Top Items:
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.
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Eli Stokols / Politico:
Bush machine running on fumes — SUMMERVILLE, S.C. — Some of Jeb Bush's most steadfast allies think Saturday might be the end. — Donors, who poured millions into his campaign and super PAC, have stopped giving — one refusing a direct request to raise $1 million this week.
Discussion:
RedState, Outside the Beltway, NBC News, Instapundit and National Review
Dana Blanton / Fox News:
Fox News Poll: Clinton ‘feels the Bern,’ trails Sanders by three points nationally — Bernie Sanders now tops Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic nomination. — The latest Fox News national poll finds 47 percent of Democratic primary voters now back the Vermont senator, up from 37 percent in January.
Discussion:
Politicus USA, Daily Wire, Washington Free Beacon, Business Insider, Hot Air, CNN, Truth Revolt, Ian Welsh, Taylor Marsh, Trail Blazers Blog, Washington Post, Power Line, No More Mister Nice Blog, New York Magazine, Politico, NBC News, RedState, Liberal Values, The Daily Caller and Political Wire
Niall Stanage / The Hill:
Trump on brink of key win — COLUMBIA, S.C. — The author of “The Art of the Deal” is on the brink of closing his biggest one yet. — Victory for Donald Trump in the GOP primary here on Saturday would copper-fasten his status as the dominant front-runner, catapult him into a significant delegate lead …
Discussion:
ABC News and whorunsGov
Associated Press:
AP-GfK Poll: Voters increasingly see Sanders as electable — WASHINGTON (AP) — The more Democrats learn about Bernie Sanders, the more they appear to like him. — A greater percentage of Democratic registered voters view the Vermont senator as likable, honest, competent and compassionate …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:
The Roots of Donald Trump's Candidacy Lie in a South Carolina Cemetery — Searching for the soul of South Carolina politics—and the modern Republican Party. — COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA—Bold and fiercely territorial, the geese in the small pond shatter the peace of the Greenlawn Memorial Park on a bright winter's afternoon.
Sean Sullivan / Washington Post:
In S.C., the GOP contest looks more and more like a three-man race
In S.C., the GOP contest looks more and more like a three-man race
Discussion:
Post and Courier, Politico, The Week, Yahoo Politics and Independent Journal Review
Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:
What to Watch In Nevada and South Carolina This Weekend
What to Watch In Nevada and South Carolina This Weekend
Discussion:
Campaign for America's Future, Hot Air, The Atlantic and National Review
Michael Falcone / ABC News:
The Note: South Carolina Saturday Preview
The Note: South Carolina Saturday Preview
Discussion:
Politico, New York Magazine and abc11.com
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, Above the Law, LGBTQ Nation, Independent Journal Review, Mashable, The Verge, Mediaite, Jezebel, The Week, WTVR-TV, fox13now.com, New York's PIX11 and CBS Miami
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William Grimes / New York Times:
Harper Lee, Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ Dies at 89 — Harper Lee, whose first novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” about racial injustice in a small Alabama town, sold more than 10 million copies and became one of the most beloved and most taught works of fiction ever written by an American, has died.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, CBS Boston, Mother Jones and KTLA
Claire Aiello / WHNT-TV:
Harper Lee, author of “To Kill a Mockingbird” dies at 89
Harper Lee, author of “To Kill a Mockingbird” dies at 89
Discussion:
USA TODAY College, The Atlantic, Religion News Service, WGN-TV and FOX5 San Diego
Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
In 2002, Donald Trump Said He Supported Invading Iraq — “Are you for invading Iraq?” Howard Stern asked him, and Trump answered, “Yeah, I guess so.” — w.soundcloud.com — For months, Donald Trump has claimed that he opposed the Iraq War before the invasion began — as an example of his great judgment on foreign policy issues.
Discussion:
Power Line, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Guardian, Reuters, addictinginfo.org, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Politico, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Business Insider, Betsy's Page, Hot Air, AOL, The Stranger …, Yahoo Politics, New York Times, CBS New York, Mother Jones, Weasel Zippers, Hit & Run, The Week, Slantpoint, The Last Refuge, The Right Scoop, Independent Journal Review and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Michael Grunwald / Politico:
Biden hints at centrist Supreme Court pick — Echoing some recent Republican arguments about judicial nominations, Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday suggested that President Barack Obama will not nominate a staunch liberal to replace Justice Antonin Scalia at a time when the ideological balance of the Supreme Court is up in the air.
