National

The struggle was real for Donald J. Trump back in the day: “It has not been easy for me. It has not been easy for me. I started off in Brooklyn. My father gave me a small loan of a million dollars," Trump remarked. Parents take note, try not to make it hard on your kids. Keep your loans to them maxed out at $1 million a pop, okay? Let’s not spoil them. How else can they learn the true value of roll up your sleeves hard work? I didn’t think it was possible to out-Romney the ol’ Mittster himself. I stand corrected. And I’m all out of popcorn. Time to hit the grocery store.

Mark Halperin says Republicans are in denial about Hillary Clinton: “A virulent strain of Clinton Derangement Syndrome, which scientists and Republicans thought had been wiped out at the end of the last century, is now inflicting millions of conservative Americans. Some Republicans so detest Hillary Clinton they are badly underestimating how likely she is, at this point in the campaign, to be America’s 45th president. "Their denial is just as strong now as it was a month ago, before Clinton began a run of political victories that have enhanced her prospects, all while the roller derby/demolition derby that is the Republican nomination contest has continued to harm the GOP’s chances of winning back the White House.”

Republicans will kick themselves for dragging Hillary Clinton before the House Benghazi committee Thursday. It was a defining moment for Clinton's presidential aspirations. She handled the GOP’s questions with aplomb and without the patina of partisanship that has characterized the committee since its conception. That would have been bad enough for the Republicans’ hopes of seizing the White House in 2017. But she did much more than that. She answered questions that Republicans have been hanging out there in hopes of sowing doubts among voters. Does she believe in American exceptionalism? Yes. Can she be non-partisan, serious, and policy-minded? Yes. Is her mental acuity superior to pretty much anyone you know? Yes. Is she human? Yes. Does she have the energy to be president? Yes.

Amanda Marcotte is amazed that GOP Voters want Trump to be their nominee and that they think he would be their strongest candidate against Hillary Clinton.

Clearly, Republican voters are delusional. It’s hard to imagine any scenario where Trump doesn’t lose spectacularly against Clinton. Consider how much Romney’s chances were hurt by his indelicate “47 percent” comment. And that was mild compared toTrump’s relentless hateful bleating about Mexicans, his unsubtle racism regarding President Obama, and his ugly attitudes about women that will likely not be contained for the many months of running against a woman. Democrats win by getting out the vote, and almost nothing will encourage women and people of color to stampede to the polls more than pulling the lever against Donald Trump. But clearly, Republican primary voters don’t see this. Which calls into question the hope that they will wake up and start supporting someone more electable before it’s too late for their party. [...] It’s entirely possible that voters are still in the pissing-off-the-liberals phase and haven’t even started to consider boring issues like nominating someone who can run a credible general election campaign.

Prepare yourself for a nauseating display of shameless grandstanding by the GOP's most hypocritical Hillary-Haters, otherwise known as the Benghazi hearings, which begin today. Paul Waldman explains why the whole project may make backfire in a big way on the Republicans. "In hearings like this one, the members of Congress often think that the fantastically clever line of questioning they've prepared is really going to trap the witness and reveal her for what she is; it'll be like Perry Mason breaking a witness down until she shouts, "Yes, I did kill him, and I'd do it again!" But that's not how it usually turns out. More often, the witness looks like the one in command, someone being pelted with unfair and hostile questions from a bunch of partisan clowns who barely know what they're talking about...A respectful and informative hearing that does no damage to Clinton will be a terrible disappointment."

This photo is from Peter Souza, the White House photographer, might just confirm Margaret Hartmanns' story that I posted about earlier today. It shows Biden reviewing his remarks yesterday morning with the President prior to his announcement. After that announcement, Delaware's Democrats rushed to be the first to endorse Hillary Clinton. Gvernor Markell in an interview with Jonathan Starkey had this to say:

Markell shifted his support to Clinton after Biden's exit, citing her "advocacy for the middle class." "At this point, I think Secretary Clinton has certainly established herself as someone who will be a strong candidate and who will do the job well," Markell said. "I will support her campaign. I think it's important that we continue to build on the foundation that's been laid. I think she's the strongest candidate. I also think she'll be in the best position to be the strongest president."

Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams had an more interesting Hillary endorsement story.