memeorandum: GOP establishment creeps toward Cruz (Katie Glueck/Politico)

3:05 PM ET, March 9, 2016

Top Items:

Eric Bradner / CNN:

CNN/ORC Poll: Trump, Clinton leading in Florida, Ohio — Washington (CNN)Donald Trump is leading two of his Republican presidential rivals in their home states, topping Sen. Marco Rubio in Florida and Gov. John Kasich in Ohio, new CNN/ORC polls show. — Hillary Clinton, meanwhile …

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg Business:

Rubio Suffers Political Meltdown One Week Before Must-Win Florida — The Florida senator had a rough night on Tuesday. — Marco Rubio has found the bottom of the Republican field just two weeks after making a strong move to try to rise to the top of it. — After finishing second …

Discussion: Politico, The Resurgent, Hullabaloo and NBC News

Shane Goldmacher / Politico:

Marco on the brink — SARASOTA, Fla. — With mounting losses and his chances that voters deliver him the Republican nomination near-nonexistent, Marco Rubio is flirting with the same political “death spiral” that swallowed Jeb Bush only three weeks ago. — He's fending off rumors of quitting …

Discussion: Yahoo Politics, RedState, The Cook Political Report, CBS News, Daily Kos, Wall Street Journal and Scared Monkeys

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:
Jeb Bush to meet with Rubio, Cruz and Kasich

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Guardian and The Week

Katie Glueck / Politico:
GOP establishment creeps toward Cruz

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh and Daily Kos

Tampa Bay Times:
Marco Rubio not ready to be president

Discussion: Politico, CNN, Washington Post, USA Today, The Resurgent and Florida Politics

Harry Enten / FiveThirtyEight:

What The Stunning Bernie Sanders Win In Michigan Means — Bernie Sanders made folks like me eat a stack of humble pie on Tuesday night. He won the Michigan primary over Hillary Clinton, 50 percent to 48 percent, when not a single poll taken over the last month had Clinton leading by less than 5 percentage points.

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:
Clinton will add to delegate lead after Michigan, Mississippi contests

Discussion: Politico, American Spectator, Politicus USA and Weasel Zippers

Patrick O'Connor / Wall Street Journal:
WSJ/NBC Poll: Tenor of Campaign Takes a Toll

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Glenn Thrush / Politico: 5 takeaways from Bernie's Michigan miracle

David A. Fahrenthold / Washington Post:
Democratic debate in Miami: Clinton, Sanders face off after Michigan surprise

Discussion: Politico, Mother Jones, Yahoo Politics and Daily Kos

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:
Sanders stuns Clinton in Michigan

Discussion: RedState, Guardian, New York Times, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, Scared Monkeys, ABC News, Liberal Values and Taylor Marsh

Washington Post:

Poll: Clinton leads Trump, aided by Obama coalition … Powered by the same coalition that twice elected Barack Obama, Democrat Hillary Clinton holds a clear lead over Republican Donald Trump in a hypothetical matchup for the November election, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Discussion: RedState, Politico, Townhall.com, Washington Times, The Week, Talking Points Memo and Florida Politics

Jessica Hopper / ABC News:

Carly Fiorina Endorses Ted Cruz

Discussion: Yahoo Politics, Weasel Zippers, Associated Press, Shakesville, Western Journalism, Political Wire, The Week, RedState, BizPac Review, Althouse and Marco Rubio

Eun Kyung Kim / TODAY.com:

Donald Trump: If the Republican Party came together, ‘nobody could beat it’ — Despite the recent barrage of critics suggesting otherwise, Donald Trump said Wednesday that his recent string of primary victories show he's on his way to unifying the Republican party.

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Post, CNBC, NBC News and Business Insider

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
Only Trump Can Trump Trump — Donald Trump is a walking political science course.

Discussion: Vox Popoli

The Hill:
Fiorina endorses Cruz

Discussion: Mother Jones, Wall Street Journal, ThinkProgressPage Array, Independent Journal Review, American Spectator and Hot Air

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:

The Conservative Era Is Over — Antonin Scalia's death has already changed the way the Supreme Court—and conservative litigants—do business. — Nobody quite knows what to make of it yet, but nobody disputes it, either: The Supreme Court of March looks nothing like the court we knew in February.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Federalist and Daily Kos

Lydia Wheeler / The Hill:

Senate Judiciary to debate issue of Supreme Court nomination — (R-Iowa) said the Senate Judiciary Committee will have a “full-blown debate” Thursday on whether to hold a hearing on a Supreme Court nomination. — “If you want to hear a full-blown debate on this issue …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Washington Post and The Bob and Chez Show

Eric Wang / USA Today:
Liberals should thank Scalia for right to blast GOP on Supreme Court: Column

Discussion: SCOTUSblog, Washington Post and The Atlantic

Nina Totenberg / NPR:
President Obama Meets With Supreme Court Candidates

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, The Week and NBC News

Siobhan Hughes / Wall Street Journal:
Poll Finds Majority of Voters Disapprove of Republicans' Supreme Court Delay

Discussion: Politico and Daily Kos

Jonathan Ellis / Mashable:

All the lies Donald Trump told in his election night infomercial — Donald Trump had plenty to celebrate on Tuesday night after winning the Republican primaries in Mississippi and Michigan. — But that didn't really matter. He was still pissed at Mitt Romney for making fun of his companies.

