memeorandum: Marco Rubio Says He Won't Run for Re-Election — or Governor in 2018 (Rebecca Ballhaus/Wall Street Journal)

7:35 PM ET, March 17, 2016

Top Items:

Obama Privately Tells Donors That Time Is Coming to Unite Behind Hillary Clinton — In unusually candid remarks, President Obama privately told a group of Democratic donors last Friday that Senator Bernie Sanders is nearing the point where his campaign against Hillary Clinton will come to an end …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Associated Press, Politico, Towleroad, Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, Common Dreams, Washington Free Beacon, Business Insider, Hot Air, Mediaite, National Review, addictinginfo.org, The Daily Caller, The Week, NBC News, The Stranger … and Raw Story

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post: Obama is increasingly involved in the 2016 presidential campaign

Ken Thomas / Associated Press:
Sanders concedes Missouri Democratic primary; Clinton wins

Discussion: Washington Post and The Week

Sean Illing / Salon:
I'm with Hillary in November: Listen up, fellow Bernie supporters — you must get behind Clinton to stop Donald Trump

Discussion: naked capitalism, AOL, Booman Tribune and Slantpoint

Erick Erickson / The Resurgent:

Statement From Conservatives Against Trump — This morning I participated in a meeting of grassroots conservative activists from around the country who are committed to opposing Donald Trump. We have agreed to release the statement below: — We are a group of grassroots conservative activists …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Political Insider blog and The Gateway Pundit

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

GOP operatives, conservative leaders meet to thwart Trump … A secretive group of Republican operatives and conservative leaders convened Thursday morning for more than three hours to discuss ways to unite the right against Donald Trump, with a presentation about the feasibility of mounting …

Discussion: Mediaite and Hot Air

Pam Key / Breitbart:

Gingrich: I'm ‘Not Sympathetic’ to Erick Erickson's Third-Party Overtures, Would Be ‘Functionally Supporting Hillary Clinton’ — Thursday on Fox News Channel's “America's Newsroom,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said conservative blogger Erick Erickson, who has recently said the Republicans …

Discussion: Allen B. West

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico: Conservatives call for ‘unity ticket’ to stop Trump

Ben Domenech / The Federalist:
If #NeverTrump Wants To Matter, Look To The Libertarians

Discussion: New York Times and Hot Air

Dana Bash / CNN:

First on CNN: Lindsey Graham to fundraise for Ted Cruz's presidential bid — (CNN)In a sign of just how much the Republican presidential primary has turned the party on its head, Sen. Lindsey Graham will host a fundraiser on Monday in support of Sen. Ted Cruz.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Politico, Washington Post, Raw Story, whorunsGov, Talking Points Memo, USA Today, The Last Refuge, Jewish Insider, RedState, The Week and Allen B. West

David Montgomery / Twin Cities:
Candid Marco Rubio blasts Trump and media, calls Cruz ‘only conservative left in the race’

Discussion: Washington Post, Reuters, Weasel Zippers, New York Times, Phoenix Business Journal, Infowars, Trail Blazers Blog, Hot Air, RedState, Western Journalism, Post and Courier, The Week, New York Magazine, LifeNews.com, Politico and Naked Politics

Rebecca Ballhaus / Wall Street Journal:
Marco Rubio Says He Won't Run for Re-Election — or Governor in 2018

Discussion: Independent Journal Review

Katie Glueck / Politico:
Lindsey Graham throws support to Ted Cruz

Discussion: Yahoo Politics, ABC News, Shakesville, neo-neocon, Guardian, Western Journalism and Independent Journal Review

Tarini Parti / BuzzFeed:
Even Lindsey Graham Knows It's Weird That He's Backing Ted Cruz

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, The Atlantic and The Week

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Rubio: I won't be anyone's VP

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit and The Week

CNN:

Grassley: If I can meet with a ‘dictator,’ I can meet with Garland — Hatch: SCOTUS vacancy last November would've made difference — Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley said he is willing to meet with Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland — “If I can meet with a dictator in Uganda …

Discussion: WBAY-TV, Washington Post, Fox News Insider and The White House

Steven T. Dennis / Bloomberg Business:

Supreme Court Fight Enters New Phase as Garland Meets Senators — Some Republicans willing to meet with Obama's nominee — Democrats seek to pressure Republicans and break opposition — U.S. Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland will head to Capitol Hill Thursday for the first day of what will probably …

Discussion: Politico, The Huffington Post and Daily Kos

Tierney Sneed / Talking Points Memo:
How Obama Threw A Curveball With The Safest SCOTUS Pick Imaginable

Discussion: ThinkProgressPage Array, Supreme Court …, Washington Monthly, electionlawblog.org, New Republic, TIME, Booman Tribune, Daily Kos and Balloon Juice

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Cornyn: Supreme Court nominee in lame duck is ‘a terrible idea’

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Bob and Chez Show

John Harwood / CNBC:

Another Dem like Obama? Our best days are behind us: Ryan — Ryan on Trump: 'We'll make it work if it happens' — In an exclusive “Speakeasy” interview with CNBC's John Harwood, Speaker Paul Ryan explains how the House is responding to voter sentiment and gives his opinion …

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Infowars, The Bob and Chez Show, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller and Western Journalism

Jake Sherman / Politico:
Ryan admonishes Trump for ‘riot’ remark

Discussion: ABC News, The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo and The Gateway Pundit

Peggy Lee / WNEP-TV:

Religious Sister Charged with Shoplifting Coffee, Soap … BRIAR CREEK — State police in Columbia County say they nabbed a very unlikely thief: a religious sister. — Troopers tracked the woman to her convent in Danville after she allegedly shoplifted from a store.

