National—Quinnipiac–Trump 43, Cruz 29, Kasich 16
National—Quinnipiac–Clinton 50, Sanders 38
Hillary Clinton won Arizona last night 58-40, while Bernie Sanders won Idaho and Utah by margins of 78-21 and 79-20, respectively. The blowout margins in Utah and Idaho means that Sanders, for the first time in a long time, gains in net delegates, closing the gap with Clinton by 6 delegates. On the night, Hillary wins at least 41 delegates in Arizona and 5 a piece in Idaho and Utah. Bernie gains 22 delegates in Arizona, and 18 and 17 in Utah and Idaho. Clinton still leads Sanders by over 300 delegates.
Doug Sosnik: “Until now, Trump has defied the laws of political gravity; but the fact that no major political party has ever nominated such an unpopular candidate for president is inescapable. The strategy that Trump used to appeal to Republican primary voters who are conservative and disproportionately white will work against him with the moderate, diverse electorate this November. It is difficult to understate the level of negative attitudes toward Trump.”
“Regardless of how you do the math, the current environment paints a picture of a Republican Party at the verge of implosion during the most critical period in the presidential campaign. Assuming little changes, years from now people will look back at the decisive nine-day period in mid-October last fall when the stage was set for the 2016 elections. In this narrow window, Hillary Clinton soundly routed Bernie Sanders in the first and single most important Democratic debate of the season, Vice President Biden announced that he wouldn’t run for president and Clinton publicly demonstrated her strength and fortitude during 11 hours of testimony in front of the House Select Committee on Benghazi—a hearing that resembled a Kangaroo Court.”
“Meanwhile, loudly and in full view, sitting high atop the polls facing little or no resistance, Donald Trump was gathering steam toward the Republican nomination and a backward-looking Republican Party was gasping its last breath. And the same Republican Party that once viewed Trump as a laughingstock is now intent on undermining his candidacy.”
Steve Waldman says something that I have half agree with when talking about both male and female politicians and how shouting makes them sound:
Truth is, most politicians in the television age – male or female — sound worse when they shout. Jimmy Carter and Michael Dukakis sounded absurd, like weak men struggling to be heard. Howard Dean became (unfairly) famous for a shout-burst. By contrast, the most effective moments during Bill Clinton’s speeches come when he gets intimate. Ronald Reagan understood that when you’re on TV – whether in a studio or via a speech – you’re entering someone’s living room. Even Donald Trump delivers some of his most extreme lines in a matter-of-fact conversational tone. […]
But with Hillary, it’s not even close: she sounds strong, smart and effective when she talks softly. When she shouts, Hillary sounds like she’s trying too hard to be a bellowing populist, something she’s not. So if she discounts this criticism as being mere sexism she’ll be ignoring some sound advice.
I think she sounds fine shouting, but when she speaks regularly or “softly” she sounds not only strong, but in command.
Washington Post: “There’s never been a presidential candidate like Donald Trump — someone so cavalier about the facts and so unwilling to ever admit error, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. At last count, nearly 65 percent (17 of 27) of our rulings of his statements turned out to be Four Pinocchios, our worst rating. By contrast, most politicians tend to earn Four Pinocchios 10 to 20 percent of the time. (Moreover, most of the remaining ratings for Trump are Three Pinocchios.)”
Rick Klein: “To know him is to love him or to hate him – and Republicans look likely to do some of both when it comes to Donald Trump, in the latest round of voting. Tuesday’s voting, in neighboring Arizona and Utah, appears likely to tell the GOP’s divide. Border-conscious and senior-heavy Arizona – home to Sheriff Joe Arpaio – seems poised to deliver all its delegates to Trump. Deeply religious and more pro-immigrant Utah – home to Mitt Romney – is likely to reject Trump overwhelmingly, with Ted Cruz in striking distance of turning the state into a winner-take-all.”
“Trump is likely to walk away with the most delegates from the day, again. But the day figures to provide little to no clarity, beyond revealing the disparate faces of the GOP of 2016. No players will be able to declare clean victories, and the long, ugly slog of the nominating race will continue.”
Speaker Paul Ryan is giving a speech today about the state of American politics and some are speculating that he just might offer himself up as a consensus candidate at the convention, but I highly doubt that. Regardless, should Ryan be the nominee, he would still lose to Hillary 43-35 according to Morning Consult.
Your Republican frontrunners:
Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2016
Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless https://t.co/0QpKSnjgnE
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 23, 2016
Hey, @tedcruz are our nearly 1k Muslim officers a "threat" too? It's hard to imagine a more incendiary, foolish statement
— J. Peter Donald (@JPeterDonald) March 23, 2016
That’s the spokesman for the New York Police Department. This is in response to Ted Cruz’s statements yesterday that police should “patrol and secure” Muslim neighborhoods in response to the Belgium attacks. Good for Mr. Donald.