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UT/TT Poll: Cruz Leads Trump in Texas; Rubio Lags Behind … UT/TT Poll, February 2016 - Methodology UT/TT Poll, February 2016 - Summary — With a week remaining before the Texas Republican primary, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has an 8-percentage-point lead over Donald Trump, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.
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My very peculiar and speculative theory of why the GOP has not stopped Donald Trump — What if political scientists are to blame for his rise? — GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump's victory in South Carolina, his expected victory Tuesday in Nevada, his poll dominance in the upcoming states …
Discussion:
Vox, New York Magazine and Althouse


Trump's Lead Grows with Jeb Out of the Race — With Jeb Bush out, Donald Trump has widened his lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. — The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Republican Voters finds Trump with 36% support …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, Washington Times and Infowars

GOP wakes up to Trump nightmare — Establishment Republicans are reckoning with something they thought would never happen: That it might soon be too late to stop Donald Trump. — With the controversial businessman the clear front-runner heading into Nevada and next week's Super Tuesday contests …
Discussion:
New York Times, Daily Kos and The Hill

Kasich: 'I don't know if my purpose is to be president' — John Kasich on Tuesday told supporters he's not sure whether his purpose is to win the White House. — “I've gotta tell you, whether I'm president or whether I am not president, OK, I'm carrying out my mission, don't you think?
Discussion:
The Daily Caller


Why Evangelicals Are Born Again for Donald Trump — Why are conservative Christians embracing a vulgar New York secularist? Because the battlefield of the culture war has suddenly and irrevocably changed. — Southern evangelicals are the types of voters that Donald Trump was supposed to find problematic.
Discussion:
alicublog, Hullabaloo, Washington Times, Washington Post and The Federalist

Koch brothers' D.C. guru joins Marco Rubio team — Marc Short, the Koch brothers' top political adviser in Washington and a trusted member of their inner circle for five years, is making a surprise move to the Marco Rubio campaign as a senior adviser as the Republican establishment ramps up efforts to stop Donald Trump.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Bloomberg Business, Mother Jones, Yahoo Politics, New York Times, Guardian and The Week


Four Problems With the ‘Winnowing’ Theory of Trump's Downfall
Discussion:
Instapundit and Washington Post

Ted Cruz tells O'Reilly he would round up and deport all 12 million who are in U.S. illegally

Donald Trump on protester: 'I'd like to punch him in the face'
Discussion:
Washington Post, Raw Story, Breitbart, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog … and Daily Kos


Nightmare builds for Senate GOP — It's a bad time to be a Senate Republican. — Justice Antonin Scalia's death has put Supreme Court politics at the top of the Senate agenda — to the detriment of vulnerable Republican senators running for reelection in blue states.
Discussion:
Yahoo Politics, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, Althouse, ThinkProgress and Chicago
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Key GOP Senators Emerge From Meeting: No Hearing For Obama SCOTUS Nom — Key Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee emerged from a closed door meeting in Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office Tuesday united in their determination not to consider any nominee to replace Antonin Scalia until the next president takes office.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Balloon Juice, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Daily Kos and The Week

VIDEO: OBAMA CRACKS JOKE ABOUT SCALIA'S DEATH
Discussion:
John Hawkins' Right Wing News

McConnell: Senate won't act on Obama Supreme Court nominee
Discussion:
Slate, RedState, Pew Research Center …, Political Wire, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Post, Shakesville, Hot Air, twitchy.com, Daily Kos, Downtrend and Politico

Senate Leader Mitch McConnell Flatly Rejects Hearing on Any Court Nominee
Discussion:
New York Times and LifeNews.com

WASHINGTON — The White House on Tuesday sent Congress a long-awaited plan for closing American prison in Guantánamo Bay, beginning a final push to fulfill one of President Obama's earliest and most troubled national security policy goals in the face of deep skepticism from many Republican lawmakers.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Mother Jones, Outside the Beltway, US News, The Daily Caller and ACS Blog
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Obama asks lawmakers to lift obstacles to closing prison at Guantanamo Bay
Discussion:
Speaker.gov, CNN, Business Insider, Political Wire, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and The Week

Guantánamo Bay: Obama reiterates call to close prison in final plan to Congress
Discussion:
Politico, Fox News, RedState, Washington Monthly and Taylor Marsh

Obama: I'm ‘Absolutely Committed to Closing’ Gitmo
Discussion:
MichelleMalkin.com, Washington Free Beacon, Raw Story, Business Insider and Mediaite

Issa Compares Obama's ‘Unlawful’ Gitmo Closure Plan To Trail Of Tears (VIDEO)
Discussion:
Hullabaloo and Washington Post

Here are the Emails Between Rubio Campaign and ACU Regarding Rubio's Attendance at CPAC — A minor firestorm has erupted on the Internet over whether Marco Rubio will be attending CPAC this year. The ACU (which hosts CPAC) released a statement to Breitbart News indicating that Rubio has said that he is …
Discussion:
National Review
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Exclusive — Marco Rubio Plans to Skip CPAC, Pre-Eminent Conservative Gathering, in 2016
Discussion:
RedState, The Daily Caller, Politico, Algemeiner.com, The Daily Signal and Washington Post

Bill Gates backs FBI iPhone hack request — Bill Gates has broken ranks with Silicon Valley in the stand-off between Apple and the US government, saying technology companies should be forced to co-operate with law enforcement in terrorism investigations. — The Microsoft founder took issue …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, The Hill, CNNMoney, New York Times, Re/code, The Atlantic, NBC News, Fox News, Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, Washington Post, NPR, The Week, MacRumors, Engadget, Politico, LawNewz, The Verge and Mashable
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How Society Pays When Women's Work Is Unpaid
Discussion:
Gates Notes, Althouse and Slantpoint

Ben Carson: Obama was ‘raised white’ — GREENVILLE, S.C. - Ben Carson is the only person in the 2016 presidential field who is vying to become the country's second African-American president. — If truth be told, however, he's not entirely sure he wouldn't actually be the first.
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U.S. judge orders discovery to go forward over Clinton's private email system — A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that State Department officials and top aides to Hillary Clinton should be questioned under oath about whether they intentionally thwarted federal open records laws by using …
Discussion:
Political Wire, Guardian, Washington Free Beacon and Hot Air
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Kerry: State Dept. staffers can't use private server
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon

Judge rules Clinton staff can be questioned about emails
Discussion:
The Week


“Dishonest” and “Socialist” Lead U.S. Reactions to Dems — PRINCETON, N.J. — Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have multifaceted images among the American public. But the most common responses Americans give when asked to say what comes to mind when they think of each are “dishonest” …


Dynel Lane, accused of cutting baby from womb, found guilty of attempted murder … BOULDER, Colo. — Dynel Lane, the Longmont woman accused of attacking another woman and cutting the unborn baby from her womb, was found guilty of six felony counts, including attempted first-degree murder …
Discussion:
Jezebel, LifeNews.com, fox8.com and KTLA


Donald Trump in New York: Deep Roots, but Little Influence — It is impossible to miss when you fly into New York City and spot the golf course in the shadow of the Whitestone Bridge. It is hard to avoid when you stroll along Fifth Avenue, or venture past the skating rink or carousel in Central Park.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Washington Post, Jezebel and The Week


Conservative Writer Ben Shapiro Banned from CSULA — Early Tuesday morning, conservative writer Ben Shapiro revealed on Twitter that his planned speech on February 25 at California State University-Los Angeles had been canceled by the university's president.
Discussion:
Breitbart, The Daily Caller, The College Fix and Mediaite