memeorandum: SPLC's Intelligence Report: Amid Year of Lethal Violence, Extremist Groups Expanded Ranks in 2015 (Southern Poverty Law Center)

3:20 PM ET, February 17, 2016

Top Items:

Andrew Shain / The State:

Exclusive: Gov. Haley endorsing Rubio for president — Florida senator wins coveted support from SC governor — Haley is state's most popular GOP politician after handling of Charleston shooting — Jeb Bush was considered the other likely endorsement choice

Discussion: Washington Post, RedState, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Raw Story, Political Wire, Roll Call, Independent Journal Review, National Review and Florida Politics

CNN:

Poll: Clinton, Sanders in a dead heat for Nevada — Washington (CNN)Likely Democratic caucusgoers in Nevada are split almost evenly between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders ahead of Saturday's caucuses, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll. — Though Clinton holds an edge over Sanders …

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Clinton leads in 10 of 12 Early March Primaries; Benefits From Overwhelming Black Support — New Public Policy Polling surveys of the 12 states that will hold Democratic primaries for President between March 1st and 8th, conducted on behalf of American Family Voices, find Hillary Clinton leading …

Discussion: Campaign for America's Future, New York Magazine, Politico and Guardian

Post and Courier:

Gov. Haley endorsing Marco Rubio for president today — Gov. Nikki Haley today is endorsing Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for president, ending months of speculation and giving Rubio a much needed bounce heading into Saturday's South Carolina Republican primary.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Greenville News, Mediaite, CNN, Business Insider, NBC News, The Week and The Daily Caller

Daniel Strauss / Politico:

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to endorse Marco Rubio — South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will endorse Sen. Marco Rubio for president, a source familiar with Haley's plans confirmed. — The endorsement is a major coup for Rubio, as Haley is one of the highest-profile Republican governors …

Discussion: Washington Post, Yahoo Politics, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times and ABC News

Rudolph Bell / Greenville News:

Cruz denies Gowdy claim of Facebook deception — ANDERSON - Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said in Anderson Tuesday night that his campaign had nothing to do with false reports on Facebook that U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy of Spartanburg had switched his support to Cruz from Marco Rubio, one of Cruz's rivals for the GOP nomination.

Discussion: Hot Air, The Daily Caller and The Resurgent

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Cruz on Trump lawsuit threat: Bring it on — SENECA, S.C. — Ted Cruz on Wednesday said Donald Trump's campaign had threatened legal action over a campaign ad. His response: Bring it on. — Cruz, the former solicitor general of Texas and an ex-Supreme Court clerk, was in full lawyer mode …

Discussion: CNN, The Gateway Pundit, The Week and Washington Post

Michael Falcone / ABC News:
The Note: Breaking Down The Numbers In South Carolina

Discussion: Politico, The Week, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Betsy's Page

Alan Rappeport / New York Times:
National Poll Shows Donald Trump With Big Lead and Democrats in Virtual Tie

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Eliana Johnson / National Review: S.C. Is Key Early Test of Cruz's Southern Strategy

USA Today:
USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll: Reaction by some to Trump and Clinton? Fear

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post and Mediaite

Katie Glueck / Politico:
Ted Cruz pinched in race for South Carolina's evangelicals

Discussion: Washington Post

Eliza Collins / Politico:

Obama to skip Scalia funeral — President Barack Obama will not attend Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's funeral on Saturday, the White House said Wednesday. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden will attend. — Obama and first lady Michelle Obama instead …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Weasel Zippers and The Week

Brent Budowsky / The Hill: The GOP's SCOTUS mega-mistake

Washington Post:
Why Justice Scalia was staying for free at a Texas resort

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Week, Prairie Weather, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Daily Kos, LewRockwell and The National Interest

New York Times:
Obama's Options for a Supreme Court Nominee, and the Potential Fallout

Discussion: Washington Post, Business Insider, Politico, New York Magazine, Political Wire, SCOTUSblog, The Great Debate, Althouse and Mother Jones

Caitlin Cruz / Talking Points Memo:
Cruz Says It 'Doesn't Make Sense' To Hold Confirmation Hearings (VIDEO)

Discussion: Daily Kos

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg Business:
Republicans Show Signs of Division on Supreme Court Tactics

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post, Political Wire, Soapbox DC, Daily Kos, Real Clear Politics, Yahoo Politics and Washington Monthly

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
GOP unity cracks in court fight

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, WLS-AM 890, The Huffington Post, Politico and Bloomberg Business

Alice Ollstein / ThinkProgress:
Scalia's Death Throws North Carolina's Upcoming Election Into Confusion

Discussion: Fayetteville Observer, CityLab, WRAL-TV and Raleigh News & Observer

Christopher Brito / New York's PIX11:

Stranger mails hilarious letter to man who lost wallet, keeps cash and Metrocard — FLATBUSH, Brooklyn - The person who found a young man's wallet at King's Theater during a Wilco concert likely shares the same taste in music, fondness for the wallet and cold-hard cash.

