associates said Saturday.
They defended the 39-year-old Fishtown man against allegations that Uretsky and other Sanders staffers had tampered with the front-runner's confidential voter data Thursday after a security firewall temporarily vanished on the shared system the party and its candidates use to store voter data.
The Quad-City Times (Davenport, Iowa)
January 13, 2016
Two new polls suggest a significant tightening of the Democratic race for president in Iowa, with one of the surveys saying Bernie Sanders has overtaken Hillary Clinton.
A Quinnipiac University Poll released Tuesday said that Sanders, a senator from Vermont, is leading Clinton, 49 percent to 44 percent. Four percent of the poll 's respondents said they were for former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley.
The five-point lead for Sanders is a turnaround from last month, when the Quinnipiac poll had Clinton leading by 11.
Los Angeles Times
January 14, 2016
Clinton's path to victory narrows;
With Sanders surging, she adopts a more aggressive approach.
By Evan Halper, Chris Megerian
The firewall that Hillary Clinton spent months painstakingly constructing to ensure quick, early and decisive victory in the Democratic nominating contest isn't holding, leaving the candidate once considered the prohibitive favorite scrambling to regain her momentum.
Just weeks before ballots are cast in the key early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, Clinton faces risk of defeat in both places, where anything but convincing victories for her could herald the kind of drawn-out, bloodying primary that establishment Democrats had banked on averting.
The New York Times
January 17, 2016
Clinton Allies Have Regrets Over Strategy
By PATRICK HEALY
Advisers to Hillary Clinton, including former President Bill Clinton, believe that her campaign made serious miscalculations by forgoing early attacks on Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and failing to undercut his archliberal message before it grew into a political movement that has now put him within striking distance of beating her in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Washingtonpost.com
January 17, 2016
As Sanders rises, anxiety enters race for some Democrats
By Paul Kane
In swing races, having Clinton atop ticket is seen as a necessary boost
Some leading Democrats are increasingly anxious about Hillary Clinton's prospects for winning the party's presidential nomination, warning that Sen. Bernie Sanders's growing strength in early battleground states and strong fundraising point to a campaign that could last well into the spring.
What seemed recently to be a race largely controlled by Clinton has turned into a neck-and-neck contest with voting set to begin in less than three weeks.
The New York Times Blogs
(First Draft)
January 21, 2016
Poll Watch: What to Make of the 'Sanders Surge'
By GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO
The latest New York Times/CBS News national poll shows Mr. Sanders well within striking distance of Hillary Clinton, attracting support from 41 percent of Democratic primary voters compared with her 48 percent. A poll released on Tuesday by Monmouth University reflected a similar narrowing in the race nationally, with Mr. Sanders cutting Mrs. Clinton's lead in half since December.
The Washington Post
January 24, 2016 Sunday
Alarmed by Sanders's rise, Clinton backers rush to Iowa
By Philip Rucker; Abby Phillip
Politicians, entertainers join in effort to close enthusiasm gap
DES MOINES - With another Iowa presidential contest at risk of slipping out of Hillary Clinton's reach, the Democratic Party is launching a massive effort this weekend to boost her candidacy.
A crowd of well-known entertainment and political figures, including Sen. Timothy M. Kaine (Va.), a former party chairman, and Tony Goldwyn, star of the hit series "Scandal," is jetting to all corners of this state to help Clinton erase her enthusiasm deficit to Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.).
The Washington Post
January 27, 2016
Nominating Sanders would be insane
By Dana Milbank
I adore Bernie Sanders.
I agree with his message of fairness and I share his outrage over inequality and corporate abuses. I think his righteous populism has captured the moment perfectly. I respect the uplifting campaign he has run. I admire his authenticity.
And I am convinced Democrats would be insane to nominate him.
And yet if Democrats hope to hold the presidency in November, they'll need to hold their noses and nominate Clinton.
Washingtonpost.com
Washington Post Blogs
The Plum Line
January 29, 2016
Democrats badly underestimated Bernie Sanders. That was a very serious mistake.
By Greg Sargent
But whatever happens in Iowa, we can already reach this conclusion: Democrats, and Hillary Clinton, will have to engage in a serious, genuine effort to learn from the Sanders phenomenon and what it really represents.
The Washington Post
February 3, 2016 Wednesday
Clinton struggles again among younger voters
By Rosalind S. Helderman; Scott Clement
DATELINE: NASHUA, N.H.
NASHUA, N.H. - While Hillary Clinton barely edged Bernie Sanders to win the Iowa caucuses, one thing became clear Monday night: The race for the Democratic presidential nomination is turning into a battle of the ages.
The dividing line was 45 years old - voters that age or older went decisively for Clinton, while those younger flocked to Sanders. Voters under 30 were the most emphatic, with an astonishing 84 percent backing the 74-year-old senator from Vermont, according to entrance surveys.
Daily News (New York)
February 4, 2016
BERN-ING BRIGHTLY Sanders no longer such a long shot Theme resonating with youth, blacks
BY JUAN GONZALEZ
"Bernie is reshaping the national debate and putting working families right where they belong, at the center of it," said Bill Lipton, head of New York's small but influential Working Families Party that is backing Sanders.
So whether Bernie or Hillary triumphs in the end, American voters will emerge stronger and more energized from the contest between them.
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
February 8, 2016
Sanders surges in polls despite identity as socialist
By TOM FONTAINE
Socialism remains a dirty word for many Americans, but that hasn't stopped Bernie Sanders from surging in the Democratic primary race for president.
Sanders, a self-described "democratic socialist" who trailed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by more than 60 percentage points in national polls in the fall, is projected to rout Clinton in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday.
Washington Post Blogs
March 9, 2016
The Daily 202: Six explanations for Bernie Sanders's surprise win in Michigan;
Why Trump's three victories, while expected, are a big deal
By James Hohmann
The biggest story, though, is the Vermont senator's stunning victory in Michigan's Democratic primary.
FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver, who yesterday pegged Clinton's chances of winning Michigan at 99 percent, describes this as "one of the greatest upsets in modern political history." He says Sanders broke Gary Hart's 1984 record in New Hampshire for "greatest upset vs. final polling average."
The New York Times
April 6, 2016 Wednesday
Cruz and Sanders Win in Wisconsin; Races Stay in Play
By AMY CHOZICK; Yamiche Alcindor contributed reporting.
Senator Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton in the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday, his sixth straight victory in the Democratic nominating contest and the latest in a string of setbacks for Mrs. Clinton as she seeks to put an end to a prolonged race against an unexpectedly deft and well-funded competitor.
Mrs. Clinton's defeat does not significantly dent her comfortable lead in the race for the 2,383 delegates needed to secure the Democratic nomination. But the loss underscores her problems connecting with young and white working-class voters who have gravitated to Mr. Sanders's economic message -- a message he will now take to economically depressed parts of New York State ahead of the April 19 primary there.
In March, Mr. Sanders raised $44 million mostly from small-dollar Internet donations, compared with $29.5 million raised by Mrs. Clinton, who has frequently left the campaign trail to attend fund-raising events, including one on Tuesday night in the Bronx, asking donors for the maximum of $2,700 per person.
The Sanders campaign spent more than $3.3 million on ads in Wisconsin, roughly $1 million more than the Clinton campaign, according to Kantar Media.
Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA)
April 10, 2016
Is Sanders a stronger nominee? Polls hint it's possible now, but he's yet to be vetted
By David Lightman Tribune News Service
WASHINGTON - Unimaginable at the start of the campaign, Bernie Sanders might be a stronger general election candidate for the Democrats than Hillary Clinton.
He leads Donald Trump nationally by 20 points right now in a hypothetical general election matchup, more than double her 9-point lead, according to the latest McClatchy-Marist poll.
He leads Sen. Ted Cruz by 12, while she is locked in a tie with the Texan.
***
DONALD TRUMP TIDAL WAVE TAKES COUNTRY BY STORM
The New York Times
June 17, 2015
Pushing Someone Rich, Trump Offers Himself
By ALEXANDER BURNS
Donald J. Trump, the garrulous real estate developer whose name has adorned apartment buildings, hotels, Trump-brand neckties and Trump-brand steaks, announced on Tuesday his entry into the 2016 presidential race, brandishing his wealth and fame as chief qualifications in an improbable quest for the Republican nomination.
Thanks to his enormous media profile, he stands a good chance of qualifying for nationally televised debates, where his appetite for combat and skill at playing to the gallery could make him a powerfully disruptive presence.
At present, Mr. Trump said, rivals on the world stage do not take the United States seriously.
The Washington Post
June 19, 2015 Friday
Donald Trump's hammer
By Michael Gerson
Donald Trump has already succeeded by provoking this column. Any form of public communication that puts "Donald Trump" within five words of "
There is little chance that Trump will have much influence when actual votes are tallied -- even the most celebrity-blinded Republican is unlikely to forget Trump's political contributions to Harry Reid -- but there is plenty of time for mischief between now and then. And the largest risk, in the end, is not to Republicanism but to populism.
The New York Post
June 18, 2015
Trump's 'Face' time Crushes all other Republicans online
By Geoff Earle
WASHINGTON - Love him or hate him, Donald Trump is creating a buzz on social media with his presidential announcement.
Facebook reported Wednesday that 3.4 million people shared information about Trump 6.4 million times in the 24 hours after he tossed his hat in the ring.
That made Trump a hotter candidate on Facebook than any other Republican - and tops among all contenders, except Hillary Rodham Clinton, who had 4.7 million people interacting 10.1 million times after her speech last weekend on Roosevelt Island.
By comparison, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who announced his campaign this week, had just 493,000 people communicating on Facebook, with 849,000 messages.
Ted Cruz, a first-term Texas senator who is a Tea Party favorite, had 2.1 million users corresponding 5.5 million times.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio had 695,000 people interacting 1.3 million times.
The Boston Globe
June 21, 2015
From beyond the fringe, it's Donald Trump. Again.
