memeorandum: Marco Rubio's chances were always poor (Lee Drutman/Vox)

9:00 PM ET, February 25, 2016

Top Items:

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

David Duke Urges His Supporters To Volunteer And Vote For Trump — “Voting against Donald Trump at this point is really treason to your heritage.” — w.soundcloud.com — David Duke, a white nationalist and former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard, is urging the listeners of his radio program to volunteer and vote for Donald Trump.

Discussion: Mediaite, Jezebel, Talking Points Memo, Washington Times, Business Insider, The Hill, New York Magazine, Mother Jones, Little Green Footballs, Nashville Scene, The Moderate Voice, RedState, The Lonely Conservative, American Spectator, The Week and The Resurgent

Douglas Heye / The Huffington Post:

How The Republican Party Has Failed To Dig Up Dirt On Donald Trump — GOP operatives are alarmed. Democrats are astonished. — WASHINGTON — It's no secret that rival campaigns were caught off guard by Donald Trump's ascent in the Republican primary. But the extent to which they are …

Discussion: Mother Jones, BuzzFeed, Downtrend, Washington Post, Hot Air and CNN

MJ Lee / CNN:

First on CNN: Rubio prepares for contested convention — Marco Rubio's campaign is preparing for a contested Republican Convention as one option to take the GOP nomination away from Donald Trump and Ted Cruz — Houston (CNN)Marco Rubio's campaign is preparing for a contested Republican Convention …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Trail Blazers Blog, Downtrend, SaintPetersBlog, Raw Story and Political Wire

Lee Drutman / Vox:

Marco Rubio's chances were always poor — Ranked choice voting could have told us this sooner — A new poll has Donald Trump beating Marco Rubio 44 percent to 28 percent in Rubio's home state of Florida. This is devastating news for Rubio. It also is bad news for the conventional wisdom …

Discussion: ballot-access.org

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

This poll showing Donald Trump romping in Florida is very, very bad news for Marco Rubio — Candidates battle for young black votes … State of the 2016 race — Donald Trump speaks during a campaign stop in Tampa, Florida. — There hadn't been a good poll in Florida for a while, until Thursday morning.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Outside the Beltway, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, CNN and Vox

Eliza Collins / Politico:
David Duke: Voting against Trump is ‘treason to your heritage’

Discussion: Raw Story, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …, Guardian, Outside the Beltway, The Resurgent, Washington Monthly and The Right Scoop

MJ Lee / CNN:
Republican debate: 5 things to watch

Discussion: New York's PIX11

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

Poll: Trump's negatives among Hispanics rise; worst in GOP field … Donald Trump has used the issue of immigration to help make himself the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, but his harsh rhetoric also has earned him the highest negative ratings among Hispanic voters …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, USA Today, TheStreet.com, RedState, Guardian, Latino USA, New York Magazine, Washington Times, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway, Politico, ThinkProgressPage Array, Prairie Weather and Daily Kos

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Rubio just launched a searing attack on Trump. Here's why it may fail.

Discussion: RedState, Daily Kos, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …, Hullabaloo, Mother Jones, whorunsGov, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times and JustOneMinute

Daniel Strauss / Politico:
RNC sees leverage over Trump

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Free Beacon, Daily Kos, FiveThirtyEight and Washington Post

Marc Caputo / Politico:
Poll: Trump crushes Rubio in Florida

Discussion: USA Today, RedState, Talking Points Memo, Politico, CNN, The Last Refuge, Vox, Washington Post, Independent Journal Review, SaintPetersBlog, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Hot Air and Balloon Juice

Ross Douthat / New York Times:
What Is Marco Rubio Waiting For?

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, The Hill, NBC News, Mondoweiss, Slantpoint, National Review, New York Magazine, No More Mister Nice Blog, Vox, The Week, Yahoo Politics, Hot Air and Political Insider blog

Columbia Daily Tribune:

University of Missouri curators vote to fire Melissa Click — Melissa Click, an assistant professor of mass media at the University of Missouri, demands a journalist leave the Concerned Student 1950 camp area in November. The Missouri Board of Curators voted 4-2 in favor …

Discussion: Chicagoist, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, American Spectator, Talking Points Memo, Mashable, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon, Mediaite, Hit & Run and The College Fix, more at Mediagazer »

Advancing Missouri:

Statement from University of Missouri leadership — Pam Henrickson, chair of the University of Missouri Board of Curators, released the following statement today: — Last week, the Board of Curators received the investigative report detailing the relevant facts surrounding recent conduct by MU assistant professor, Dr. Melissa Click.

Discussion: New York Times, Slantpoint, New York Magazine, National Review, Instapundit, TVNewser and Independent Journal Review

Fox News:
Missouri professor Melissa Click fired after protest scuffles caught on video

Discussion: Front Page Magazine and Patterico's Pontifications

Tyler Tynes / The Huffington Post:

Black Lives Matter Activists Interrupt Hillary Clinton At Private Event In South Carolina — They wanted her to account for some of her past statements on racial justice. — Politics Fellow, The Huffington Post — Two Black Lives Matter activists interrupted a private Hillary Clinton …

Jonathan Capehart / Washington Post:
Hillary Clinton on ‘superpredator’ remarks: 'I shouldn't have used those words'

Discussion: Mother Jones, ABC News, New York Daily News, Talking Points Memo, Fusion, Towleroad, Vox, Shakesville and The Daily Caller

Anne Gearan / Washington Post:
Clinton regrets 1996 remark on ‘super-predators’ after encounter with activist