Discussion: fox8.com, KTLA and KFOR-TV

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

I find this election bizarre for many reasons but none more than this: If I were given a blank sheet of paper and told to write down America's three greatest sources of strength, they would be “a culture of entrepreneurship,” “an ethic of pluralism” and the “quality of our governing institutions.”

Discussion: Instapundit, twitchy.com and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jacob Heilbrunn / Politico:

Trump Is Trampling Over the GOP's Corpse — The most basic problem for the Republican Party isn't that Donald Trump is so strong, but that his competitors are so weak. One can find no better illustration of this, perhaps, than the sorry spectacle of Jeb Bush—who only a year ago was seen …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Washington Post

Trip Gabriel / New York Times:
The More Donald Trump Defies His Party, the More His Supporters Cheer

Discussion: WLS-AM 890, Business Insider, Bloomberg Business, Washington Post, CNN, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Talking Points Memo, RedState, Politico and Florida Politics

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

WOW! Trump Invites Supporters On Stage for Handling Protester- CROWD ERUPTS WHEN ONE SAYS HE'S A VETERAN! (VIDEO) — You can't plan something like this... At a Trump campaign rally in North Augusta, South Carolina on Tuesday, Donald Trump was interrupted by a protester who was screaming profanities …

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News and The Daily Caller

Alice Ollstein / ThinkProgress:
Donald Trump Honors Men Who ‘Took Action’ Against A Young Latina Protester

Discussion: addictinginfo.org

lettertosanders:

An Open Letter from Past CEA Chairs to Senator Sanders and Professor Gerald Friedman — Dear Senator Sanders and Professor Gerald Friedman, — We are former Chairs of the Council of Economic Advisers for Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. For many years, we have worked …

Discussion: Mother Jones, New York Times, Politico, bradford-delong.com, The Grumpy Economist, The Week and emptywheel

Jon Burkett / WTVR-TV:

‘Hangry’ woman arrested for biting Wendy's worker over wrong order — RICHMOND, Va. — Have you heard the expression “hangry?” It's a combination of hungry and angry. A fast food worker said that word perfectly described the customer who attacked and bit her over a wrong order.

Discussion: Eater and KFOR-TV

Oliver Jj Lane / Breitbart:

‘Islamic Rape Of Europe’: Polish Magazine Splashes ‘White Europa’ Girl Groped By Migrant Hands — One of Poland's most popular weekly magazines has splashed a graphic depiction of the rape of Europe's women by migrants on its front cover. The image may be one of the most politically incorrect illustrations …

Travis Gettys / Raw Story:

Iowa mom buys semiautomatic rifle for teen son — and his friend is accidentally killed by it the next day — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — An Iowa mother was charged nearly a year after she bought her teenage son a rifle that accidentally killed his friend the very next day.

Andrea Fisher / Great Falls Tribune:

Cops surround home, find ‘The Walking Dead’ — A Great Falls family gave their neighbors quite a scare while enjoying a favorite TV show Sunday evening. — A 911 call came in at 7:28 p.m. from a neighbor who heard “screaming from a house about someone having a gun,” according to Great Falls Police Department notes from the call.

Discussion: fox8.com

Southern Poverty Law Center:

SPLC's Intelligence Report: Amid Year of Lethal Violence, Extremist Groups Expanded Ranks in 2015 — The number of extremist groups operating in the United States grew in 2015 - a year awash in deadly extremist violence and hateful rhetoric from mainstream political figures …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, The Scoop Blog, Independent Journal Review, Raw Story and Common Dreams

Zachary Mider / Bloomberg Business:

The Failure of Money to Buy the Presidential Nomination, in One Chart — Some of the campaigns that are spending the most are also doing the worst. — zachmider — The current U.S. presidential race is on pace to be the most expensive ever. Outside groups known as super-PACs are playing …

Discussion: Scripting News

Tim Mak / The Daily Beast:

Draft-Dodger Trump Said Sleeping Around Was My ‘Personal Vietnam’ — In a 1997 Howard Stern interview, the future presidential candidate likened sleeping with multiple women to service in the war he repeatedly avoided. — Draft-dodger Donald Trump once said that the danger he faced …