By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist
Virtually nothing Trump says is worth hearing. The opinions he expresses on public issues are the byproduct of his egotistical self-promotion — the clownish rantings of a publicity-seeker, not the governing philosophy of a potential commander-in-chief. Trump isn't a legitimate candidate; he is, to borrow George Will's phrase, a "bloviating ignoramus." Granted, he has a knack for making money and drawing attention. So does Kim Kardashian. Voters aren't going to elect her president either.
Trump isn't a conservative, he isn't a Republican, and he isn't a presidential candidate. He is a political punch line looking for a joke. All things considered, I prefer Rufus T. Firefly.
The Christian Science Monitor
June 25, 2015 Thursday
Donald Trump comes second in New Hampshire poll. How?;
By Michelle Toh Staff writer
GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump surprised pundits this week by emerging near the top of a New Hampshire poll, second only to Jeb Bush.
The survey, conducted by Suffolk University, shows that Mr. Trump collected 11 percent of the votes after Mr. Bush's 14 percent.
Analysts attribute Trump's advance to his broad name recognition in a field brimming with nearly 20 Republican candidates, aided by a successful global empire of long-running reality television shows and luxury hotels.
While Bloomberg reporters Mark Halperin and John Heilemann credited Trump's popularity in New Hampshire to his "xenophobic" rhetoric - pointing to an electorate "that is begging for this message" - Fusion host Jorge Ramos called Trump "the Hispanic community's most hated man."
Tampa Bay Times
June 29, 2015
TRUMP SAYS HE'S ALTERED HIS STANCE ON ABORTION
By LAUREN CARROLL, Times Staff Writer
Donald Trump, who in 1999 said he "was strongly pro-choice," now says he's against a woman's right to choose and will, as president, nominate Supreme Court justices who share his new stance on abortion.
During a Sunday interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Trump suggested his shift in position mirrors the feelings of the American public. "In terms of polling, the pro-choice (support) is going down a little bit," said the Republican who announced his candidacy on June 16.
Chicago Tribune
July 1, 2015
Donald Trump? Seriously? Yes, seriously
By Eric Zorn
With fortune, celebrity and shamelessness generating wind at his back, Trump will be in the top tier of Republican presidential hopefuls in at least the early caucus and primary states. And with his unfiltered rhetorical style, he'll be a compellingly provocative and disruptive force in debates.
I doubt he'll end up as the nominee. Many GOP voters who are initially jazzed by his controversial, cocksure pronouncements will likely come to see them as a liability in the general election.
But until then, the joke will be on those who don't take Donald Trump's presidential aspirations seriously.
The Christian Science Monitor
July 1, 2015
Why is Donald Trump surging in early polls?;
By Husna Haq Correspondent
For the brash, outspoken celebrepreneur, the early popularity in the polls won't last, adds Mr. Wilson of Roanoke College.
"Trump is likely to retain some support, but it is difficult to see him as a long-term, top-tier candidate," he says. "While he is a master at self-promotion, and obviously an astute businessperson, he is not an expert campaigner. His penchant for speaking off the cuff leads to gaffes, which result in a drop in the polls."
Trump, he suggests, might be a shooting star who burns out long before 2016.
The Washington Post
July 3, 2015 Friday
A farce to be reckoned with
By Eugene Robinson
Anxiety-ridden GOP masterminds will eventually find a way to solve the Trump Problem. Until they do, however, the Republican Party threatens to become as much of a laughingstock as what David Letterman used to call "that thing on Donald Trump's head."
Let's also stipulate that while Trump can't win the nomination, he can be a significant factor in the race - and not, for the Republican Party, in anything resembling a good way.
The Miami Herald
July 11, 2015 Saturday
Carl Hiaasen: There will never be a President Trump
By CARL HIAASEN; Miami Herald
Before one more straight-faced political story is written about the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump, the obvious begs to be stated: The man has absolutely no chance of winning.
Zero. Nada.
Write it down. Take it to the bank. Bet the farm.
Since there's no chance Trump will be on the ballot in 2016, why are we writing about him? He's loud, self-bloated and obnoxious -- but he'll probably make the cut for the upcoming GOP debates.
The New York Times
July 12, 2015
Trump Defiantly Rallies a New 'Silent Majority' in a Visit to a Border State
By NICHOLAS FANDOS; Fernanda Santos and Kimberley McGee contributed reporting.
PHOENIX -- Donald Trump, the real estate mogul and reality television star who has taken center stage in the race for the Republican presidential nomination this week, delivered a rambling monologue on Saturday, dismissing a long list of critics -- including Jeb Bush, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Macy's -- while rallying what he termed a new silent majority of voters.
''The silent majority is back, and we're going to take our country back,'' Mr. Trump declared as he left the stage.
He came to Phoenix after addressing a series of private and public audiences Friday and Saturday in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
''This has become a movement because people don't know what's happening,'' Mr. Trump said. ''We can't be great if we don't have a border.''
The New York Times
July 19, 2015 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
No Hero, Trump Says of McCain, Stirring Outrage
By JONATHAN MARTIN and ALAN RAPPEPORT
By Alan Rappeport and Jonathan Martin, New York Times
AMES, Iowa — Donald J. Trump upended a Republican presidential forum here Saturday with incendiary comments about Senator John McCain's war record, drawing widespread condemnation.
Asked about McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, during an event Saturday sponsored by an Iowa Christian conservative group, Trump said: "He's not a war hero. He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured."
Chicago Tribune
July 21, 2015 Tuesday
Who will flourish after Donald Trump self-destructs?
By Jennifer Rubin
Donald Trump's self-destruction will soon manifest itself in a drop in the polls. The problem remains for those GOP voters still seeking a candidate who is a viable alternative to Jeb Bush. It is not likely to be Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who has been outshone by more credible candidates and again showed bad judgment in trying to ingratiate himself with Trump. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., seems practically irrelevant to the race, and his preference to let the Obama administration negotiate with Iran rather than press for sanctions may be the death knell of his effort.
The Washington Post
August 11, 2015 Tuesday
Show The Donald the door
By Michael Gerson
In the first Republican debate, the klieg light that Donald Trump always carries around with him revealed four or five presidential candidates who, under the right circumstances, could beat Hillary Clinton. (Trump was not among them.) But there was also a moment that could predict the defeat of the GOP in 2016.
Trump will flame out. And since he is constitutionally incapable of accepting fault, he will blame the GOP for arson. As someone prone to conspiracy theories - on presidential birth records, vaccines and the scheming Mexican government - Trump is probably gathering string to prove a plot against him involving Megyn Kelly, the GOP establishment and the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society. So he is keeping his third-party options open.
The Christian Science Monitor
August 12, 2015
Why is 'Teflon' Trump still so popular?;
He insults Mexicans, Sen. John McCain, and women, but 'bulletproof' Donald Trump still tops polls. Why?
By Husna Haq Correspondent
What will it take for Donald Trump to lose his Teflon coating?
According to a Gallup poll earlier this year, Americans name the government as the most important problem in the US. In second and third place are the economy and jobs.
Trump knows this. His rhetoric is a product of post-9/11 and post-recession anxiety, says Mott. [Meg Mott, a professor of politics and gender studies at Marlboro College in Marlboro, Vt. ]
When Trump makes inflammatory remarks about illegal immigration, for example, he is appealing to working class nervousness about job stability. His success in business and real estate make him an aspirational candidate of sorts, who points to his own success as proof that he can bring Americans success.
Gaffes and insults show he's not scripted.
Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH)
August 19, 2015
Some surprise by moving up, others by moving down
By Henry J. Gomez
On second thought, maybe this Donald Trump thing is for real.
In July, the real estate mogul-turned-reality TV star seemed little more than a passing fad in a Republican Party known for its presidential flavors of the month.
And then Trump went ahead and dominated the race like few others have in history. National poll after national poll pegged him as the front-runner. So did polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states on the election-year calendar.
Daily News (New York)
August 26, 2015
FOX YOU, DONALD! Network boss mad Calls for apology No way, says Trump Others back Kelly
BY CELESTE KATZ NEW YORK DAILY NEWS BY CELESTE KATZ NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
INFURIATED Fox News boss Roger Ailes ripped GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump Tuesday, calling his renewed attacks on anchor Megyn Kelly "unacceptable" and "disturbing" and demanding the billionaire blowhard apologize.
Ailes fired off a screed against Trump - who has been ranting about Kelly ever since she questioned him at the first big Republican debate this month - and insisted he back off.
"I don't care about Megyn Kelly - but no, I wouldn't apologize," he told reporters ahead of a stump speech Tuesday in Dubuque, Iowa.
"She should probably should apologize to me, but I just don't care," the shoot-from-the-lip candidate said.
Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH)
August 28, 2015
Trump’s poll margins rise as Clinton’s slump
By Sabrina Eaton
Washington — While businessman Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are far ahead of their nearest rivals for their parties’ presidential nomination, Trump’s margin of support among Republicans is growing.
The 28 percent that Trump attained among Republicans is up from his 20 percent tally in the university’s July 30 national survey. It is the highest level of support for any Republican so far in this election, the pollsters said.
“Trump proves you don’t have to be loved by everyone, just by enough Republicans to lead the GOP pack,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
Los Angeles Times
September 6, 2015
Trump can't win, can he?
DOYLE McMANUS
Until a few weeks ago, the conventional wisdom held that Trump was merely a summer fling for angry voters, a protest candidate whose insults and braggadocio would soon impose a ceiling on his support. But recent polls suggest that Trump has raised that ceiling.
On balance, a Trump victory still appears unlikely; his conservative credentials are too weak, his political experience too thin. "I'm hearing people talk about him as if he were the inevitable nominee," Weber said. "We aren't there yet."
But Republican Party's grandees are glumly acknowledging that America's love affair with Trump is more than a summer romance -- maybe a lot more.
