memeorandum: Why Trump's Promises of Disaster Might Be Part of His Appeal (Ryan Skinnell/Washington Monthly)

6:00 PM ET, March 31, 2016

Top Items:

Zeke J Miller / TIME:

Trump's Threat on Pledge Could Cost Him South Carolina Delegates — Donald Trump's announcement that he no longer stands by a pledge to support the GOP has thrown his hold on South Carolina's 50 delegates in doubt. — The Palmetto State was one of several that required candidates to pledge …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Free Beacon, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, Independent Journal …, Washington Post, The Right Scoop and CNN

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:

GOP nears the breaking point — The presidential primary has been a wrenching experience for the GOP so far — and it's about to get even worse. — and John Kasich have all backed away from their pledge to support the party's eventual nominee, foreshadowing a fight at the convention …

Discussion: Politico and Washington Post

Daniel Henninger / Wall Street Journal:

Obama's Greatest Triumph — He is six months away from destroying both the Republican Party and Reagan's legacy. — Barack Obama will retire a happy man. He is now close to destroying his political enemies—the Republican Party, the American conservative movement and the public-policy legacy of Ronald Reagan.

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Prairie Weather, Balloon Juice and Politico

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Romney/Ryan Wouldn't be GOP Salvation Against Clinton — PPP's newest national poll finds that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan wouldn't exactly be the solution to the GOP's Donald Trump problem, with Romney doing even worse head to head against Hillary Clinton than Trump does.

Discussion: The Bob and Chez Show

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
Congressman: If Bernie Or Hillary Is Elected They'll Control Everything, Including When You Wake Up

Discussion: Daily Kos and New York Magazine

David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:
GOP launches contested convention website

Discussion: GOP.com, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog and Independent Journal …

Rich Lowry / Politico:
Present at the Destruction — Donald Trump never ceases to amaze …

Discussion: neo-neocon, Washington Post and Investor's Business Daily

Jay Caruso / RedState:
Trump Breaking GOP Pledge Could Cost Him Big In South Carolina

Discussion: American Spectator

Wtvrwebstaff / WTVR-TV:

Richmond Greyhound shooting: Trooper, suspect dead; 2 people injured — Watch LIVE breaking news coverage of this developing story at WTVR.com/LIVE — RICHMOND, Va. - A Virginia State trooper who was shot when a suspect opened fire at a Greyhound bus station in Richmond Thursday afternoon has died …

Discussion: WTKR-TV, FOX 61, The Last Refuge, FOX31 Denver, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, fox13now.com, WNEP-TV, Independent Journal …, fox8.com, WREG-TV, The Week, CBS Chicago, Fox News Insider, fox4kc.com and WHNT-TV

Will Armbruster / WRIC-TV:

VSP trooper, 2 civilians shot at Greyhound bus station; suspect dead — RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A gunman is dead and a Virginia State Trooper is clinging to life after the suspect open fired at a Greyhounds bus station in Richmond, officials say. Authorities are still at the scene …

Discussion: WAVY-TV, WCDC-TV, CBS New York, WSLS-TV, WJHL and KRON4.com

David Hylton / WWBT-TV:
Sources: 6 people shot at Greyhound station; suspect in custody

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Business Insider and The Right Scoop

Laura Yanez / KDFX-TV:

Pool owners warned of electrocution risk — James Tramel, 43, died trying to save his children from a pool in Palm Springs Easter Sunday. Tramel was electrocuted when he jumped into the pool after seeing his nine-year-old daughter being electrically shocked. — “Electricity is invisible.

Discussion: WTKR-TV

Massimo Calabresi / TIME:

Inside the FBI Investigation of Hillary Clinton's E-Mail — FBI director Jim Comey first investigated the Clintons 20 years ago — Late last summer, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, James Comey, met with John Giacalone, the bureau official responsible for everything …

Discussion: Fox News, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

New York Daily News:
Bill Clinton says he would give Bernie Sanders his superdelegate vote if the Vermont senator wins nomination

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Daily Caller

Andrew Prokop / Vox: Donald Trump has collapsed in general election polls

Dustin Long / NASCAR Talk:

NASCAR driver faces seven charges in biggest tobacco-smuggling bust in North America — NASCAR driver/owner Derek White turned himself into authorities Wednesday and faces seven charges in connection to the biggest tobacco-smuggling bust in North American history, NBC Sports has learned.

Discussion: WWBT-TV, WCMH-TV and The Daily Caller

Bloomberg Business:
Nascar Driver Derek White Targeted in Tobacco-Smuggling Operation

Discussion: WREG-TV, Fox 59 and myfox8.com

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Trump huddles with RNC in Washington — Donald Trump met on Thursday with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus during his trip to Washington, just two days after he disavowed his pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee. — The real estate mogul has had a fraught relationship …

Discussion: RedState, ABC News, Townhall.com, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Political Wire and Guardian

Oliver Darcy / TheBlaze.com:
Michelle Fields Abandons Apartment Over Safety Concerns After Fox, BuzzFeed Publish Personal Info

Discussion: Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, RedState, New York Magazine, BizPac Review, The Right Scoop and Fire Andrea Mitchell!

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Trump's 24 hours of mayhem

Discussion: Yahoo Politics, Hit & Run, JustOneMinute, Washington Times, Independent Journal …, Mediaite and Washington Post

David Mitchell / FOX31 Denver:

Strange baby faces popping up around Denver … DENVER — For months little doll faces have been turning heads all over Denver. — Many people have shared photos and locations of the faces online, but there still appear to be more questions about these strange faces than answers.

