memeorandum: Florida, Famed for Political Spectacles, Braces for Another as Primary Nears (Jeremy W. Peters/New York Times)

4:15 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, New York Magazine, The Resurgent, Hullabaloo and NBC News

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:

Jeb Bush to meet with Rubio, Cruz and Kasich … Former Florida governor Jeb Bush plans to meet with three of the four remaining Republican presidential candidates today and tomorrow in Miami, according to an aide. — Bush, who until recently was also a presidential contender …

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Guardian, The Week and TheStreet.com

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

Washington Post:
Poll: Clinton leads Trump, aided by Obama coalition

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

Eun Kyung Kim / TODAY.com:
Donald Trump: If the Republican Party came together, ‘nobody could beat it’

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

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Sorry, Marco Rubio, it's time to fold

Discussion: National Review

Ashley Parker / New York Times:
Jeb Bush to Meet With 3 Candidates — but Not Donald Trump — Before Florida Primary

Discussion: RedState and Washington Post

Carrie Dann / NBC News:
How Trump, Rubio and Cruz Would Fare Against Clinton in November

Discussion: The Hill, NBC News, CNBC, Common Dreams, Infowars, Marco Rubio, Hot Air, Guardian and Western Journalism

ABC News:
Challenges for Trump vs. Clinton: Favorability, Attributes and More (POLL)

Discussion: Hot Air and Political Wire

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Marco Rubio Never Had A Base

Discussion: Washington Post, Townhall.com and NPR

Jessica Hopper / ABC News:
Carly Fiorina Endorses Ted Cruz

Discussion: Business Insider, Independent Journal Review, Associated Press, Weasel Zippers, Yahoo Politics, Townhall.com, Shakesville, Western Journalism, The Week, The Right Scoop, RedState, BizPac Review, Althouse and Marco Rubio

Dan McLaughlin / RedState: It Is Time For Marco Rubio To Join Ted Cruz For The Benefit Of Marco Rubio

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

Katie Glueck / Politico:
GOP establishment creeps toward Cruz

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh and Daily Kos

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 — is projected to add slightly to her delegate lead after splitting Mississippi and Michigan with Bernie Sanders — on Tuesday night. — But the key to the delegate count is the margin.

Discussion: Politico, American Spectator, RedState, Politicus USA, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Weasel Zippers, Scared Monkeys and Liberal Values

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

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

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

Discussion: TheBlaze.com, Talking Points Memo, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, New York Magazine, The Week, Washington Post, NBC News and The Atlantic

CNN:
First on CNN: Top name withdraws from Supreme Court consideration

Discussion: RedState and BizPac Review

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

Discussion: SCOTUSblog

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: ThinkProgressPage Array, Death and TaxesDeath and Taxes, Mashable, The Verge, Vocativ, The Week, Mediaite and Refinery29

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

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: The Daily Caller, EveryJoe, Independent Journal Review, John Hawkins' Right Wing News 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.

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: Infowars, Computerworld, 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, addictinginfo.org, Mediaite, Political Wire and The Week

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, The Resurgent and Hit & Run

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

Chicago Tribune:

Marco Rubio for the GOP, but no endorsement for either Democrat — Sen. Marco Rubio, Republican candidate for President of the United States. — This year the Ides of March brings presidential voting to Illinois — a state whose primary often falls so late that it's irrelevant to the nomination process.

Discussion: Politico