The Washington Post
September 6, 2015
This time, it's Trump's bodyguard who's rattling people
By David Nakamura
Bodyguard Keith Schiller gives new meaning to being Donald Trump's right-hand man.
The towering head of Trump's personal security team got off a spinning right cross to the head of a protester outside Trump Tower on Thursday in a scuffle that's become the latest flash point in the slugfest between Latinos and the billionaire presidential candidate.
The melee, caught on camera, led to news coverage of the emotional fallout of Trump's comments about Mexican immigrants. But the incident also revealed a reality of U.S. presidential campaigns: Candidates are largely responsible for their own protection at this early stage in the election cycle.
Tampa Bay Times
September 10, 2015
MATTHEW DOWD: HISTORIC POLLING PATTERN POINTS TO TRUMP
By JON GREENBERG
One big question in the 2016 race for the White House is when -- or if -- Donald Trump's campaign will run out of gas. Trump's poll numbers continue to climb even as he stumbles on questions about policy, recants his past liberal leanings, and makes comments that draw the ire of women and Hispanics.
Given the conventional wisdom that Trump has so far defied some law of political gravity, eyebrows went up when ABC News analyst and GOP political consultant Matthew Dowd declared that Trump has the earmarks of a winner.
"I think Donald Trump, as of today, is the Republican nominee for president," Dowd said on ABC's This Week on Sept. 6, 2015. "He leads nationally in every single poll for more than two months. He leads every single state, including favorite-son states like Florida, where he leads Jeb Bush. Jeb Bush is third. And any Republican that has led for two months and led every state has won the GOP nomination.
Newsday (New York)
September 13, 2015 Sunday
'Using Twitter as a two-by-four';
Trump's relentless barrage on social media is a key element in his bid
BY YANCEY ROY
Donald Trump is using social media - especially Twitter - unlike any other 2016 presidential candidate. Or any before.
His relentless use of social media to promote himself and bash opponents has been a key element in his bid in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. The barrage of tweets constantly has Trump at the center of attention, stirring the pot, analysts said.
CNN called his use of Twitter "Trump unleashed, in 140 characters or less," referring to the character limit in a tweet. It said some of his tweets were "hateful and downright nasty."
Los Angeles Times
September 16, 2015 Wednesday
Cheers, jeers greet Trump;
Protesters join admirers as the candidate offers barbs on immigration in a speech at L.A. Harbor.
By Michael Finnegan, Kurtis Lee
The setting matched the message Tuesday as Donald Trump stood beneath the gun barrels of a 57,000-ton battleship in Los Angeles Harbor and fired rhetorical blasts on immigration, trade and national security.
But protesters on shore nearly drowned out Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, as his shipboard rally set the stage for Wednesday's GOP debate at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.
Trump appeared unfazed by the loud and relentless taunting by demonstrators waving signs reading "Deport Trump!" and "We're All Anchor Babies."
One of Trump's biggest applause lines was his promise to make Mexico pay for a wall along its entire border with the U.S. He lamented drugs pouring into the country.
The San Francisco Chronicle (California)
September 18, 2015
Trump's demise has started - just look at social media
By Joe Garofoli
The second GOP debate hinted that the Summer of Trump may be approaching its end. That chill in the air isn't just coming from pundits - instead it's coming from social media.
A deeper look at how much people were talking about the candidates online and in traditional media showed that Trump's oversized share of public attention is diminishing. The volume of Facebook traffic around this debate was lower than the last one, according to the company. The TV ratings were CNN's best ever, but dropped slightly from the first debate on Fox.
Trump remains a draw, but perhaps America is starting to tire of his schtick.
The New York Times
September 29, 2015
Is Donald Trump Serious?
BYLINE: By JOE NOCERA
There's one other thing. All his life, Trump has had a deep need to be perceived as a ''winner.'' He always has to be perceived coming out on top. That's why, ultimately, I don't think he'll ever put himself at the mercy of actual voters in a primary. To do so is to risk losing. And everyone will know it.
He'll be out before Iowa. You read it here first.
The Washington Post
October 1, 2015 Thursday
Trump keeping pundits baffled
By Paul Farhi
Sooner or later, America's pundits may be right about Donald Trump's presidential prospects. But from the moment Trump announced he was running for the Republican nomination in June, they've been swinging and missing like those cartoon baseball players hacking away at a slow pitch across the plate.
The bad calls demonstrate either Trump's surprising political resilience or the punditocracy's poor prognosticating skills. (We'll leave it to the pundits to decide which.)
Except: A poll released Wednesday by USA Today and Suffolk University showed Trump with a much wider lead, 10 points. Trump had gained six points since the last USA Today/Suffolk survey in July.
The beginning of the end? Here's some punditry about the pundits: Opinions about Trump are easy; seeing the future isn't.
The Washington Post
October 4, 2015
Trump will lose, or I will eat this column
By Dana Milbank
I'm so certain Trump won't win the nomination that I'll eat my words if he does. Literally: The day Trump clinches the nomination, I will eat the page on which this column is printed in Sunday's Post. I have this confidence for the same reason Romney does: Americans are better than Trump.
No matter what 2015 polls say, 2016 won't be the year American democracy murders itself.
The Washington Post
October 22, 2015
Trump retains lead for GOP presidential nomination, poll shows
By Dan Balz; Scott Clement
Businessman Donald Trump continues to maintain his hold atop the contest for the Republican presidential nomination, with retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson keeping a clear grip on second place and the rest of the large field scrambling to find a foothold, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
In terms of candidate support, Trump scores better than his rivals among virtually all demographic groups. He is 10 points more popular among Republican men than women. Trump is 16 points more popular among whites without college degrees than with white college graduates.
The Boston Globe
October 28, 2015
New national poll shows Carson with slight lead over Trump
Ben Carson has taken a narrow lead nationally in the Republican presidential campaign, dislodging Trump from the top spot for the first time in months, according to a New York Times/CBS News survey released on Tuesday.
Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, is the choice of 26 percent of Republican primary voters, the poll found, while Trump now wins support from 22 percent, although the difference lies within the margin of sampling error.
The survey is the first time that Trump has not led all candidates since the Times and CBS News began measuring presidential preferences at the end of July.
The New York Times
November 14, 2015 Saturday
Some See Trump Attacks as Start of His Downfall
By MAGGIE HABERMAN and PATRICK HEALY; Reporting was contributed by Trip Gabriel, Jonathan Martin, Alan Rappeport and Matt Flegenheimer.
Mr. Trump has survived -- even thrived -- after the sort of verbal recklessness that would have doomed other candidates: his characterization of Mexican illegal immigrants as rapists and drug dealers, his denigration of Senator John McCain's years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and his derogatory comments about Mrs. Fiorina, as well as Megyn Kelly of Fox News and other women.
But some Republicans said that Mr. Trump's 24-hour spree of over-the-top effrontery could at last signal his eventual derailment, given that it exacerbated long-held questions about his temperament and unstatesmanlike style.
For that math to work in Mr. Trump's favor, he needs to start spending money to build a serious political operation in multiple states, Republicans said, as well as on political advertising so voters can see different facets of him. Candidates do not win by simply trusting that voters will read about their speeches on social media or in newspapers, or catch snippets of their remarks on television, Republicans said. Such connections are impersonal and less effective than broadcasting positive commercials and meeting voters at scores of small-scale events where they can get a feel for candidates.
The New York Times
November 21, 2015 Saturday
Muslim List? Call by Trump Draws Outrage
By MAGGIE HABERMAN and RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
Under assault from Democrats and Republicans alike, Donald J. Trump on Friday drew back from his call for a mandatory registry of Muslims in the United States, trying to quell one of the ugliest controversies yet in a presidential campaign like few others.
The daylong furor capped a week of one-upmanship among Republican presidential candidates as to who could sound toughest about preventing terrorism after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris. Polls show the national mood has soured on accepting refugees from Syria amid concerns about potential terrorist attacks within the United States.
Mr. Trump's talk of a national database of Muslims, first in an interview published on Thursday by Yahoo News and later in an exchange with an NBC News reporter, seemed the culmination of months of heated debate about illegal immigration as an urgent danger to Americans' personal safety.
The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey)
November 23, 2015
THE STAR-LEDGER EDITION
TRUMP'S 9/11 TALE A TOWERING LIE?
By Brent Johnson, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Local leaders, journalists, police dispute GOP hopeful's claims that N.J. Muslims celebrated fall of twin towers.
Critics from New Jersey and beyond sharply rebuked Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday, a day after the billionaire businessman said during a campaign rally that he saw "thousands and thousands" of people cheering in Jersey City as the twin towers fell at New York's World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
The Star-Ledger reported that despite widespread rumors of celebrations by Muslims in Newark and Paterson - a city with an estimated 25,000 Muslim residents, the second-most of any U.S. town - police and local leaders denied they ever happened.
Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop said in a statement Sunday that "Trump is plain wrong."
Former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw said Trump is "completely wrong."
"It did not happen. He did not see it," Brokaw said during an appearance Sunday morning on NBC's "Meet the Press." "But who's there to challenge him on that?"
Orlando Sentinel (Florida)
November 26, 2015 Thursday
'President Trump'? It's time to get used to it
Clarence Page
President Donald Trump? Surely I jest? I wish.
The billionaire presidential candidate has been riding atop the Republican primary polls for four months. He constantly defies the conventional rules of political etiquette. He reveals no more than a passing interest in facts. Yet the more he is criticized, the more he seems, like Godzilla, to grow bigger and stronger.
I think it is time for everybody to start thinking of Trump not as a fluke but as a potential nominee and maybe even president. As new realities sink in, sensible Republicans in particular must ask themselves how well the party can survive in an alliance with people who care less about inclusion than exclusion.
Chicago Tribune
November 27, 2015
What fuels Trump's rise? Anger and fear.
By Doyle McManus
Donald Trump is still on top of the polls -- defiantly, loudly, implausibly on top, even after saying things that would doom any candidate in a normal year.