Discussion: FOX40, The Daily Caller and Althouse

Megan Brilley / fox4kc.com:

KCK officers seek teen who made a small gesture that left a big impact — KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The Kansas City, Kansas Police Department posted a picture of a napkin on its Facebook page and it's gotten hundreds of shares. On the napkin, was a message written to two officers by a KCK teen.

Discussion: Fox News Insider

Connor Sheets / al.com:

Bentley bought multiple disposable ‘burner’ cell phones at Tuscaloosa Best Buy, employees say — I just remember Governor Bentley coming into Best Buy. And he purchased one — Gov. Robert Bentley personally bought multiple inexpensive, disposable cell phones last year at a Best Buy in Tuscaloosa …

Discussion: Political Wire

Alan Blinder / New York Times:
Governor of Alabama, Robert Bentley, Says He Won't Quit

Discussion: ThinkProgress, al.com, Associated Press, Occupy Democrats, Talking Points Memo, Yellowhammer News, WIAT-TV, WHNT-TV and Daily Kos

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Trump would be least-popular major-party nominee in modern times … If Donald Trump secures the Republican presidential nomination, he would start the general election campaign as the least-popular candidate to represent either party in modern times. — Three-quarters of women view him unfavorably.

Discussion: Daily Wire, Independent Journal …, Campaign for America's Future, Mother Jones and Hot Air

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Nightmare nominee: Nobody likes Donald Trump. Not even white men.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Gothamist, Mother Jones, Politico, Bloomberg Business, Daily Wire, New York Magazine, New York Times, Washington Times, BuzzFeed, Independent Journal …, Red Alert Politics, CBS New York, rubber hose, MSNBC and Joe.My.God.

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:

Dianne Feinstein Has To Use Google To Look Up Hillary's Senate Accomplishments — This Crucial Question About Those ‘Top Secret’ Hillary Emails Goes Unanswered By The State Dept. — Hillary Pays HOW MUCH For A Haircut?! — ELECTIONS | STEVE GUEST — Why The University Of California Is Rejecting The State's Own Residents

Joe Garofoli / San Francisco Chronicle:
Feinstein: Clinton wasn't in Senate long enough to do more

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Times, Washington Free Beacon, The Federalist and Mediaite

Andrew Das / New York Times:

Top Female Players Accuse U.S. Soccer of Wage Discrimination — U.S. Soccer, the governing body for the sport in America, pays the members of the men's and women's national team who represent the United States in international competitions. The men's team has historically been mediocre.

Discussion: SI.com, ESPN, The Atlantic, NBC News, Refinery29, The Week, AOL, The Stranger …, Mother Jones, DCist, Vocativ, ProFootballTalk and Fusion

Scott Stump / TODAY.com:
U.S. women's soccer stars on filing equal pay complaint: 'We've proven our worth'

Discussion: The Atlantic, USA Today, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, PRI, The Daily Caller, NPR and Unfogged

Blaine Stewart / WTKR-TV:

35 years later: John Hinkley, Jr., closer to living permanently in Hampton Roads — John Hinckley, Jr., may soon accomplish something no other man has. Never has anyone shot an American president, and then walked the streets, full-time, as a free man. — “I don't think anyone who owned …

Discussion: FOX31 Denver

Streiff / RedState:

Donald Trump: Sure, I Might Use Nuclear Weapons In Europe. Hell, I Might Use Them In Chicago, Too. — Okay. I made the last half of that up as clickbait. But the first half is right. — Last night on an MSNBC Town Hall, hosted by the strangely lucid Chris Matthews …

Discussion: MSNBC, ABC News, Washington Post, Washington Free Beacon and National Review

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Trump Says His ‘Rich’ Muslim Friends Could Enter Country Under A Ban

Discussion: The Week and Hullabaloo

Sabato's Crystal Ball:

The Electoral College: The Only Thing That Matters — It's a long way to November, but for the moment the GOP is an underdog — We live in a post-factual era. Thanks to the Internet and social media, which mix informed and uninformed views in equal measure, the old rule …

Discussion: MSNBC, The Federalist, Political Wire, The American Conservative, Political Insider blog, RedState and Power Line

Ryan Skinnell / Washington Monthly:

Why Trump's Promises of Disaster Might Be Part of His Appeal — Donald Trump is a carnival barker rebranded as a presidential candidate. It is no surprise Trump is good at luring passersby into the big top—attracting attention has always been his gift. But an enduring mystery is how he manages …

David Gelles / New York Times:

A $700 Juice Box for the Kitchen That Caught Silicon Valley's Eye — In recent years, venture capitalists have funded all manner of improbable ideas. An app that lets random people call and wake you up. A bathroom scale that posts your weight on Twitter. — And then there is Doug Evans's brainchild.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Luke O'Neil / Esquire:

Ted Cruz Can't Stop Getting Owned by Internet Teens — The kids love a good Zodiac meme. — Last summer, we pointed out that this would be the year of the Viral Election. Meanwhile, both The New York Times and Politico have noted that 2016 is shaping up to be the Selfie Election, and for good reason.

Discussion: Washington Post

Numbers / Pew Research Center for the People …:

Campaign Exposes Fissures Over Issues, Values and How Life Has Changed in the U.S. — Just 38% of GOP voters say party would ‘solidly unite’ behind Trump — The 2016 presidential campaign has exposed deep disagreements between - and within - the two parties on a range of major policy issues.

Discussion: Vox, Washington Post, Hot Air and Politico