Discussion: Associated Press, WTVR-TV, KTLA and New York's PIX11

Ben Oldach / WHOTV:

Waitress Stiffed: ‘Tips are only for normal-looking people’ … DES MOINES, Iowa — A popular waitress at a popular restaurant closed out one of her table's Tuesday night when she found a note from her patron. — “At first, I felt really upset, I felt attacked, I almost felt …

Discussion: abc13.com and WWLP-TV

Eli Lake / BloombergView.com:

Cruz Assembles an Unlikely Team of Foreign-Policy Rivals — In a year when the Republican Party is breaking apart because of Donald Trump, the only man left with a chance to beat him is trying to build a big tent — by GOP standards — when it comes to foreign affairs.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgressPage Array, New York Magazine, New York Times, The National Interest, Raw Story, Right Wing Watch, Politico, Daily Kos, The Week, No More Mister Nice Blog and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Scott Adams Blog:

Scott Adams' Blog

Charles Murray / American Enterprise Institute:

An open letter to the Virginia Tech community — Last week, the president of Virginia Tech, Tim Sands, published an “open letter to the Virginia Tech community” defending lectures delivered by deplorable people like me (I'm speaking on the themes of Coming Apart on March 25).

Bloomberg Business:

Google Puts Boston Dynamics Up for Sale in Robotics Retreat — Alphabet executives questioned path to marketable products — Toyota, Amazon are among possible acquirers of division — The video, published to YouTube on Feb. 23, was awe-inspiring and scary.

Discussion: RT, New York Magazine, Fusion, The Next Web, Forbes, Boing Boing, The Verge, Engadget, VentureBeat and Investor's Business Daily

Michael J. Gerson / Facebook:

I feel bad, on one hand, to be so focused on (some would say, obsessed by) the Trump phenomenon. And it is my intention to write my next column or two on different topics. There is, in fact, a world outside of the GOP primaries. Two Republican friends I talked with yesterday told …

Discussion: Raw Story, addictinginfo.org and Politico

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
Sean Hannity: If GOP Elites Steal Nomination from Trump or Cruz, “I'm Walking” (VIDEO)

Discussion: TPNN and BizPac Review

Mark Hensch / The Hill:

Laura Bush: 'Don't ask' if I'm voting for Trump — Laura Bush shot down an interviewer asking whether she would vote for GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump — “I'm not going to answer,” the former first lady told Susan Page on USA Today's “Capital Download” in an interview published Thursday.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

USA Today:
Laura Bush on Afghan women, U.S. interests and 2016

Discussion: ABC News, Raw Story, The Stranger …, Western Journalism and Allen B. West

Joel Manby / Los Angeles Times:

Op-Ed SeaWorld CEO: We're ending our orca breeding program. Here's why. — A killer whale raises its head out of the water during the first show since an orca killed a trainer at the SeaWorld theme park in Orlando, Fla. on Feb. 27, 2010. — Americans' attitudes about orcas have changed dramatically.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, USA Today, CNN, The San Diego Union …, Mediaite, Boing Boing, Common Dreams, Orange County Register, The Week, New York Times, Fusion, Mashable, NBC News, Q13 FOX News, Mother Jones and WCMH-TV

Ryan Parker / Hollywood Reporter:

‘Simpsons’ Writer Who Predicted Trump Presidency in 2000: “It Was a Warning to America” — It “just seemed like the logical last stop before hitting bottom,” Dan Greaney recalls. — It was somewhat of a throwaway line at the time, but make no mistake, it was included very much on purpose.

Discussion: Red Alert Politics and Raw Story

FOX5 San Diego:

Navy finds dog thought to be lost at sea for 5 weeks — CORONADO, Calif. - A German Shepard puppy thought to be lost at sea after she fell overboard was found on San Clemente Island by the US Navy. — Luna, an 18-month-old dog, had been on a fishing boat when she went overboard, U.S. Navy officials said.

Discussion: Althouse, KTLA, AOL and WGN-TV

WRAL-TV:

Trump rally assault victim applauds discipline of Cumberland County deputies — CUMBERLAND COUNTY, N.C. — The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office said that five deputies have been disciplined in connection with the assault of Rakeem Jones at a Donald Trump rally in Fayetteville on March 9.

Discussion: WWLP-TV, Talking Points Memo, RedState and Daily Kos

Tanya Somanader / The White House:

Asked and Answered: Sending Direct Mail to Cuba for the First Time in 50 Years — Summary: A letter from the President is making its way to a 76-year-old letter writer in Cuba via direct mail for the first time in 50 years. — An American president has not traveled to Cuba in almost 90 years.

Discussion: ABC News and The Atlantic

Richard Pollock / The Daily Caller:

Hillary Faces National Security Establishment ‘Uprising’ Over Emails — Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is facing an “uprising” in the national security establishment prompted by long-standing anger about her cavalier handling of classified materials and government secrets.

Discussion: LawNewz, Mashable, Judicial Watch and TPNN