The angriest voters, Pew found, are politically engaged conservatives, the Republicans most likely to vote in primary elections. Most of them say an ordinary citizen could do a better job in the White House than a professional politician. Among that group, Citizen Trump scores high.
An ABC-Washington Post poll released this week found that 42 percent of Republicans named Trump as the candidate they trusted most to handle terrorism, far ahead of any of his competitors.
I consulted several strategists for Trump's competitors -- and came up empty.
"I wish I knew," said the adviser for one candidate, who begged for anonymity to prevent his haplessness from becoming public knowledge.
Trump is still a long way from becoming his party's presidential nominee, but by all logic, he shouldn't even be this close. This campaign, however, hasn't been governed by logic; it's been governed by anger and fear.
Tampa Bay Times
November 29, 2015
TRUMP THRILLS FANS
By ADAM C. SMITH, TIMES POLITICAL EDITOR
DATELINE: SARASOTA
Thousands of Donald Trump fans packed inside and outside a Sarasota arena Saturday to hear the Republican front-runner rip Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, super PACs, "phonies" in the press corps (especially the New York Times), Obamacare, "weak" generals leading America's military, political correctness, Hillary Rodham Clinton and assorted people who have doubted or criticized him.
The billionaire reality TV star who has upended the Republican primary drew booming cheers and chants of "Trump! Trump! Trump!" as he delivered a disjointed, borderline stream-of-consciousness speech heavy on knocking critics and vague on promises about reviving the American dream and making it "bigger and stronger and bolder" than ever before.
At least 4,000 people filled Robarts Arena, and thousands more listened to speakers booming his remarks outside
Chicago Tribune
November 30, 2015 Monday
With Trump, GOP doubles down on anger
By Leonard Pitts
Over the course of just two days this month, Donald Trump spewed bigotry, venom and absurdity like a sewer pipe, spewed it with such utter disregard for decency and factuality that it was difficult to know what to criticize first.
Trump is a whack-a-mole of the asinine and the repugnant. Or, as a person dubbed "snarkin pie" noted on Twitter: "Basically, Trump is what would happen if the comments section became a human and ran for president."
Problem is, it turns out that what a large portion of the Republican faithful wants is racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, the validation of unrealistic fears and the promise of quick fixes to complex problems.
That's hardly shocking. This is what the party establishment has trained them to want, what it has fed them for years. But it has done so in measured tones and coded language that preserved the fiction of deniability.
The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio)
December 1, 2015 Tuesday
Presidential politics; Rove likes Kasich's chances better than Trump's;
By Darrel Rowland, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
He [Karl Rove] said Trump has a "high floor" and a "low ceiling." That means the 25 percent or so he's been getting in most polls since July is firm but is not increasing.
But until more candidates drop out -- and Rove says probably only a couple will in the two months leading up to the Iowa caucuses -- Trump's "floor" may be enough to stay in first, because multiple candidates are dividing up the majority anti-Trump vote.
The Washington Post
December 2, 2015 Wednesday
Trump is a racist
By Dana Milbank
Let's not mince words: Donald Trump is a bigot and a racist.
Some will think this an outrageous label to apply to the front-runner in a major party's presidential nomination. Ordinarily, I would agree that name-calling is part of what's wrong with our politics.
But there is a greater imperative not to be silent in the face of demagoguery. Trump in this campaign has gone after African Americans, immigrants, Latinos, Asians, women, Muslims and now the disabled.
His pattern brings to mind the famous words of Martin Niemà ller, the pastor and concentration camp survivor ("First they came for the socialists . . .") that Ohio Gov. John Kasich adroitly used in a recent ad attacking Trump's hateful broadsides.
The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey)
December 8, 2015
THE STAR-LEDGER EDITION
TRUMP CALLS FOR ‘COMPLETE SHUTDOWN' ON MUSLIMS
By Brent Johnson, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump on Monday called for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States" until the nation's leaders "can figure out what is going on."
The comments escalate the hard-line rhetoric the billionaire businessman has taken against terrorism and those who practice the Muslim faith in the wake of the recent Paris attacks and California mass shooting.
Los Angeles Times
December 9, 2015 Wednesday
NEWS ANALYSIS;
SAN BERNARDINO SHOOTINGS;
GOP establishment is feeling the squeeze
BYLINE: Cathleen Decker
As Trump has ascended to the top of the polls, he has been fueled by a hypercharged, shock-driven media environment and his unique skills at salesmanship. But his tactics -- us against them -- have long been a staple of the nation's political landscape, particularly in times of economic stress. And there has most often been a racial cast to the tactics.
Polls this year have shown that Trump is far more popular among those without college educations, a group of Americans who have found it far more difficult to come back from the Great Recession. Surveys also have shown that Trump's voters are far more driven than backers of other candidates by opposition to illegal immigration.
That sentiment complicates the Republican response now. Dismissing Trump hasn't served to defeat him, but neither will communal denunciations, at least where most of Trump's supporters are concerned.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin)
December 9, 2015
Ryan condemns Trump's call for Muslim
By CRAIG GILBERT Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Staff, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Washington - Condemning Donald Trump's call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday that "this is not conservatism."
"This is not what this party stands for, and more importantly, this is not what this country stands for," Ryan said.
The Janesville Republican joined a number of others in his party in repudiating Trump, the front-runner in the GOP presidential polls, over his call Monday for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on.
Tampa Bay Times
December 16, 2015 Wednesday
FOR GOP ESTABLISHMENT, FLORIDA MAY BE DO OR DIE
By GEORGE LEMIEUX
Trump's success is born of an increasingly disillusioned America so frustrated with broken government that it is willing to follow anyone who promises to blow it up. Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Bernie Sanders all feed off this anger, with Trump's genius for self-promotion and biting, outlandish vitriol bringing him the most success. The hostility of the American people toward their government is justified as the national debt approaches $19 trillion, the economy limps along, and Islamic terrorists kill Americans as our feckless president muddles through.
In truth, Donald Trump is an outgrowth of Obama's failures. Had the president rallied the nation in his Sunday night address after the San Bernardino attack, as an example, Trump may have lost his steam. Obama, the once great orator, gave a bureaucratic recitation of his failed policies and nothing new to inspire the nation's confidence. I have always thought Jimmy Carter to be the worst president and poorest communicator in modern times. Obama's Oval Office address made Carter seem like Churchill in comparison.
Without a Bush or Rubio on the ticket, it is hard to imagine a Republican beating Hillary Clinton in Florida, and as Florida goes, so likely goes the nation.
George LeMieux served as a Republican U.S. senator, governor's chief of staff and deputy attorney general. He wrote this exclusively for the Tampa Bay Times.
The Christian Science Monitor
December 18, 2015 Friday
Putin-Trump: More the 'odd men out' club than a bromance?;
Russian President Vladimir Putin and GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump had high praise for each other this week.
By Howard LaFranchi Staff writer
It didn't take long for the volleys of mutual praise and admiration this week between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US presidential aspirant Donald Trump to be dubbed a bromance.
Then on Friday, Trump continued the love, calling Putin "a leader, unlike what we have in this country," on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" show. "When people call you 'brilliant,' it's always good," Trump added, "especially when the person heads up Russia."
Both Trump and Putin made a point of highlighting the other's popularity with everyday people as reflected in presidential preference polls (for Trump) and job-approval ratings (for Putin).
Little surprise, then, that once Trump spoke of the two getting along "very well," Putin reciprocated, saying in his press conference, "He says he wants to move to another, closer level of relations.... Of course we welcome that."
The Kansas City Star
December 24, 2015
Steve Paul: GOP scribes sharpen their attack against Donald Trump
By Steve Paul; The Kansas City Star
The long knives of conservative punditry have been hard at work lately. Their target: Donald Trump. Yes, the GOP's leading presidential candidate, the Republicans' embarrassing gift to political discourse, has scared the establishment enough to start a stampede of angry elephants carrying sharp blades.
Opinionators at The Wall Street Journal seem to have a particular antipathy for The Donald. A headline on a column by Bret Stephens the other day: "Let's Elect Hillary Now." Stephens laments that American conservatism was "going the way of the Democratic Party circa 1972."
George Will, the historically grounded conservative, joined the chorus last week: "Conservatives' highest priority now must be to prevent Trump from winning the Republican nomination in this the GOP's third epochal intra-party struggle in 104 years." (Those prior struggles, Will instructs, involved Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Barry Goldwater, among others.)
"Until now," Will writes, "Trump's ever-more-exotic effusions have had an almost numbing effect. Almost. But by his embrace of Putin, and by postulating a slanderous moral equivalence -- Putin kills journalists, the United States kills terrorists, what's the big deal, or the difference? -- Trump has forced conservatives to recognize their immediate priority."
The New York Times
January 7, 2016
Trump Is Raising Doubts About Cruz's Citizenship
By ALAN RAPPEPORT; Thomas Kaplan and Matt Flegenheimer contributed reporting.
Donald J. Trump continued to fan the flames of doubt over Senator Ted Cruz's citizenship on Wednesday, suggesting that his Canadian roots might be a problem if he won the Republican presidential nomination.
The decision to confront Mr. Cruz more directly comes as Mr. Trump, who has dominated most national and state polls for months, faces the prospect of losing to the Texas senator in next month's Iowa caucuses. Popular among evangelical Christians and conservatives, Mr. Cruz has become a favorite to win the first contest of the nominating process.
This is not the first time that Mr. Trump has stirred controversy over a politician's citizenship. He previously spearheaded the so-called birther movement to pressure President Obama to prove that he was actually born in the United States.
The New York Times
January 7, 2016 Thursday
How Donald Trump Loses
By ROSS DOUTHAT
Donald Trump isn't going to be the Republican nominee.
Six months ago, that was a truism. Three months ago, it was the conventional wisdom. Now it's an assertion that inspires sympathetic glances, the kind you get when you tell friends that you think your new personal-investment strategy is sure to beat the market.
