Top Items:
Gideon Resnick / The Daily Beast:
Cruz, Carson Held Secret Meeting About Dirty Tricks in a Closet — Ted Cruz called a private meeting with the former neurosurgeon in South Carolina on Thursday night, the Carson campaign told The Daily Beast. It did not go as planned. — Two grown men running for president met in a storage closet last night.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, addictinginfo.org, Mediaite, The Slot and Raw Story
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Post and Courier:
Pro-Ted Cruz robocall blasting Trump and Gov. Haley on Confederate flag — A pro-Ted Cruz robo-telephone call blasts Donald Trump for his support of the Confederate flag coming down. An honor guard from the South Carolina Highway patrol removes the Confederate battle flag …
Mark Murray / NBC News:
Donald Trump's Lead Slashed in South Carolina: Poll — Donald Trump is now leading Saturday's South Carolina Republican primary by 5 points — down from his 16-point lead in the state a month ago, according to results from a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll.
Discussion:
Salon, CNN, MSNBC, Weekly Standard, Washington Post, New York Magazine, PolitiSite, Rush Limbaugh, FiveThirtyEight, The Cook Political Report, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, The Right Scoop, Washington Times, The Week, Trail Blazers Blog, Florida Politics, Outside the Beltway, Political Wire and New York Times
Theodore Schleifer / CNN:
Ted Cruz worry: Big South Carolina loss equals bad Super Tuesday — (CNN)What if the firewall crumbles? — That's the worry of a growing number of people close to Ted Cruz's campaign, who are privately beginning to fear that a big loss in South Carolina to Donald Trump on Saturday …
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, The Gateway Pundit, TPNN, Hot Air and Mediaite
Molly Ball / The Atlantic:
The Great Republican Stalemate
The Great Republican Stalemate
Discussion:
CBS News, ThinkProgress and ABC News
Marist Poll:
2/19: Trump in Close Race in South Carolina... Clinton with Wide Lead
2/19: Trump in Close Race in South Carolina... Clinton with Wide Lead
Discussion:
Politico, Fox News and Washington Post
Steven Shepard / Politico:
Insiders predict Trump win in South Carolina, Clinton in Nevada
Insiders predict Trump win in South Carolina, Clinton in Nevada
Discussion:
Politicus USA and Yahoo Politics
Eli Stokols / Politico:
Bush machine running on fumes
Bush machine running on fumes
Discussion:
Hot Air, RedState, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, NBC News and National Review
Katie Glueck / Politico:
Mark Sanford endorses Ted Cruz
Mark Sanford endorses Ted Cruz
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo and Hullabaloo
Annie Karni / Politico:
How Bernie Sanders surged in Nevada
How Bernie Sanders surged in Nevada
Discussion:
The Intercept, National Review, NBC News, Guardian, USA Today, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, TheStreet.com, Common Dreams, New York Times, ABC News, The Hill and The State
New York Times:
Republicans Speed Across South Carolina as Race Tightens
Republicans Speed Across South Carolina as Race Tightens
Discussion:
NBC News, JustOneMinute and Talking Points Memo
Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo:
Pro-Cruz Robocall Knocks Trump On ‘Our’ Confederate Flag In South Carolina
Pro-Cruz Robocall Knocks Trump On ‘Our’ Confederate Flag In South Carolina
Discussion:
The Bob and Chez Show
Niall Stanage / The Hill:
Trump on brink of key win
Trump on brink of key win
Discussion:
Politico, ABC News, The Right Scoop, Daily Wire and whorunsGov
Mike Levine / ABC News:
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ABC News:
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abc11.com, twitchy.com, Daily Mail and Associated Press
Eliza Collins / Politico:
Trump pushes for a boycott of Apple
Trump pushes for a boycott of Apple
Discussion:
Bloomberg Business, CBS Philly, The Verge, Mediaite, AOL, The Next Web, The Right Scoop, CBS San Francisco and CBS New York
Henry Olsen / National Review:
I Don't Believe The Latest SC Polls - Here's Why — Two polls, one from Clemson University and the other from Opinion Savvy, have been released since I wrote my blog post on SC. Both have Trump in the high 20s, suggesting tomorrow night will be closer than I predicted. Here's why I discount each poll.
Discussion:
The Right Scoop
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MA Towery / Opinion Savvy:
Rubio Surges in South Carolina ahead of Saturday's Primary — We conducted our final poll for the South Carolina Republican presidential primary on February 18th and 19th, and the results show a sizable surge for the Rubio campaign, placing him within 3 points of Donald Trump. — The horse race:
Discussion:
Newsstand, WAGA-TV, RedState, Hot Air and Florida Politics
Salon:
Hillary Clinton just can't win: Democrats need to accept that only Bernie Sanders can defeat the GOP — Bernie Sanders will become our next president and it should come as no surprise to people actually paying attention — In one major poll, Bernie Sanders is now leading Hillary Clinton nationally.
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Connor Sheets / al.com:
Harper Lee dead at age of 89: ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ author passes away — Nelle Harper Lee, who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1961 for her book, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” has died at the age of 89, multiple sources in her hometown of Monroeville, including the mayor's office, confirmed Friday morning.