Discussion: CNN, National Review, ABC News, Hit & Run and The Resurgent

CNN:
CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL

Discussion: Mother Jones

Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart:

EXCLUSIVE: Jon Voight Endorses Donald Trump for President — LOS ANGELES — Hollywood legend Jon Voight has endorsed Republican Donald J. Trump for President of the United States. — In an interview with Breitbart News Tuesday evening, the Oscar-, Emmy-, and Golden Globe-winning actor said …

Discussion: EveryJoe, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Daily Caller, Independent Journal Review and Western Journalism

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Trump campaign manager gets rough with Breitbart reporter — Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski forcibly yanked Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields out of the way after his press conference in Florida on Tuesday night. — Fields was attempting to ask Trump a question as he exited the press conference.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, RedState, Mediaite, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, Adweek, Independent Journal Review, Hit & Run, Mashable, Raw Story, Weasel Zippers, Slantpoint, Western Journalism, The Right Scoop, addictinginfo.org, The Week and TVNewser, more at Mediagazer »

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:

GOP superlawyer on contested convention rule: 'In fact, that's not a rule' — A Republican presidential candidate doesn't have to accrue a majority of delegates in eight states to be considered for the nomination during a contested convention in July, former Republican National Committee lawyer Ben Ginsberg …

New York Times: How Trump Could Be Blocked at a Contested Republican Convention

Gregg Zoroya / USA Today:

Pentagon admits it has deployed military spy drones over the U.S. — The Pentagon has deployed drones to spy over U.S. territory for non-military missions over the past decade, but the flights have been rare and lawful, according to a new report. — The report by a Pentagon inspector general …

Discussion: Computerworld, Infowars, Common Dreams, The Free Thought Project, Vox Popoli and Washington Post

Nathan Takitch / WSAZ-TV:

Anonymous tip claims raw milk caused illnesses at Capitol — CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) — In the weeks after passing a bill, allowing West Virginians to drink raw milk, one delegate brought the drink in to celebrate and, eventually, several lawmakers have gotten sick.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, Political Wire and The Week

Jason Tanz / Wired:

Never Mind Trump. The Internet Wants to Watch What's Behind Him — Donald Trump may have bullied his way into the center of the American political arena, but during his Super Tuesday victory speech last week, the real action took place in the margins. That's where you could find Chris …

Discussion: Vox, Political Wire, Mediaite, Mother Jones and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »

Michael E. Miller / Washington Post:

Idaho shooting suspect's ‘hypersexual’ Martian manifesto is a window into an unraveling mind — On Tuesday evening, as tourists snapped photos in front of the White House, a young man with blond hair and blue eyes approached the black iron fence. — Kyle Odom wasn't there to take pictures, though.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, BarbWire.com, New York Magazine, Right Wing Watch, Mashable and Associated Press

Matt Donnelly / The Wrap:

Sony to Drop Dr. Luke Amid Public Pressure Over Kesha, Internal Headaches (Exclusive) — “The fact that this hasn't already been taken care of is confusing, especially for people in the building,” one insider said of music company — Sony Music is expected to end its working relationship …

Discussion: Death and TaxesDeath and Taxes, The Week and Just Jared

Windy City Media Group:

Second Wachowski filmmaker sibling comes out as trans — The second sibling of the filmmaking duo known as The Wachowskis has come out as transgender. — Lilly Wachowski, 48, sibling of Lana, 50, came out in a statement to Windy City Times, after being threatened with outing by other media.

Discussion: The Verge, Variety, Slantpoint, Washington Blade, Death and TaxesDeath and Taxes, Advocate, Deadline, Guardian, Human Rights Campaign, Refinery29, USA TODAY College, Towleroad, Mashable, Just Jared and The Daily Caller

New York Times:

ISIS Detainee Tells U.S. of Militants' Plan to Use Mustard Gas — WASHINGTON — An Islamic State detainee currently in American custody at a temporary detention facility in Erbil, Iraq, is a specialist in chemical weapons whom American military officials are questioning about the militant Sunni group's plans …

Discussion: CNN, The Atlantic, Fox News Insider, The Week and The Daily Caller