I think that Ted Cruz will continue to consolidate evangelicals as Ben Carson fades, and someone (probably Marco Rubio) will eventually consolidate the moderate-conservative vote -- which is currently splintered among five candidates in New Hampshire, but which if it were consolidated would very easily beat Trump's total in that state.
Donald Trump isn't going to be the Republican nominee.
The New York Times
January 20, 2016
Palin Backs Trump With a Dash of Rogue Appeal
BYLINE: By ALAN RAPPEPORT and MAGGIE HABERMAN; Alan Rappeport reported from Ames, and Maggie Haberman from New York. Matt Flegenheimer contributed reporting from Center Barnstead, N.H.
AMES, Iowa -- Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 vice-presidential nominee who became a Tea Party sensation and a favorite of grass-roots conservatives, endorsed Donald J. Trump in Iowa on Tuesday, providing him with a potentially significant boost just 13 days before the state's caucuses.
The New York Times
January 24, 2016
The Way To Stop Trump
By ROSS DOUTHAT
THIS is, of course, a pointless column. The Republican presidential race is over, as you may have heard. Donald Trump has the nomination wrapped up -- in the most luxurious, velveteen packaging you've ever seen. You've seen his polling lead: It's yuge. You've watched his rallies: They're even yuger. You've heard from the insiders, the panjandrums, the grand poo-bahs: He's a man they can do business with Bob Dole guarantees it. You've heard from Sarah Palin, and when has her political judgment ever failed?
Trump is a salesman: That's been a big part of his campaign's success. And how do you flip a salesman's brand? You persuade people that he's a con artist, and they're his marks.
Or least that's what you would do, if the primary campaign weren't over already.
But since it is, I guess I'm just offering general-election advice. Maybe Bernie Sanders will take it.
The Washington Post
January 25, 2016 Monday
Trump is a genuine favorite for the GOP nomination
By Chris Cillizza
The Iowa caucuses are a week away. And Donald Trump, the larger-than-life real estate mogul and reality-TV star, is - still - the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. Not only has Trump not disappeared or imploded, as everyone everywhere predicted he would, he appears to be getting stronger in early-state and national polling as actual voting draws closer.
At this point, Trump's path to winning the Republican nomination quickly is far easier than the one former secretary of state Hillary Clinton must travel to capture the Democratic nomination. That doesn't mean that Trump is a sure thing yet, but he has, without question, the best chance of any Republican running to claim the party's top prize.
The New York Times
January 27, 2016 Wednesday
Trump, in Feud With Network, Shuns Debate
By MAGGIE HABERMAN and NICK CORASANITI; Thomas Kaplan contributed reporting from Des Moines.
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa -- Donald J. Trump and Fox News, the candidate who has reordered the Republican presidential race and the cable network of choice for many of the party's voters, stared each other down on Tuesday over his demand that the news anchor Megyn Kelly be dumped from moderating Thursday's debate, the last before Monday's caucuses.
The network did not blink. So Mr. Trump walked.
Fox News said Mr. Trump's refusal to debate his rivals was ''near unprecedented.''
''This is rooted in one thing -- Megyn Kelly, whom he has viciously attacked since August and has now spent four days demanding be removed from the debate stage,'' the network said in a statement.
On her program Tuesday night, Ms. Kelly observed that ''what's interesting here is Trump is not used to not controlling things, as the chief executive of a large organization.''
''But the truth is, he doesn't get to control the media,'' she added.
In the months since, Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized Ms. Kelly as a ''third-rate'' reporter. And as Thursday's debate approached, Mr. Trump began disparaging Ms. Kelly as if he were a prizefighter promoting a rematch. He called her dishonest, accused her of bias and a conflict of interest, and said flat-out that he did not like her.
Los Angeles Times
January 31, 2016
Donald Trump's woman problem
By DOYLE McMANUS
Improbably but relentlessly, Donald Trump is marching toward the Republican Party's presidential nomination
Why is Trump struggling to win women's hearts?
This is, after all, a man who called Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly a "bimbo" and said she had "blood coming out of her wherever," who sent a note to a New York Times columnist telling her she had "the face of a dog," and whose professional assessment of Carly Fiorina was: "Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that?
The New York Times
February 10, 2016 Wednesday
Trump and Sanders Win Resoundingly in New Hampshire
BYLINE: By PATRICK HEALY and JONATHAN MARTIN; Jess Bidgood contributed reporting from Dover, N.H.
MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Donald J. Trump and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont harnessed working-class fury on Tuesday to surge to commanding victories in a New Hampshire primary that drew a huge turnout across the state.
The success by two outsider candidates dealt a remarkable rebuke to the political establishment, and all but guaranteed protracted, bruising races for each party's presidential nomination.
The Christian Science Monitor
February 18, 2016 Thursday
Donald Trump vs. Pope Francis: Game-changer in South Carolina?;
Pope Francis's suggestion that Donald Trump isn't Christian, over his position on immigration, adds a wrinkle to the South Carolina GOP primary, where Evangelicals dominate.
By Linda Feldmann Staff writer
Has Donald Trump met his match?
When Pope Francis suggested to reporters Thursday that Mr. Trump "is not a Christian," because of his tough approach to illegal immigration, a firestorm ensued. Trump responded as he always does: by going on the attack.
"For a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful," said Trump, who is Presbyterian, in a statement.
Later on Thursday, at a rally, Trump said of the pope's comment, "Who the hell cares?... We have to stop illegal immigration, massive crime."
The Kansas City Star
February 20, 2016 Saturday
Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump move to front of line in 2016 presidential race
By Dave Helling; The Kansas City Star
In results that sharpen the outline of the presidential race, Donald Trump won South Carolina's Republican presidential primary Saturday, while Hillary Clinton turned back Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Nevada Democratic caucuses.
Trump thanked a jubilant crowd Saturday evening for his decisive victory. "When you win, it's beautiful," he said. "And we are going to start winning for our country."
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, once considered a major contender, had suspended his campaign just moments earlier. He finished far behind Trump and at least two other candidates.
Trump's primary triumph makes him the clear favorite in the Republican race. But many party figures remain deeply worried about Trump as their nominee, and the South Carolina results may prompt them to coalesce around one or two alternatives in the upcoming primary states.
Los Angeles Times
February 24, 2016 Wednesday
He knows exactly what he's doing
By DOYLE McMANUS
The Republican establishment has finally woken to the danger it's in: Unless something changes soon, Donald Trump is going to be the party's nominee for president. How is this possible?
Notice the pattern? Trump grabs media attention by saying something outrageous -- and then takes a step back, as if to say: I didn't mean it literally. That "free media" strategy has enabled Trump to dominate the debate.
In short, Trump's campaign isn't all that chaotic. It's a well-designed amalgam of old and new that makes good use of the candidate's reality-TV strengths.
The results are striking: In recent polls, Trump is running ahead of Rubio in Florida, ahead of Kasich in Ohio and close to Cruz in Texas.
He's still divisive, uncivil and mendacious. He's still the most unconventional candidate we've seen in a long time but part of his crazy genius is that he's not as unconventional as he pretends.
The Christian Science Monitor
February 25, 2016 Thursday
Can Trump win the presidency without the Hispanic vote? Maybe.;
Some 8 in 10 Hispanic voters have an unfavorable view of Mr. Trump, and more than 7 in 10 have a 'very unfavorable' impression of him, more than double the percentage of any other major candidate.
By Husna Haq Correspondent
Given that Hispanics are a significant voting bloc - a record 27.3 million Latinos will be eligible to vote in 2016 - can Trump win the presidency without the Latino vote?
It will be an uphill climb, says Emily Farris, an assistant professor of political science at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.
"If we look back over the last six presidential elections, only one Republican has won a majority of the vote: George W. Bush in 2004. Given this fact and that Latinos are the fastest growing demographic group in the US, it is unlikely that a Republican nominee can win the election without courting a significant number of Latino voters," says Professor Farris.
It would appear Trump - and perhaps the GOP - is doomed from the outset. But not so fast.
In Nevada, the first early GOP voting state with a significant Latino population, Trump did, in fact, win the Latino vote, and by a wide margin. Trump won 45 percent of the GOP Latino vote there, according to Edison's official entrance poll. H spent his early childhood in Nevada. Trump was quick to trumpet the coup in his victory speech, and some in the media chattered about a new voting block: Trump Latinos.
"Theoretically, Republicans could win without the Latino vote if they're making up that support somewhere else, but as a practical matter it's not likely they could win without a third of the Latino vote, which is more than McCain and Romney got," cautions Broussard.
In other words, there may be a path forward for Trump or the GOP even without Hispanics, but it's not an easy one.
The Washington Post
February 25, 2016 Thursday
How Trump wins
By E.J. Dionne Jr.
DATELINE: LOUISVILLE
If the durability of Donald Trump's presidential candidacy has taken the political world by surprise, the sources of his electoral strength are no mystery. And the support he's winning reflects a crisis not only for the Republican and conservative coalitions but also for the political system as a whole.
Let it be said that Trump is not (yet) winning support from anything close to a majority of Americans. On the contrary, polling shows that a significant majority of Americans are anti-Trump. His unfavorable ratings have reached or approached 60 percent in many surveys.
"The global economy has changed more rapidly than many people's ability to adjust to it," Louisville's Democratic mayor Greg Fischer said in an interview. "It's changing so fast that many people are asking, 'Why am I being left out of this?' "
If Trump's campaign leaves behind one useful legacy, it will be a heightened awareness of the deep hurt among the Americans Fischer is describing. They have been brutally battered by globalization and technological change. So far, Trump's Republican rivals have had little to say to these voters. No wonder Trump loves the poorly educated.
Tampa Bay Times
February 26, 2016
TRUMP LEADS RUBIO IN NEW FLORIDA PRIMARY VOTERS POLL
By ADAM C. SMITH, Times Political Editor
A new poll by Quinnipiac University finds Donald Trump overwhelmingly leading native son Marco Rubio 44 percent to 28 percent among likely Republican voters in Florida.