Discussion: TalkLeft, The National Interest, Shadowproof, Slantpoint, ThinkProgressPage Array, Washington Free Beacon, Shakesville, New Economic Perspectives and Guardian

Esme E Deprez / Bloomberg Business:
South Carolina Feminists Want Woman President Who Isn't Clinton

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Free Beacon and Politico

John Fund / National Review:

Brian Sandoval: Obama's GOP Trojan Horse for the Supreme Court

Discussion: Reno Gazette-Journal, Wall Street Journal, Guardian, Slantpoint, Washington Post, The Atlantic and The Daily Caller

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:
Sandoval bows out of Supreme Court consideration

Discussion: Reno Gazette-Journal, Guardian, Vox, New York Magazine and Outside the Beltway

Brad Mielke / ABC News:
Hillary Clinton Pushes Back on Potential Brian Sandoval Supreme Court Nomination

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press, Vox, RedState and Politico

Sarah Wheaton / Politico:
Democrats escalate Supreme Court shame campaign

Discussion: USA Today, The Hill, CNN and Daily Kos

Mark Hensch / The Hill:

Former Mexican president: 'I'm not going to pay for that f—ing wall' … Former Mexican President Vicente Fox says his nation will not pay for Donald Trump — 's proposed border wall. — “I declare — I'm not going to pay for that f—ing wall,” he told Fusion's Jorge Ramos during an interview Thursday.

Discussion: Washington Post, Jorge Ramos, ABC News, KTLA, Vox, Mediaite and Mother Jones

Tim Hains / RealClearPolitics:
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox to Trump: We're “Not Paying For That F***ing Wall”

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, addictinginfo.org, The Last Refuge, Joe.My.God., Towleroad and ThinkProgressPage Array

Rafa Fernandez De Castro / Fusion:
Former Mexican President to Donald Trump: 'I'm not going to pay for that f**king wall'

Discussion: Washington Post, TalkLeft, Business Insider, Hullabaloo, Hot Air, Agence France-Presse, The Week, Trail Blazers Blog, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit, Politico, CNN, Boing Boing, FOX News Radio and The Right Scoop

Darren Goode / Politico:

Cruz won't hold up Flint aid deal in Senate — Ted Cruz won't block a bipartisan Senate bill that would provide hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of aid for Flint, Mich. and other communities that need to upgrade their drinking water infrastructure. — “Cruz has reviewed the bill …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgressPage Array, The Hill, Associated Press, Grist, Right Wing Watch, Morning Consult, Mediaite, Balloon Juice and Detroit News

KAKE-TV:

WATCH LIVE: Sheriff: 4 to 7 killed, up to 30 hurt in mass shooting in Hesston … Headlines List — HESSTON, Kan. (KAKE) — Several people have been killed, and as many as 20 are hurt in a shooting at Excel Industries in Hesston. — Officers responded Thursday afternoon to the report …

Discussion: WTVC-TV, Little Green Footballs, KBSL-TV, Raw Story and NPR

Mark Bergen / Re/code:

Google Will Join Microsoft in Backing Apple With a Legal Filing in FBI Case — Google plans to follow Microsoft in throwing its legal support behind Apple in its increasingly contentious dispute with the federal government around the iPhone connected with the San Bernardino terror attacks, according to sources.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Daily Mail, Business Insider, MacRumors and Engadget

Wired:
Apple to FBI: You Can't Force Us to Hack the San Bernardino iPhone

Discussion: The Atlantic, New York Magazine and TalkLeft, more at Mediagazer »

WPMT FOX43:

23-year-old Ukrainian National arrested after posing as Harrisburg high school student — HARRISBURG, PA. - Harrisburg Police have confirmed they have arrested Artur Samarin, 23. Samarin was charged with Theft, Identity Theft, and Tampering with Public Records. — Samarin was using the false identity of Asher Potts.

Discussion: Mediaite, WNEP-TV, Independent Journal Review and New York's PIX11

Christopher Cameron / The Statesman:

Political science professor forecasts Trump as general election winner — A professor of political science at Stony Brook University has forecasted that Donald Trump has a minimum 97 percent chance of winning the general election as the Republican nominee. — Professor Helmut Norpoth's …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Moderate Voice, Infowars, BizPac Review and Vox Popoli

Jason Leopold / VICE News:

While US Attorney General, Eric Holder Used Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Birth Name as His Official Email Address — Former US Attorney General Eric Holder is a huge fan of NBA hall of famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. — So much so that Holder used Abdul-Jabbar's birth name, Lew Alcindor …

Discussion: Infowars, The Hill and The Daily Caller

David Johnson / TIME:

These Are the 100 Most-Read Female Writers in College Classes — What more than 1 million reading lists reveal about higher education today — Toni Morrison and Jane Austen are among the most-read female writers on college campuses, a new TIME analysis found.

Discussion: The Federalist, Washington Post, The Week and Coffee House

Cody Derespina / Associated Press:

‘Cecil Effect’ dangerous for lions, guides — Lion overpopulation has become a serious issue in Zimbabwe. (Byron du Preez) — The international backlash against big game hunters triggered by last year's killing of a beloved lion named “Cecil” could spell doom for hundreds of the beasts who now roam a Zimbabwe preserve.

New York Times:

Mrs. Clinton, Show Voters Those Transcripts — “Everybody does it,” is an excuse expected from a mischievous child, not a presidential candidate. But that is Hillary Clinton's latest defense for making closed-door, richly-paid speeches to big banks, which many middle-class Americans still blame …

Discussion: MSNBC, Politico, Washington Post and Mediaite