Discussion:
NBC News, The Atlantic, ABC News, Los Angeles Times, Daily Kos, Common Dreams, Raw Story, Mashable, NPR, FiveThirtyEight, Above the Law, Mediaite, Jezebel, The Verge, WHNT-TV, LGBTQ Nation, CBS Miami, Independent Journal Review, The Week, WTVR-TV, fox13now.com, WGN-TV, New York's PIX11 and FOX5 San Diego
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William Grimes / New York Times:
Harper Lee, Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ Dies at 89
Harper Lee, Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ Dies at 89
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, FiveThirtyEight, VDARE, ThinkProgress, The Atlantic, Gothamist, Outside the Beltway, KTLA and Mother Jones
Liam Stack / New York Times:
In Defense of Trump, Some Point (Wrongly) to Vatican Walls — Supporters of Donald J. Trump were quick to suggest on Thursday that Pope Francis was being hypocritical to criticize as un-Christian Mr. Trump's proposal to build a wall between the United States and Mexico because the pontiff himself lives …
Discussion:
CNN, The Hill, CBS New York, American Spectator, Business Insider, Telegraph, Politicus USA, dcclothesline.com, Raw Story, Althouse, Reuters, USA Today, FiveThirtyEight, New York Times, Cincinnati.com and Mediaite
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Daily Mail:
Trump triumphs over the Pope: Francis backs down over ‘not Christian’ …
Trump triumphs over the Pope: Francis backs down over ‘not Christian’ …
Discussion:
Reuters, National Review, NBC News, Vox, TPNN, The Last Refuge, UK - The Huffington Post and NPR
Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:
Trump: Pope Francis ‘a terrific person’
Trump: Pope Francis ‘a terrific person’
Discussion:
Independent Journal Review, Hot Air and CNN
Nico Hines / The Daily Beast:
Bernie Sanders's Brother: He Backs ‘Class Warfare,’ Bill Clinton Was Worse Than Bush — Larry Sanders says Bernie is a ‘genuine socialist’ trying to save the Democratic Party from ‘dreadful’ Bill Clinton, who is either a ‘terrible rapist or a nice rapist’ to the media.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller and Politico
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Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:
Bernie's brother: Media can't decide if Clinton is ‘terrible rapist’ or ‘nice rapist’
Bernie's brother: Media can't decide if Clinton is ‘terrible rapist’ or ‘nice rapist’
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
Daniel Strauss / Politico:
Harry Reid accuses Republicans of ‘trickery and gimmicks’ in Nevada caucuses — Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) accused members of the Republican Party of resorting to “trickery and gimmicks” to spoil his state's Democratic caucuses. — “These Republican plans to interfere …
Discussion:
RedState, Talking Points Memo, NVDems, The People's View and The Huffington Post
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Amy Chozick / New York Times:
A Deck of Cards Could Determine Some Nevada Caucus Results
A Deck of Cards Could Determine Some Nevada Caucus Results
Discussion:
Truth Revolt
Cristobal Herrera / Washington Post:
Ted Cruz birther lawsuit makes it to Cook County courtroom — Justin Wm. Moyer — January 1, 1900 — Not along ago, Illinois pharmacist and attorney Lawrence Joyce began to realize his country and his political party were facing what he considered to be a nightmare.
Discussion:
Bloomberg Business, Washington Post, LawNewz and The Daily Caller
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Sophie Tatum / CNN:
Ted Cruz suggests Phil Robertson for U.N. ambassador
Ted Cruz suggests Phil Robertson for U.N. ambassador
Discussion:
Yahoo Politics, Right Wing Watch and addictinginfo.org
Scott Bixby / Guardian:
Campaign live: Pope Francis walks back Donald Trump ‘not a Christian’ remarks
Campaign live: Pope Francis walks back Donald Trump ‘not a Christian’ remarks
Discussion:
Mother Jones
Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Trump One Day Into Iraq Invasion: “It Looks Like A Tremendous Success” — And the stock market would continue to soar as a result, Trump said. — w.soundcloud.com — Donald Trump, faced with his own words from 2002 that directly contradict his claim he opposed an Iraq invasion early on …
Joanne Kaufman / New York Times:
My Parents, My Landlords — Enter neighborhood, city, zip or address — When Jessica Sanderoff graduated from college a decade ago and began searching for Manhattan apartments in her price range, she saw many things. Fourth-floor walk-ups and fifth-floor walk-ups.
Discussion:
Gothamist
Richard Fausset / New York Times:
North Carolina Fights Over Its Election Rules — RALEIGH, N.C. — Since Republicans took control of this deeply divided state's legislature five years ago, Democrats and their allies have complained that Republicans have been illegally changing the rules of the voting game and effectively suppressing minority voting power.
Tierney Sneed / Talking Points Memo:
GOP Sen. Murkowski Backtracks On Giving Obama's SCOTUS Nom A Hearing — Moderate GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AK), one of the few Republicans initially willing to break ranks on whether President Obama's nominee to succeed Antonin Scalia should be considered, reversed course Thursday evening.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, Daily Kos and Booman Tribune
Janelle Lilley / KATV-TV:
Concern over African-American only student assembly — Shortly after arriving at school Wednesday morning, an announcement over the public announcement system instructed black freshmen to go to the auditorium for an assembly. Arron Perkins says his sister was in math class.
Discussion:
Raw Story, addictinginfo.org, Independent Journal Review and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times