From Mother Jones, is Ted Cruz really an awful, terrible jerk? Well, terms like “pompous asshole” and “backpfeifengesicht” tend to come up. The Duel: Ryan Lizza on how the Trump and Cruz campaigns embody opposite views of politics and the future of the G.O.P. A history of betrayal that leads to Donald Trump: Edward Luce reviews Why the Right Went Wrong: Conservatism from Goldwater to the Tea Party and Beyond by EJ Dionne. The genie grown monstrous: Steve Fraser on how Donald Trump, the all-American Frankenstein, devoured the GOP. Donald Trump: “Christianity will have power” if I’m president. “The list of celebrity Trump endorsements is largely a list of the most outrageous public lunatics”. Donald Trump got lucky: He’s only winning because he’s competing against clowns and losers.
Aside from threatening to shoot people and mocking minorities, Trump is now acting like a normal candidate. National Black Republican Association endorses Donald J. Trump. Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson: Malcolm X is “my idol”, Republicans are racist. GOP a bridge to 1960: If the Republican Party were a country, it would racially resemble the America of 1960, when 90 percent of the population was white. Inside the “Against Trump” issue: Rich Lowry on why the National Review decided to launch a full broadside against The Donald and what the blowback has been. Maybe faux conservatives are still conservatives: National Review doesn’t like Trump because he's an “identity conservative”, not a “philosophical conservative”. National Review denounces Trump while bottom-feeding Rightbloggers double down.
James Poulos: “Why I'm not afraid of Donald Trump: Trump is far more likely than Napoleon was to be constrained by the deep cultural and historical fabric that truly holds the so-called status quo in place”. Byron York on GOP fear and loathing in New Hampshire. Gail Collins on coming to terms with Donald.
David Axelrod on the Obama theory of Trump. Is Bernie Sanders the new Barack Obama? Make no mistake: Obama just tried to undercut Bernie Sanders. Ed Kilgore on how John Edwards, not Barack Obama, was the Bernie Sanders of 2008. Ta-Nehisi Coates on Bernie Sanders and the liberal imagination: What is doable and what is morally correct are not always the same things. Doug Henwood interviews Adolph Reed on Sanders, Coates and reparations. Vox’s attack on Bernie Sanders is sold as a policy critique — it’s actually a dishonest exercise in managing the Democratic Party base. Is nominating Bernie Sanders a worthwhile gamble? Hillary Clinton’s supporters have yet to make a persuasive case that Sanders is too great a risk. Should the former first lady, now Democratic presidential candidate, get credit or blame for her partnership with her husband? Patrick Healy on how Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders battle for party’s future.
From Vox, 15 thoughts on Michael Bloomberg's presidential aspirations. Dean Baker on Mike Bloomberg’s billionaire blackmail. Is it crazy for Michael Bloomberg to run for president? Maybe not. Janell Ross on why Michael Bloomberg for president makes no sense.