Discussion:
ABC News, Washington Post, Associated Press and abc11.com
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MSNBC:
Full video and transcript: Rachel Maddow interviews Vice President Joe Biden
Full video and transcript: Rachel Maddow interviews Vice President Joe Biden
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Washington Times
Fredreka Schouten / USA Today:
Advertising war over Scalia successor begins
Advertising war over Scalia successor begins
Discussion:
Right Wing Watch
CBS News:
Hillary Clinton: “I've always tried” to tell the truth — LAS VEGAS — For Hillary Clinton, these are high roller stakes in Nevada after losing New Hampshire in a landslide and essentially tying in Iowa. — She has decided to stay in Nevada through the caucus on Saturday.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, The Week and Washington Times
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Amy Chozick / New York Times:
Race in Nevada, Once a Hillary Clinton Firewall, Is Now Hotly Contested
Race in Nevada, Once a Hillary Clinton Firewall, Is Now Hotly Contested
Discussion:
State & Capitol and Prairie Weather
Annie Karni / Politico:
How Bernie Sanders surged in Nevada
How Bernie Sanders surged in Nevada
Discussion:
Yahoo Politics, ABC News and The Hill
Stephen Kinzer / BostonGlobe.com:
The media is misleading the public on Syria — COVERAGE OF the Syrian war will be remembered as one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the American press. Reporting about carnage in the ancient city of Aleppo is the latest reason why. — For three years, violent militants have run Aleppo.
Discussion:
CANNONFIRE
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Silvio Canto, Jr / American Thinker:
‘El Papa’ embraces Raul Castro but calls Donald Trump anti-Christian! — Last Sunday, Pope Francis was in Mexico visiting sick children in hospitals. It was amazing to watch him holding the little kids and praying with their mothers. As a Catholic, I was so proud of “El Papa.”
Discussion:
Washington Post, Scared Monkeys, The Gateway Pundit, Associated Press, Power Line, VDARE, CNN, National Review, Talking Points Memo and CBS San Francisco
RELATED:
Peter Sullivan / The Hill:
Pope suggests people can use contraception to avoid Zika virus
Pope suggests people can use contraception to avoid Zika virus
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, New York Times, Politicus USA and Cincinnati.com
Melanie Eversley / USA Today:
Reports: Chicago court to hear case to knock Cruz off White House ballot — A judge in Cook County Circuit Court will hear testimony Friday in a lawsuit filed by an Illinois voter that alleges Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz should not be allowed to run for president, CNN and ABC are reporting.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Trail Blazers Blog, Political Wire and ballot-access.org
RELATED:
Theodore Schleifer / CNN:
Case against Ted Cruz's eligibility to be heard in Illinois on Friday
Case against Ted Cruz's eligibility to be heard in Illinois on Friday
Discussion:
Vox, Bloomberg Business, New York Post, Daily Kos, Washington Times, AOL and The Gateway Pundit
New York Times:
U.S. Airstrikes on ISIS Camp in Libya Kill More Than 40 — WASHINGTON — American warplanes struck an Islamic State camp in Libya early Friday, targeting a senior Tunisian operative linked to two major terrorist attacks in Tunisia last year. The operative, Noureddine Chouchane …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Guardian, The Daily Caller, Defense One, Mashable, NPR, The Week and RT
RELATED:
Jeffrey H. Anderson / Weekly Standard:
Trump: I ‘Like’ Obamacare's Individual Mandate — The most unpopular part of Obamacare now has a champion in the Republican presidential field. Via the Right Scoop, Donald Trump was asked on Thursday night by CNN's Anderson Cooper, “If...there's no mandate for everybody to have insurance …
Discussion:
The Right Scoop
Charles G. Koch / Washington Post:
Charles Koch: This is the one issue where Bernie Sanders is right — Charles G. Koch is chairman and chief executive of Koch Industries. — As he campaigns for the Democratic nomination for president, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) often sounds like he's running as much against me as he is the other candidates.
Discussion:
Politico, Talking Points Memo, Hit & Run, New York Magazine, The Week and Scripting News
Paul Campos / Salon:
Scalia was an intellectual phony: Can we please stop calling him a brilliant jurist? — No one wants to disrespect the dead. But we disrespect the truth to hail his legal mind and phony, grand principles — George Orwell once noted that when an English politician dies …
Discussion:
bradford-delong.com, Lawyers, Guns & Money, ProfessorBainbridge.com and Above the Law
Julia Hahn / Breitbart:
EXCLUSIVE- Pat Buchanan: Donald Trump's Rise Is Rejection of a Quarter Century of Bush Republicanism — In an exclusive statement to Breitbart News, Pat Buchanan declared that Trump's rise represents a rejection of 25 years of Bush Republicanism— an ideology which Buchanan …