Pope Francis Suggests Donald Trump Is ‘Not Christian’  —  ABOARD THE PAPAL AIRLINER — Inserting himself into the Republican presidential race, Pope Francis on Wednesday suggested that Donald J. Trump “is not Christian” because of the harshness of his campaign promises to deport more immigrants …

CBS News poll: Trump maintains commanding lead over GOP field  —  Donald Trump (35 percent) continues to hold a commanding lead over the rest of the field, with a 17 point lead over his closest rival, Texas Senator Ted Cruz (18 percent).  John Kasich (11 percent) has now risen to a virtual third-place tie with Marco Rubio (12 percent).

MSNBC's Town Hall With Donald Trump Was Disgraceful  —  The media's coverage of Trump has been soft, insufficient, and without substance.  —  Is Donald Trump in trouble?  After facing hostile questions from Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Wednesday night—they comprehensively laid out his flip-flops …

Exclusive — SC Blogger: Marco Rubio's Campaign Manager Pushed Story That Nikki Haley Had An Affair With Me  —  COLUMBIA, S.C. — The campaign manager of 2016 GOP presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) once pushed out the story that South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley had an affair …

President Obama is going to Cuba.  Here's why:  —  Cuba is only 90 miles from Florida, but for a long time the distance between our two countries seemed a lot greater.  —  For more than fifty years, the United States pursued a policy of isolating and pressuring Cuba.

A note from the editorial director  —  Earlier today, SB Nation posted a story called “Who is Daniel Holtzclaw?” that attempted to find out the backstory of convicted serial rapist Daniel Holtzclaw.  The story focused on his football background in particular.

Superdelegates help Clinton expand her lead despite NH loss  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — So much for Bernie Sanders' big win in New Hampshire.  —  Since then, Hillary Clinton has picked up endorsements from 87 more superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention, dwarfing Sanders' gain …

How to Break a Party  —  Beginning with the Tea Party wave and continuing through the not-Romney musical chairs of the 2012 Republican primary and the battles over debt limits and fiscal cliffs, most coverage of the Republican Party's internal divisions during the Obama era fell into an easy groove …

Obama ‘Hope’ designer endorses Sanders  —  Artist and activist Shepard Fairey, who designed the iconic “Hope” poster during then-Sen. Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, is backing Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders.  —  “I'm supporting Bernie Sanders …

Russian TV Trashed Michelle Obama Last Night  —  New documentary series seeks to expose ‘American corruption’ and targets Obamas  —  On Sunday, Russian TV host Dmitry Kiselyov, who enjoys the largest audience among news programs in Russia, announced in his prime-time program News of the Week …

Surging Cruz Is Big Oil's New Crush as Donors Cool to Bush  —  Fracking's Wilks, Quantum Energy's Neugebauer back Texan  —  Clinton is third, in sign of industry ‘hedging their bets’  —  U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, the first-term Republican from Texas, leads all candidates in the scramble …

Here's what a Biden campaign would look like  —  NEW ORLEANS — On a trip commemorating the seventh anniversary of the Obama administration's $800 billion economic stimulus bill on Wednesday, Vice President Joe Biden offered a glimpse of what his not-to-be presidential campaign might have looked like.