Even with Jeb Bush no longer in the race (though his name is on the ballot), Rubio has an uphill climb in Florida's must-win March 15 primary. Still, nearly one in three Republicans say they might change their minds, five percent are undecided and more than one in five say they definitely would not support Trump.
The Washington Post
February 26, 2016 Friday
Poll: Hispanic voters deeply dislike Trump
By Dan Balz; Scott Clement
Donald Trump has used the issue of immigration to help make himself the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, but his harsh rhetoric also has earned him the highest negative ratings among Hispanic voters of any major GOP hopeful, according to a Washington Post-Univision News poll.
Today, 8 in 10 Hispanic voters have an unfavorable view of Trump. That includes more than 7 in 10 who have a "very unfavorable" impression of him, which is more than double the percentage of any other major candidate.
Those findings compare with a Univision survey taken around the time of Trump's announcement last summer, when just more than 7 in 10 had a negative view of him and fewer than 6 in 10 said they had a "very unfavorable" impression.
Should Trump become the Republican nominee, his low standing among Hispanic voters could jeopardize the party's hopes of winning the general election in November.
The Boston Herald
February 27, 2016 Saturday
CHRISTIE HELPS KEEP IT ALL ABOUT TRUMP;
ENDORSEMENT OVERSHADOWS RUBIO ATTACKS
By CHRIS CASSIDY
Outsider billionaire Donald Trump scored his first major GOP insider endorsement from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie - albeit from a former rival who once said the New York - real-estate tycoon was 'not suited to be president.'
'I've gotten to know all the people on that stage and there is none who is better prepared to provide America with the strong leadership that it needs both at home and around the world than Donald Trump,' Christie told stunned reporters in Texas.
The Christian Science Monitor
March 1, 2016 Tuesday
Paul Ryan faces 'impossible conundrum' on Donald Trump;
Many Republicans in Congress think Donald Trump could hurt the party. But party disloyalty would be worse.
By Francine Kiefer Staff writer
Republican leaders in Congress have gone to great lengths to stay out of the race for the GOP presidential nominee. But that forbearance is showing signs of slipping.
On Tuesday, Speaker Paul Ryan (R) of Wisconsin condemned "bigotry" without naming Donald Trump. The comments came after Mr. Trump refused on Sunday to disavow former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, who supports the Trump campaign. Trump later said he didn't understand the interviewer because of a faulty earpiece, insisting that he does disavow Mr. Duke.
"If a person wants to be the nominee of the Republican party, there can be no evasion and no games. They must reject any group or cause that is built on bigotry," the speaker said.
"This party does not prey on people's prejudices. We appeal to their highest ideals. This is the party of Lincoln," he said.
The Washington Post
March 1, 2016 Tuesday
Rhetoric about Muslims a rallying cry for Trump crowds
By Jenna Johnson
At a rally in southwest Virginia on Monday, Republican front-runner Donald Trump again told an apocryphal story about a general killing Muslim terrorists with bullets dipped in pigs' blood. In Tennessee on Saturday, he promised to bar Syrians from the country "until we find out what the hell is going on." In Oklahoma City the night before, he launched into a passionate defense of waterboarding after a protester flashed a sign reading "Islamophobia is not the answer."
And every time, the crowd roared with deafening cheers.
Trump has not only promised to "bomb the s--- out of ISIS" - he would also kill the loved ones of suspected jihadists. He would bring back waterboarding - which is forbidden by U.S. and international law but which Trump considers "minimal, minimal, minimal torture" - and would do "much worse" to suspected terrorists. He would temporarily ban most foreign Muslims from entering the country and would heavily surveil and possibly close some U.S. mosques.
The crowd erupted in anger. Another young man grabbed the sign, crumpled it and triumphantly waved it over his head. Another ripped it to pieces while Trump stopped speaking and turned around to watch. As police escorted the protester away, the crowd chanted: "Trump! Trump! Trump!"
"You see, in the good old days, law enforcement acted a lot quicker than this. A lot quicker. In the good old days, they'd rip him out of that seat so fast - but today, everybody's politically correct," Trump said, adding that police are afraid to do their jobs. "Our country's going to hell with being politically correct. Going to hell."
Los Angeles Times
March 2, 2016 Wednesday
ELECTION 2016
Clinton, Trump separate themselves from the rest;
The billionaire wins most states on Super Tuesday, narrowing the path for any GOP rival to overtake him.
By Mark Z. Barabak
Donald Trump rolled up big victories in the Northeast and across the South on Super Tuesday, taking a giant step toward clinching the GOP nomination as the contest moves to a series of stiff challenges for his beleaguered rivals.
Riding a wave of anger and seething frustration, Trump carried Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Virginia and Vermont.
Sen. Ted Cruz won his home state of Texas and next-door neighbor Oklahoma, strengthening his claim to be the last man standing between Trump and the nomination.
USA TODAY
March 4, 2016 Friday
'Fraud': Romney trashes Trump;
Front-runner says 2012 candidate blew his chance
BYLINE: David Jackson, USA TODAY
Mitt Romney jumped into the Republican civil war over Donald Trump on Thursday, blasting the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination as a "phony" and a "fraud" who would hand the White House over to Hillary Clinton in the fall election.
"His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University," the 2012 Republican nominee said in a heavily promoted speech at the University of Utah. "He's playing the members of the American public for suckers. He gets a free ride to the White House, and all we get is a lousy hat."
"I am the only one who can beat Hillary Clinton," Trump tweeted. "I am not a Mitt Romney, who doesn't know how to win. Hillary wants no part of 'Trump.'"
On NBC's Today show, Trump said, "Mitt Romney is a stiff."
Romney has attacked Trump for several days over his failure to release his taxes and other issues. He has posted only anti-Trump messages on Twitter for the past week. In his speech, Romney said, "I predict that there are more bombshells in his tax returns."
Trump's son Eric tweeted that Romney showed no loyalty to Trump for his endorsement in 2012.
The Washington Post
March 4, 2016 Friday
Why Trump won't be the next president
By James Downie
James Downie is The Post's digital opinions editor.
To borrow a phrase from one of the men trailing Trump: Let's dispense with the notion that Trump has a real shot at winning in November.
Start with the basic electoral math. At the national level, Trump trails Clinton by more than three percentage points in the RealClearPolitics polling average, and she has led him in 15 of 17 national polls since December. Trump clearly does the worst against her of the possible Republican nominees. His unfavorables are historically high for a general election nominee. And if "more than three points" doesn't sound impressive, note that Barack Obama rarely led Mitt Romney by more than three points in the polling averages - and he won easily. What state polling we have suggests that Clinton, like Obama, will start wth 220 or 230 electoral votes safe or close to that amount, leaving Trump little room for error.
Breaking the numbers down demographically makes Trump's path look even steeper. In 2012, Romney easily won the non-Hispanic white vote, but it wasn't nearly enough to overcome his poor showing among Hispanics, who broke 71 to 27 percent for Obama. A recent Post-Univision News poll found that 80 percent of Hispanics have an unfavorable view of Trump. Given that the electorate is expected to be less white than it was in 2012, Trump would have to win an unprecedented share of the white vote to stand a chance. Furthermore, Trump's campaign has a poor record of setting up the competent field operations needed to boost turnout among his base of support.
Tampa Bay Times
March 6, 2016 Sunday
YES, TRUMP KNEW ABOUT DAVID DUKE
By LINDA QIU, Times Staff Writer
A few days before Donald Trump dominated Super Tuesday, the Republican frontrunner was being rebuked left and right for declining to denounce former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.
The controversy began Feb. 24, when Duke said that he supports Trump's candidacy and told listeners of his radio program to "get active" for Trump. Two days later, Trump disavowed Duke in a news conference.
But Trump, who claims to have the "world's greatest memory," seemed to have forgotten this by Feb. 28. When CNN's Jake Tapper asked him about Duke, Trump claimed ignorance four times:
"Well, just so you understand, I don't know anything about David Duke, okay? I don't know anything about what you're even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists. So, I don't know.
"I don't know, did he endorse me or what's going on, because, you know, I know nothing about David Duke. I know nothing about white supremacists. And so you're asking me a question that I'm supposed to be talking about people that I know nothing about. ...
Later that day, Trump tweeted a video of his earlier disavowal of Duke, and blamed his failure to do it again on CNN on "a very bad earpiece."
As fellow fact-checkers at the Washington Post and Factcheck.org have pointed out, Trump knew enough about Duke to denounce him several times over the past two decades.
The New York Times
March 6, 2016
2 Cruz Victories Buoy Challenge to Trump Drive
By JONATHAN MARTIN; Reporting was contributed by Yamiche Alcindor, Maggie Haberman, Liam Stack and Joe Stumpe.
Senator Ted Cruz scored decisive wins in the Kansas and Maine caucuses on Saturday, demonstrating his enduring appeal among conservatives as he tried to reel in Donald J. Trump's significant lead in the Republican presidential race.
Mr. Trump contained Mr. Cruz's advances by winning in Louisiana and Kentucky. But the Texas senator's wins were sure to energize the anti-Trump forces who are desperately trying to stop Mr. Trump's march to the nomination, and they left little doubt that Mr. Cruz, who has now captured six states, is their best hope.
In Democratic contests, Hillary Clinton scored a commanding victory in Louisiana, the state with the most delegates in play on Saturday, while Senator Bernie Sanders won the Nebraska and Kansas caucuses, according to The Associated Press. The results did not alter the contours of a race in which Mrs. Clinton maintains a significant delegate lead.
The New York Times
March 8, 2016 Tuesday
Bloomberg Says He Won't Run for President, Fearing a Victory by Trump
By MAGGIE HABERMAN and ALEXANDER BURNS
Michael R. Bloomberg, who for months quietly laid the groundwork to run for president as an independent, will not enter the 2016 campaign, he said Monday, citing his fear that a three-way race could lead to the election of a candidate he thinks would endanger the country: Donald J. Trump.
