memeorandum: Rubio mocks Trump for spelling, ‘spray tan,’ ‘Hair Force One’ plane (Elliot Smilowitz/The Hill)

5:05 PM ET, February 27, 2016

Top Items:

Inside the Republican Party's Desperate Mission to Stop Donald Trump — The scenario Karl Rove outlined was bleak. — Addressing a luncheon of Republican governors and donors in Washington on Feb. 19, he warned that Donald J. Trump's increasingly likely nomination would be catastrophic, dooming the party in November.

David Weigel / Washington Post:

Rubio's verbal assault on Trump continues, joined by seven-figure ad buys — OKLAHOMA CITY — It was the biggest crowd Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) had gotten in this state, perhaps a thousand voters filling the floor of a downtown event center to hear him. And for 10 minutes …

Discussion: Mother Jones and Politico

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:

Will Conservatives Abandon Donald Trump in the General Election? — The New York Times has a big story this morning about the trials and tribulations of the Republican Party establishment in their efforts to stop Donald Trump. I would like to draw your attention to two things. First this:

Discussion: New York Times, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air and Gothamist

Kristen East / Politico:

Jan Brewer endorses Donald Trump — Former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Saturday endorsed Donald Trump for president. — Trump has made immigration a central issue in his campaign for president, vowing to build a wall along the southern border of the United States and promising to have Mexico pay for it.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and CNN

Ashley Young / CNN:

Ex-Mexican President Fox: Donald Trump reminds me of Hitler — Former Mexican President Vicente Fox on Friday kept up his withering criticism of Donald Trump, saying the GOP front-runner reminds him of Adolf Hitler — “He has offended Mexico, Mexicans, [and] immigrants. He has offended the Pope.

Discussion: Slantpoint, Little Green Footballs, Talking Points Memo, Infowars and The Gateway Pundit

New York Times:
Donald Trump and Chris Christie Start a Bully Bromance

Discussion: Da Tech Guy Blog, Boston Globe, Associated Press, Politico, Taylor Marsh and Hit & Run

Kenneth P. Vogel / Politico:
Trump faces wave of big-money attacks

Discussion: The Hill, NBC News, New York Times, Trail Blazers Blog and Wall Street Journal

New York Daily News:
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie endorses Donald Trump for president

Discussion: Joe.My.God., The Week and Mediaite

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg Business:
Chris Christie Delivers Major Blow to Party Elites Resisting Trump

Discussion: Politico, Red Alert Politics and WMTW-TV

Ian Tuttle / National Review:
Yes, Trump University Was a Massive Scam

Discussion: Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Yahoo Politics, Patterico's Pontifications, LawNewz, New York Times and Hot Air

Lindsey Ellefson / Mediaite:
The ‘Stump for Trump’ Girls Just Said on CNN That Marco Rubio Had ‘A Gay Lifestyle’

Discussion: Telegraph, Marco Rubio, addictinginfo.org, Red Alert Politics, New York Times, TheStreet.com, CBS Miami, ABC News, The Gateway Pundit, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Guardian, WBUR, Business Insider, Raw Story and Politico

Sean Sullivan / Washington Post:
Rubio and Trump now at war for the GOP's future

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Political Wire, Politico and New York Times

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Donald Trump Might Not Keep Paying for His Campaign Himself, Chris Christie Suggests

Discussion: CNN

Adam Edelman / New York Daily News:
Donald Trump supported by former KKK leader David Duke: ‘I hope he does everything we hope he will do’

Discussion: CNN and Mediaite

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

Sanders puts South Carolina in rear-view mirror — AUSTIN — South Carolina is holding its Democratic primary today, but you wouldn't know it just by listening to Bernie Sanders. — Jetting off to Austin from Columbia, S.C. this morning — before stops in Dallas and Rochester, Minnesota …

Discussion: Washington Post and Political Wire

Ari Berman / The Nation:
63,756 Reasons Racism Is Still Alive in South Carolina

Discussion: ThinkProgressPage Array, Daily Kos and New York Times

Anne Gearan / Washington Post:
S.C. Democrats head to the polls; Clinton, Sanders head out of state

Discussion: Politico, New Jersey News …, Outside the Beltway and Common Dreams

Anne Gearan / Washington Post:
What happens when Hillary Clinton crashes a bachelor party? She's in the photos.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Los Angeles Times, CBS News, BizPac Review, Politico, PAPERMAG and Tennessean.com

Olaf Ekberg / The American Mirror:

VIDEO: Bill Clinton snaps at veteran during speech: ‘Shut up and listen to my answer’ — The long hours and grueling pace of the presidential campaign may be finally catching up with a rapidly aging Bill Clinton. — During an appearance in Bluffton, South Carolina on Friday …

Discussion: RedState

Kerry Picket / The Daily Caller:

Bill Clinton Loses It Over Benghazi Hecklers At Campaign Rally [VIDEO] — Former president Bill Clinton became angry when he was heckled by protesters during a campaign event in Bluffton, South Carolina on Friday. — The protesters demanded to know if his wife Hillary Clinton lied …

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Gateway Pundit and The Last Tradition

Elliot Smilowitz / The Hill:

Rubio mocks Trump for spelling, ‘spray tan,’ ‘Hair Force One’ plane — is running for president, but it sounds like he would settle for a Comedy Central special. — Rubio on Saturday continued his mockery of rival Donald Trump — , going after the businessman's spelling errors and “spray tan” at a campaign event in Kennesaw, Ga.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Political Wire and Red Alert Politics

Justin Fox / BloombergView.com:

Stuff Keeps Getting Cheaper — Since 1995, durable goods (cars, televisions, computers and the like) have been getting cheaper in the U.S. That's even as the prices of services and nondurables have mostly kept rising. — In the chart above, prices are viewed using 2009 as the base year.

Discussion: Equitable Growth

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:

Founder Of French Far Right Party Endorses Trump — Jean-Marie Le Pen, the larger-than-life founder of France's far-right Front National party, endorsed Donald Trump on his Twitter feed on Saturday. — “If I was American I would vote for Donald Trump,” Le Pen tweeted. “May God protect him!”

Brittny Mejia / Los Angeles Times:

California Highway Patrol needed nearly four hours to catch a runaway ‘unicorn’ — A California Highway Patrol helicopter tracked down an escaped unicorn on Wednesday in Madera Ranchos. — When a caller reported a “unicorn-like” animal galloping down an open Central Valley road …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Cases for Public Investment — One of the annoying aspects of the Sanders/Friedman flap was the assumption of many Sanders supporters that anyone who doesn't accept extravagant economic projections is against a big program of public investment. Actually, it was destructive as well as annoying …

Discussion: Equitable Growth