memeorandum: A Lot Weaker Than They Look (Josh Marshall/Talking Points Memo)

4:05 PM ET, February 24, 2016

Top Items:

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:

The Only Strategy For Hillary Clinton Is To Scorch The Earth — If Hillary Clinton manages to beat Bernie Sanders, the early primaries have already revealed that there's only one strategy for the general election against a Republican, be it Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, or Ted Cruz: Scorch the earth.

Discussion: New York Magazine

Manu Raju / CNN:

CNN exclusive: Harry Reid endorses Hillary Clinton — Washington (CNN)Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid announced Wednesday in an exclusive interview with CNN that he is endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, a sign that Democratic leaders are eager to put the party's contentious primary fight behind them.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Infowars, The Week, The Daily Caller, Independent Journal Review, National Review and Guardian

David Wasserman / FiveThirtyEight:

Republicans' Last-Ditch Hope To Stop Donald Trump — If it's not obvious by now, a ship called the Republican Party is perilously close to being hijacked by a populist pirate named Donald Trump. At the last three ports of call — New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada …

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:

Rubio: 'You Don't Win The Nomination By How Many States You Win' (VIDEO) — Following another second-place finish in the Nevada GOP caucus, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) argued Wednesday that candidates don't win presidential primaries simply by winning individual states.

Discussion: RedState, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, Political Wire and AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …

Michelle Hackman / Vox:

The broad support behind Trump's Nevada win should terrify the Republican establishment — Donald Trump won yet another smashing victory in Nevada last night, crushing Marco Rubio by 22 points with voters across the ideological spectrum, and even with Hispanics.

Discussion: Mother Jones, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, The Week, The Daily Caller and National Review

Jim Tankersley / Washington Post:

There's a very good reason for Rubio and Cruz not to destroy Trump — It has long been tempting to look at the rise of Donald Trump as a textbook case of what economists call a “collective action problem.” It's what happens when a group of people fail to work together, for selfish individual reasons …

Discussion: American Power and National Review

Maeve Reston / CNN:

Trump scores big win in Nevada — Las Vegas (CNN)Donald Trump notched a resounding win in the Nevada caucuses Tuesday, channeling the roiling anger of Republican voters against the establishment and sweeping almost every category of the electorate to build his dominance in the delegate count.

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, The Hill, Slate, NBC News, Fox News, Washington Free Beacon, Downtrend, WLS-AM 890, New York's PIX11, Hot Topics, Lawyers, Guns & Money, NPR, Jezebel and The Week

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg Business:
How Marco Rubio Blunted Ted Cruz—and Boosted Donald Trump

Discussion: Washington Post, U.S. News, U.S. News, Vox, Politico, Real Clear Politics, Independent Journal Review and New York Magazine

Shane Goldmacher / Politico:
Trump shatters the Republican Party

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post, Raw Story, Common Dreams, Taylor Marsh, The Week and New York Magazine

Adrian Carrasquillo / BuzzFeed:
Let's Not Get Carried Away With That “Trump Won Latinos” Entrance Poll

Discussion: Latino USA and Patterico's Pontifications

Adam Edelman / New York Daily News:
Donald Trump wins Nevada's messy GOP caucuses after contest was plagued by alleged voter fraud …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Mark Finkelstein / NewsBusters:
Mika Rips Rubio: ‘Sucking Up’ to Trump to be His VP Pick

Discussion: The Daily Caller

James Hohmann / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: Trump's romp in Nevada shows why conventional wisdom about his ceiling may be wrong

Discussion: The Atlantic, Washington Examiner and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Eliza Collins / Politico:
Trump crashes Glenn Beck's caucus speech

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Breitbart, Washington Post, Independent Journal Review, Downtrend and Raw Story

Katie Zezima / Washington Post:
Shouts of ‘liar’ are taking their toll on Ted Cruz's campaign

Discussion: Politico, The Moderate Voice, The Hill, Daily Kos, Politicus USA, Political Insider blog, The Week, CNN, The Texas Tribune, Conservative Review, American Power, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times and Townhall.com

Shane Goldmacher / Politico:
Trump wins Nevada caucuses

Discussion: The Hill, Heavy.com, ABC News, Infowars, The National Interest, Power Line, Washington Post, Scared Monkeys, Vox Popoli, The Daily Caller and The Atlantic

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:
Trump taunts rivals and predicts quick end to GOP race

Discussion: Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, Common Dreams, Hot Air, Guardian and Refinery29

President Barack Obama / SCOTUSblog:

A Responsibility I Take Seriously — The Constitution vests in the President the power to appoint judges to the Supreme Court. It's a duty that I take seriously, and one that I will fulfill in the weeks ahead. — It's also one of the most important decisions that a President will make.