In a forceful condemnation of his fellow New Yorker, Mr. Bloomberg said Mr. Trump had run ''the most divisive and demagogic presidential campaign I can remember, preying on people's prejudices and fears.'' He said he was alarmed by Mr. Trump's threats to bar Muslim immigrants from entering the country and to initiate trade wars against China and Japan, and he was disturbed by Mr. Trump's ''feigning ignorance of white supremacists,'' alluding to Mr. Trump's initial refusal to disavow support from David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader.
The Christian Science Monitor
March 8, 2016 Tuesday
How Trump has reached a plateau;
Recent poll numbers suggest that Donald Trump has reached his capacity within the Republican Party, while GOP elites are plotting for a contested convention if he fails to attain the majority of primary delegates come June.
BYLINE: Cathaleen Chen Staff
While Donald Trump continues to lead in the Republican nomination contest, opponents Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio are playing a swift catch-up game.
When compared one-on-one with Senators Cruz and Rubio, Trump falls behind. Nearly seven in 10 survey respondents say they prefer the two senators over the reality TV star if the competition was limited to just two candidates.
GOP elites have already conjectured, perhaps optimistically, the scenario in which a contested convention will be necessary: Marco Rubio takes Florida, John Kasich wins Ohio, Ted Cruz picks up victories in the Midwest, and Trump fumbles with the rest of the country, all of which culminates in him not quite reaching the magic number of 1,237.
The Republican Governors Association and other conservative policy experts have been brainstorming tactics to take down Trump.
"After South Carolina, I got questions - 'Can he be stopped? You're running a fool's errand,' " David McIntosh, president of the anti-Trump "Club for Growth," told the Post. "My answer was: 'It worked [in Iowa], and even more importantly, it has to be done.' "
"We can't just cede this ground. "
The demographics in which Trump performs most poorly include strong conservatives and evangelical white Protestants. Very conservative Republican-leaning voters prefer Cruz over Trump by 60 percent to 34 percent, and Rubio to Trump by 56 percent to 41 percent. For evangelical white Protestants, the margin of favor against Trump is 64 percent to 31 percent for Cruz and 55 percent to 42 percent for Rubio.
Chicago Sun-Times
March 9, 2016 Wednesday
Robert Reich: The many ways Donald Trump is a fascist
I've been reluctant to use the "f" word to describe Donald Trump because it's especially harsh, and it's too often used carelessly.
But Trump has finally reached a point where parallels between his presidential campaign and the fascists of the first half of the 20th century - lurid figures such as Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Oswald Mosley, and Francisco Franco - are too evident to overlook.
It's not just that Trump recently quoted Mussolini (he now calls that tweet inadvertent) or that he's begun inviting followers at his rallies to raise their right hands in a manner chillingly similar to the Nazi "Heil" solute (he dismisses such comparison as "ridiculous.")
The parallels go deeper.
The old fascists intimidated and threatened opponents. Trump is not above a similar strategy. To take one example, he recently tweeted that Chicago's Ricketts family, now spending money to defeat him, "better be careful, they have a lot to hide."
The old fascists incited violence. Trump has not done so explicitly but Trump supporters have attacked Muslims, the homeless, and African-Americans - and Trump has all but excused their behavior.
Viewing Donald Trump in light of the fascists of the first half of the twentieth century - who used economic stresses to scapegoat others, created cults of personality, intimidated opponents, incited violence, glorified their nations and disregarded international law, and connected directly with the masses - helps explain what Trump is doing and how he is succeeding.
It also suggests why Donald Trump presents such a profound danger to the future of America and the world.
Robert B. Reich was Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton.
The Cincinnati Enquirer (Ohio)
March 9, 2016 Wednesday
Trump takes home the biggest prize of big night -- Michigan
By David Jackson
Donald Trump swept to primary victories Tuesday in Michigan and Mississippi, putting even more pressure on rivals who are trying to stop his drive for the Republican presidential nomination.
"There's only one person (who) did well tonight: Donald Trump," the New York billionaire told supporters who gathered at his golf club in Jupiter, Fla.
Claiming victories despite a week of "horrible lies" told by opponents and "special interests" trying to block him, Trump said "it shows you how brilliant the public is."
Ohio Gov. John Kasich was running second behind Trump in Michigan, while Ted Cruz was a distant runner-up to the New York billionaire in Mississippi.Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz battled for second place in Michigan, the biggest prize of the night, while Cruz ran a distant second to the New York billionaire in Mississippi.
The Miami Herald
March 15, 2016 Tuesday
Trump, Clinton sweep Florida in primary rout; Rubio drops out
By Patricia Mazzei, Amy Sherman and Lesley Clark; Miami Herald
In an utter rout, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton dominated Florida's presidential primary Tuesday, scoring their biggest electoral prizes so far in a pair of landslides -- and, in Trump's case, burying the ambitions of Miami favorite Marco Rubio.
Rubio ended his candidacy minutes after the polls closed, conceding his campaign message failed to resonate with outraged voters.
"While we are on the right side," he said, "this year we will not be on the winning side."
He offered an outline of how the politics of anger engulfed the conservative movement -- "America's in the middle of a real political storm, a real tsunami, and we should have seen this coming" -- and warned of dire consequences if its leaders don't propose a more restrained, optimistic vision. It was an indirect critique of Trump, whom Rubio congratulated from stage but said he hadn't spoken to yet.
Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH)
March 16, 2016
Win in Ohio just the start of long road for Kasich Republicans
By Henry J. Gomez [email protected]
Berea — Believe it or not, this was the easy part for John Kasich.
The Ohio governor won his home state’s Republican presidential primary Tuesday, claiming all 66 delegates up for grabs. Kasich now has a chance to block real estate mogul Donald Trump, the front-runner who has many party leaders in a panic over the prospect of his nomination.
But it is a slim chance. It depends on Kasich and the GOP establishment executing a near-flawless strategy in the coming weeks and months.
It takes 1,237 delegates to clinch the Republican nomination. Even with his Ohio victory, it’s mathematically impossible for Kasich to get there with the remaining primaries. In a memo sent to reporters after networks called the race for Kasich, chief strategist John Weaver predicted none of the three candidates will reach the magic number before Cleveland.
The Ohio results nonetheless foreshadow trouble for the billionaire. What had been predicted to be a close race appeared to end with a fairly comfortable win for Kasich. Trump’s nationalist rhetoric on immigration and trade plays well with white working-class voters, as evidenced by Trump’s strong showing in eastern and southeastern Ohio. But as the race shifts to other large Midwest states, Trump will encounter similarly diverse electorates.
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix)
March 23, 2016
Clinton, Trump dominate Arizona
On a day CNN reported that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are the most disliked presidential candidates in modern times, Arizonans went to the polls and voted for both to represent their respective parties in the fall.
Unloved and even despised by many, Trump and Clinton managed to persuade pluralities of Arizonans they are the best suited to succeed Barack Obama.
Trump fought off an energetic bid by Ted Cruz, who sought to prove he is the man with momentum heading toward what is likely to be a brokered GOP convention in Cleveland in July.
The Arizona results sharpen the dilemma for the GOP. Trump's lead expanded on Tuesday night, and frantic efforts by party elders to derail his campaign were made that much harder.
The New York Times
March 30, 2016 Wednesday
Trump Campaign Chief Charged With Battery
By MAGGIE HABERMAN and MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM; Steve Eder, Amy Chozick and Kitty Bennett contributed reporting.
Donald J. Trump's presidential campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was charged with battery Tuesday by the police in Jupiter, Fla., who said he had grabbed a reporter this month as she tried to ask Mr. Trump a question.
His formal arrest was detailed in a police report that cited new security-camera images of the episode, which show Mr. Lewandowski roughly pulling the reporter, Michelle Fields, out of his way -- despite his vigorous denials that he ever touched her and his repeated attacks on her credibility.
Mr. Lewandowski, who turned himself in on the misdemeanor charge, was quickly released. But the incident, the way the campaign has dealt with it, and the new photographic images refuting Mr. Lewandowski's and Mr. Trump's versions of events seemed to encapsulate much of what has made Mr. Trump's campaign like no other.
The New York Times
March 31, 2016
Trump's Call on Abortions Rattles G.O.P.
By MATT FLEGENHEIMER and MAGGIE HABERMAN; Kitty Bennett and Thomas Kaplan contributed reporting.
Donald J. Trump said on Wednesday that women who seek abortions should be subject to ''some form of punishment'' if the procedure is banned in the United States, further elevating Republican concerns that his explosive remarks about women could doom the party in the fall.
The comment, which Mr. Trump later recanted, attracted instant, bipartisan criticism -- the latest in a series of high-profile episodes that have shined a light on Mr. Trump's feeble approval ratings among women nationally.
In this case, Mr. Trump also ran afoul of conservative doctrine, with opponents of abortion rights immediately castigating him for suggesting that those who receive abortions -- and not merely those who perform them -- should be punished if the practice is outlawed.
The statement came as Mr. Trump appeared at a town-hall-style forum with Chris Matthews of MSNBC, recorded for broadcast on Wednesday night. Mr. Matthews pressed Mr. Trump, who once supported abortion rights, on his calls to ban the procedure, asking how he might enforce such a restriction.
''You go back to a position like they had where they would perhaps go to illegal places,'' Mr. Trump said, after initially deflecting questions. ''But you have to ban it.
The New York Times
April 3, 2016
Electoral Map a Reality Check to a Trump Bid
By JONATHAN MARTIN and NATE COHN
Donald J. Trump's presidential candidacy has stunned the Republican Party. But if he survives a late revolt by his rivals and other leaders to become the party's standard-bearer in the general election, the electoral map now coming into view is positively forbidding.
In recent head-to-head polls with one Democrat whom Mr. Trump may face in the fall, Hillary Clinton, he trails in every key state, including Florida and Ohio, despite her soaring unpopularity ratings with swing voters.
