memeorandum: What Women Find in Friends That They May Not Get From Love (Rebecca Traister/New York Times)

3:05 AM ET, February 29, 2016

Top Items:

The Republican Party's implosion over Donald Trump's candidacy has arrived — MADISON, Ala. — The implosion over Donald Trump's candidacy that Republicans had hoped to avoid arrived so virulently this weekend that many party leaders vowed never to back the billionaire and openly questioned whether …

Discussion: Politico

Jose A. DelReal / Washington Post:

In major blow to Ted Cruz, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama endorses Donald Trump for GOP nomination — MADISON, Ala. — Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), whose hard-line conservative stances on immigration and trade have made him a favorite of the party's base, endorsed Donald Trump's White House bid during …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, The Moderate Voice, Washington Times, Fox News and ABC News

Elliot Smilowitz / The Hill:

Trump: Debates are a ‘waste of time’ — Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump — is ready to be done with debates. — Trump on Friday night hinted he had thought about skipping another GOP debate, as he lamented the events as “a terrible waste of time.” — “Aren't these debates ridiculous, though?”

Discussion: RedState

Ian Schwartz / RealClearPolitics:

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions Endorses Donald Trump At Huntsville Rally — Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) endorsed Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Huntsville Sunday evening. Sessions ensured a “Gang of Eight” type of immigration reform bill will not will pass under Donald Trump

Discussion: Power Line, PoliPundit.com, Vox Popoli and The Resurgent

Kathy Frankovic / YouGov US Opinion Center News:

3 in 4 Republican voters now expect Trump to be the nominee — His level of support nationwide is also at a high-water mark — Winning elections helps. Donald Trump has become an even more formidable frontrunner among Republican primary voters in the latest Economist/YouGov Poll …

Discussion: Political Wire

CBS News:

Poll: Donald Trump leads in Virginia, Georgia; Ted Cruz hanging on in Texas — Donald Trump is up in Georgia and Virginia and second in Texas, and he heads into Super Tuesday in a strong position to have a good night. He's thus far been able to parlay his formula from previous states …

Discussion: YouGov US Opinion Center News, The Last Refuge, RedState, Outside the Beltway, Slantpoint and Politico

Eli Stokols / Politico: Sen. Jeff Sessions endorses Trump

Arian Campo-Flores / Wall Street Journal:
Jeff Sessions, Leading GOP Senate Voice on Immigration, Endorses Trump

Discussion: addictinginfo.org

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
‘Cockamamie’: Kasich campaign rejects talk of brokered convention

Discussion: ABC News

Associated Press:
The Latest: Rubio Keeps up Taunts of Trump

Discussion: Politico, Yahoo Politics, ABC News and Independent Journal Review

New York Times:

Christie Splits With His Past in Backing Trump — On the night he cruised to a landslide re-election in 2013, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, already eyeing the presidency, had a message for fellow Republicans outside his Democratic-leaning state. — “We don't just show up in the places where we're comfortable.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, CBS New York, The Times of Israel, Boing Boing, Guardian, Washington Post, Towleroad and Business Insider

Eric Bradner / CNN:
Trump won't disavow support from KKK, David Duke

Discussion: TIME, Guardian, ThinkProgressPage Array, The Resurgent, Patterico's Pontifications, Hullabaloo, ImmigrationProf Blog, The Atlantic, The Moderate Voice, American Spectator, Mashable, Hit & Run, WTVR-TV, Scott Adams Blog and Los Angeles Times

David Edwards / Raw Story:
Donald Trump: ‘It would be very unfair’ to disavow KKK and David Duke until I ‘do research on them’

Discussion: Bipartisan Report and addictinginfo.org

Camila Domonoske / NPR:
Trump Fails To Condemn KKK On Television, Turns To Twitter To Clarify

Discussion: Political Insider blog, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, BuzzFeed, Jezebel, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway and Guardian

Alex Pareene / Gawker:

How We Fooled Donald Trump Into Retweeting Benito Mussolini — Is Donald Trump a fascist? Experts, historians, and pundits have debated the question for months. One thing has been certain for a while now: He tweets like one. That's why, last year, Gawker's Ashley Feinberg created …

Discussion: Business Insider, Slantpoint, Joe.My.God., Fusion, Mediaite, RedState, Washington Post, Independent Journal Review, New York Magazine, Hullabaloo, The Week, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, addictinginfo.org, The Right Scoop and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »

Elena Schneider / Politico:
Trump explains tweeting Mussolini quote

Discussion: Business Insider, RedState, Yahoo Politics, The Hill, Mediaite, Washington Post and The Right Scoop

Kristen East / Politico:
Trump declines to condemn Ku Klux Klan

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, USA Today, Washington Post, Mashable, New York Times, Hot Air and NBC News

Ben Sasse / Facebook:

AN OPEN LETTER TO TRUMP SUPPORTERS — To my friends supporting Donald Trump: — The Trump coalition is broad and complicated, but I believe many Trump fans are well-meaning. I have spoken at length with many of you, both inside and outside Nebraska. You are rightly worried about our national direction.

Discussion: Guardian, RedState, Independent Journal Review and The Right Scoop

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Breaking down the GOP's Super Tuesday map — Super Tuesday could cripple every Republican presidential candidate not named Donald Trump. — The best-case scenario for Trump would put him far ahead of his rivals in the race for delegates, and polls have him competitive almost everywhere that Republicans are voting.

Discussion: Business Insider

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Super Tuesday Scorecard: Big night possible for Donald Trump

Discussion: Independent Journal Review and Hot Air

Caitlin Yilek / The Hill:

Trump tells Christie: ‘Get on the plane and go home’ — told Chris Christie to “go home” after the New Jersey governor introduced the billionaire at a campaign rally in Arkansas on Saturday. — “Get on the plane and go home,” Trump is heard saying to Christie.

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Rebecca Traister / New York Times:

What Women Find in Friends That They May Not Get From Love — SARA and I met as office drones in 1999. We became friends in a period of our lives when the demands of our jobs were just heating up, when the roots we were putting down in the city were just getting deep.

Kelley King / WDTN-TV:

Pastor killed in Dayton church shooting, brother believed to be shooter — DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — A Dayton pastor is dead after police said he was allegedly shot by his younger brother. — Family members of the two said they are in shock after what happened.

Discussion: addictinginfo.org, WCMH-TV, NBC News and Crime Blog

NBC News:

Christie Campaign's Finance Co-Chair Calls on Donors to Reject Trump — Meg Whitman, the CEO of Hewlett-Packard who had an official role with Gov. Chris Christie's now-suspended presidential campaign, called his endorsement of Trump, “an astonishing display of political opportunism.”