Washington Post:

Republican governor of Nevada Brian Sandoval being considered for Supreme Court — Brian Sandoval, the centrist Republican governor of Nevada, is being vetted by the White House for a possible nomination to the Supreme Court, according to two people familiar with the process.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Times, ThinkProgressPage Array, Reno Gazette-Journal, Business Insider, Towleroad, Daily Kos, NBC News, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …, Mediaite, LawNewz, The Daily Caller, New York Times, Scared Monkeys, Politico, New York Magazine, Prairie Weather and Washington Free Beacon

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

A Lot Weaker Than They Look — As I said before, let's not forget the massive stakes for Republicans in the next Supreme Court nominee. Many Republicans would genuinely prefer to maintain control of the Supreme Court than elect the next President. Republican control of the Court …

Jason Noble / Des Moines Register:

Grassley hasn't heeded White House invite on SCOTUS vacancy — A White House invitation for U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley to discuss the current U.S. Supreme Current vacancy with President Barack Obama has so far gone unanswered. — Turning down the meeting would represent a break in protocol …

Discussion: Yahoo Politics, RedState, New York Times, The Federalist, USA Today, Right Wing Watch, Talking Points Memo and CNN

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Hans Von Spakovsky: ‘Obligation’ To Count Scalia's Vote In Pending Cases

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Right Wing Watch and Raw Story

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Reid: Grassley an inept chairman

Discussion: Yahoo Politics and Daily Kos

Kevin Robillard / Politico:
Ayotte, Portman won't meet with an Obama SCOTUS nominee

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Alexander Mallin / ABC News:
President Obama Outlines What He's Looking for in a Supreme Court Nominee

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, Associated Press and Business Insider

Nick Gass / Politico:

Trump lands his first congressional endorsements — Donald Trump finally has official supporters in Congress. — Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) told POLITICO on Wednesday that he will support Trump for the Republican nomination, making him one of the first members of Congress …

Discussion: ABC News, New York Times, Hit & Run, Political Wire, NPR, The Week and New York Magazine

Jerry Zremski / Buffalo News:

Chris Collins becomes first sitting member of Congress to endorse Trump — WASHINGTON - Rep. Chris Collins, a mainstream Republican from Clarence, on Wednesday became the first sitting member of Congress to endorse bombastic billionaire Donald Trump for president.

Discussion: Yahoo Politics, Talking Points Memo, Guardian, Hot Air, New York Magazine, Politico, Business Insider, Washington Times, Independent Journal Review and RealClearPolicy

Lynn Vavreck / New York Times:
Measuring Donald Trump's Supporters for Intolerance

Discussion: Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo, Fusion, Jezebel, Hullabaloo, The Agonist and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Aaron Williams / Alternet:

Noam Chomsky: We Owe the Rise of Trump to Fear and the ‘Breakdown of Society’ — Leading GOP candidate is taking advantage of America's fears. — Noam Chomsky. — Noam Chomsky, 87, is without a doubt the most significant academic figure to cast a highly critical eye on U.S. foreign policies.

Discussion: Raw Story, Politico and The Daily Caller

Jay Newton-Small / TIME:
Q&A: David Brock on Attacking Bernie Sanders

Discussion: Mediaite and Raw Story

Julian Hattem / The Hill:

Attorney general promises ‘independent’ review of Clinton email case — Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Wednesday promised that any Justice Department review of possible criminal charges connected to Hillary Clinton — 's handling of classified information would be “independent,” without regard to politics or outside influence.

Discussion: Hot Air

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Clinton Derangement Syndrome Is Alive and Well

Discussion: Washington Post and the daily howler

Washington Post:
Aides' email-server testimony could throw Clinton campaign a curveball

Discussion: LawNewz

Associated Press:

Texas Court Clears Ex-Gov. Rick Perry of 2nd Felony Charge — Texas' highest criminal court tossed the second and final felony charge against former Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday, likely ending a case the Republican says helped sink his short-lived 2016 presidential bid.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, American Spectator, The Federalist, Talking Points Memo, RedState and Washington Free Beacon

Bloomberg Business:

Abortion Clinics Are Closing at a Record Pace — At least 162 providers have closed since 2011. — Esmé E Deprez — Abortion access in the U.S. has been vanishing at the fastest annual pace on record, propelled by Republican state lawmakers' push to legislate the industry out of existence.