In Democratic-leaning states across the Rust Belt, which Mr. Trump has vowed to return to the Republican column for the first time in nearly 30 years, his deficit is even worse: Mrs. Clinton leads him by double digits in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Mr. Trump is so negatively viewed, polls suggest, that he could turn otherwise safe Republican states, usually political afterthoughts because of their strong conservative tilt, into tight contests. In Utah, his deep unpopularity with Mormon voters suggests that a state that has gone Republican every election for a half-century could wind up in play. Republicans there pointed to a much-discussed Deseret News poll last month, showing Mrs. Clinton with a narrow lead over Mr. Trump, to argue that the state would be difficult for him.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin)
April 6, 2016 Wednesday
Shaking things up | Victories by Cruz, Sanders spark drama as front-runners falter;
New role for Wisconsin;
A stiff wall for Trump
BYLINE: CRAIG GILBERT [email protected] Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Staff, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The front-runners on both sides fell hard in Wisconsin's presidential primary Tuesday, injecting new intrigue, chaos and drama into an epic campaign.
For Republicans, Donald Trump's decisive loss to Ted Cruz elevates all the uncertainties and schisms that have dogged the party for months, and increases the odds of a history-making "open" convention.
For Democrats, Hillary Clinton's loss to Bernie Sanders leaves her daunting delegate lead largely intact, but gives Sanders a solid victory in a high-turnout Midwestern battleground and feeds doubts about Clinton's ability to appeal to independents and energize voters in her own party.
In exit polling, 38% of GOP voters said they'd be "scared" by a Trump presidency; another 20% said they'd be concerned.
Those polls also suggest that Trump's signature issues of trade and immigration were of limited help in Wisconsin. GOP voters were far more likely to cite government spending, the economy and terrorism as top issues (only 5% said immigration).
For much of this GOP race, analysts have been predicting that Trump, because of his high negatives and hard "ceiling" of support, would be overtaken once the GOP field narrowed and his rivals stopped dividing the rest of the vote.
That may have finally happened in Wisconsin, where Trump couldn't break out of the 30s in his share of the GOP vote, and Cruz shot past him with a huge assist from a Trump-resistant state.
The New York Times
April 6, 2016
Cruz Romps in Wisconsin, Defeating Trump in G.O.P. Primary
By JONATHAN MARTIN and MATT FLEGENHEIMER; Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.
Senator Ted Cruz soundly defeated Donald J. Trump in the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday, breathing new life into efforts to halt Mr. Trump's divisive presidential candidacy and dealing a blow to his chances of clinching the Republican nomination before the party's summer convention.
With more than 80 percent of precincts reporting, Mr. Cruz had received 48 percent of the vote to 34 percent for Mr. Trump. Gov. John Kasich of Ohio was a distant third with 14 percent.
Mr. Trump's loss was his most significant setback since Mr. Cruz narrowly defeated him in Iowa, the campaign's first nominating contest. And after largely dominating the Republican field from the moment he announced his candidacy last June, Mr. Trump now faces a fresh challenge: bouncing back in the face of searing attack ads by Republicans bent on stopping him, questions about his demeanor and campaign organization, and a single ascendant challenger in Mr. Cruz.
Most striking was how many Wisconsin primary voters still harbored deep discomfort with Mr. Trump despite his wide lead in the race for delegates. In exit polls, 58 percent said they would be ''concerned'' or ''scared'' if he were elected, higher than the other two Republican hopefuls. And 37 percent of those who voted in the Republican primary said they would support Hillary Clinton, a third-party candidate or no one at all if Mr. Trump were the nominee.
The New York Times
April 7, 2016
The New York Times on the Web
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Look to Rebound in New York
By ALAN RAPPEPORT; Matt Flegenheimer contributed reporting
Setting their sights on the next big delegate prizes, the presidential candidates descended on New York and Pennsylvania on Wednesday afternoon, with Senators Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders looking to extend the momentum from their Wisconsin victories while Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton work to regain their footing after stinging defeats.
A poll released Wednesday showed Mr. Trump with more than 50 percent support, and showing particular strength in New York City, Long Island and western New York. Still, the pressure is intense on Mr. Trump, who is enduring the most challenging stretch of his insurgent candidacy. His rally in Bethpage, Long Island, which is expected to draw up to 10,000 people, comes after a week of damaging questions about his treatment of women and knowledge of policy. And his double-digit defeat in Wisconsin further emboldened the Stop Trump movement within the Republican Party.
The New York Times
April 7, 2016
The New York Times on the Web
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Look to Rebound in New York
By ALAN RAPPEPORT; Matt Flegenheimer contributed reporting
Setting their sights on the next big delegate prizes, the presidential candidates descended on New York and Pennsylvania on Wednesday afternoon, with Senators Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders looking to extend the momentum from their Wisconsin victories while Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton work to regain their footing after stinging defeats.
Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton, who still have wide delegate leads in the Republican and Democratic nominating contests, will be working furiously to win New York, where their opponents are devoting significant resources to try to score upsets in the delegate-rich state in its April 19 primary. With both candidates having deep roots in the state, losses would be especially painful. Mr. Trump, who has been uncharacteristically quiet on Wednesday, planned an evening rally that is expected to draw thousands of supporters.
The Baltimore Sun
April 8, 2016 Friday
Trump beefs up team ahead of N.Y. primary
By Jill Colvin ;and Jonathan Lemire
Associated Press
JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is beefing up his team and refocusing on New York following a period of unforced errors and tactical failures that have raised doubts about his campaign operation.
Trump's campaign announced Thursday that veteran operative Paul Manafort would be taking on an expanded role in the campaign amid the increasing likelihood of a contested Republican convention.
The campaign statement said Trump would be "consolidating the functions related to the nomination process and assigning them" to Manafort, who last week was named convention manager. "In this capacity, Mr. Manafort will oversee, manage, and be responsible for all activities that pertain to Mr. Trump's delegate process and the Cleveland convention," it read.
Manafort's decades of experience include work on conventions for Presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
A poll released Wednesday showed Mr. Trump with more than 50 percent support, and showing particular strength in New York City, Long Island and western New York. Still, the pressure is intense on Mr. Trump, who is enduring the most challenging stretch of his insurgent candidacy. His rally in Bethpage, Long Island, which is expected to draw up to 10,000 people, comes after a week of damaging questions about his treatment of women and knowledge of policy. And his double-digit defeat in Wisconsin further emboldened the Stop Trump movement within the Republican Party.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)
April 9, 2016
The voting is done, but Trump vs. Cruz battle continues in Missouri
By Kevin McDermott and Mark Schlinkmann St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Donald Trump's supporters call it "theft." Ted Cruz's supporters call it politics.
Backers of Trump, the national front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination and winner of Missouri's March 15 primary, allege that backers of rival Cruz plan to "steal" Trump's Missouri delegates by packing the state's delegation-selection process with as many Cruz supporters as possible. That process starts Saturday.
"Ted Cruz is trying to overturn the vote of St. Louis residents," Gary Wiegert, St. Louis city coordinator for Trump's campaign, warned in an email to supporters Thursday. He urges those supporters to show up at caucuses this weekend to "help prevent Donald Trump delegates from being stolen by Cruz supporters."
But Cruz supporters, along with Missouri GOP officials, counter that what Cruz's people are doing isn't theft. Rather, they say, it's just a logical strategy going into a presidential nomination that could be unlike any in generations.
That number, 1,237, is the number of delegates that Trump will have to win nationally to become the Republican presidential nominee when the GOP convenes its national convention in Cleveland in July.
But with Trump's loss in Wisconsin this week, most analysts say his chances of hitting that number before the convention are now slim.
Tampa Bay Times
April 10, 2016
POLL: CERTAINTY ABOUT TRUMP IS WANING
By ADAM C. SMITH, TIMES POLITICAL EDITOR
Conventional wisdom among Florida's political elites has shifted dramatically over the past six weeks on the likelihood of Donald Trump becoming the next Republican presidential nominee.
A week before Trump easily won Florida's primary and knocked Marco Rubio out of the race, we asked more than 150 plugged-in Florida politicos if they expected Trump to win the nomination and almost 9 in 10 said yes. In our latest Florida Insider Poll conducted last week, after Ted Cruz won the Wisconsin primary, only 48 percent said they expect Trump to be the nominee. Among Republicans who participated, just 41 percent see him winning.
Trump remains the overwhelming front-runner, but it's not at all certain he will win the 1,237 delegates that he needs to clinch the nomination. In an open or contested national convention, a strong majority of our Florida Insiders have no problem nominating someone else.
The Washington Post
April 10, 2016
Trump team vows to prevail
By Dan Balz; Philip Rucker; Robert Costa
DATELINE: NEW YORK
NEW YORK - Leaders of Donald Trump's new campaign team said they have revised targets that would make the real estate mogul the presumptive Republican presidential nominee by mid-May and that would win him the delegates needed to clinch the nomination before the party's convention this summer.
To do so, Trump would have to go on a month-long hot streak, starting in New York on April 19, that would deliver a sizable haul of delegates - including increased commitments from those who are unbound - and silence the widespread talk that his unpopularity and his campaign's sloppy execution have made it nearly impossible to avoid a contested convention.
The earliest Trump could assemble the 1,237 delegates needed for the nomination is on the final day of the primary season, June 7, when the big states of California and New Jersey vote. Between now and then, he needs to win nearly 60 percent of the delegates still available - a higher percentage than he has thus far.
In addition to New York, the April calendar looks favorable for Trump and includes contests in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland and Rhode Island. Those are followed in early May with what could be a critical showdown in Indiana, and then contests in Nebraska, West Virginia, Oregon and Washington state. The season ends with California, New Jersey, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota.
Some of those states will be good for Cruz, although it's possible that in some of the Eastern states he could run third behind Kasich. But Trump's team anticipates strong performances and a hefty delegate haul from California and New Jersey, which together will award 223 delegates.
-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
April 12, 2016
