memeorandum: Why Donald Trump Is Probably Two States From Victory (Nate Cohn/New York Times)

11:00 AM ET, April 27, 2016

Top Items:

It's Trump's Nomination To Lose* — Tuesday night went about as well as possible for Donald Trump. — Two weeks ago, after a rough stretch of states for Trump, we issued a series of delegate projections that included something called a “path-to-1,237” projection, a set of targets …

Discussion: Power Line and Business Insider

Nate Cohn / New York Times:

Why Donald Trump Is Probably Two States From Victory — Donald J. Trump is essentially two key states from the nomination. — By sweeping five states on Tuesday, he pulled only a few hundred Republican delegates short of the 1,237 he needs to win without a contested convention.

Discussion: Vox, Politico, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Real Clear Politics

John Podhoretz / New York Post:

Ted Cruz is crumbling before our very eyes — MORE FROM: — For the past few weeks, Republican campaign professionals and conservatives who are seeing the GOP nomination heading into Donald Trump's hands have been counseling anti-Trump voters not to panic and consoling themselves …

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:

Trump wins every county in ‘Acela primaries’ — won every county on Tuesday night in the five Northeastern states that held primaries, sweeping up more delegates in his quest to lock up the GOP nomination. — Trump won each county in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut and Rhode Island …

Discussion: New York Times, The Week, Raw Story and Guardian

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg: Trump Lays Claim to Nomination Backed by Smashing Victories

Shane Goldmacher / Politico: Trump starts spending to end Cruz in Indiana

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Indiana looms large for Cruz's slender hopes after Trump sweeps Northeast

Discussion: Politico, Outside the Beltway and Los Angeles Times

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Voters in Eastern Seaboard primaries embrace Trump

Discussion: Politico, AOL, Outside the Beltway, Balloon Juice and CNN

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Kasich ‘moving ahead’ after brutal losses

Discussion: Washington Post

Bernie Sanders:

Sanders Statement on Primary Elections — HUNTINGTON, W. Va. - U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday issued the following statement: — “I congratulate Secretary Clinton on her victories tonight, and I look forward to issue-oriented campaigns in the 14 contests to come.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, The Week and Talking Points Memo

Chris Kahn / Reuters:

Exclusive: Half of Americans think presidential nominating system ‘rigged’ - poll — More than half of American voters believe that the system U.S. political parties use to pick their candidates for the White House is “rigged” and more than two-thirds want to see the process changed, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Discussion: Political Wire and The Week

Annie Karni / Politico:

Clinton's refusal to quit in 2008 haunts her in 2016 — PHILADELPHIA, PA - In the wake of her victories in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut and Delaware, some of Hillary Clinton's top operatives are ready for Bernie Sanders to call it quits. But Clinton's own refusal to give up in 2008 …

Discussion: Political Wire

Yamiche Alcindor / New York Times:

Bernie Sanders to Reassess Candidacy After Tuesday's Vote, but He'll Stay in Race — Join us for live updates on the five states voting on Tuesday. — Updated, 4:00 p.m. | PHILADELPHIA — Senator Bernie Sanders and his campaign advisers plan to reassess where his candidacy stands …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Political Wire, VTDigger, CNBC, Vox, AOL, Independent Journal …, Business Insider, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Politicus USA, MSNBC, Politico, Mediaite and The Week

Jonathan Bernstein / Bloomberg View:
Trump Can't Beat Clinton. Who Says?

Discussion: Washington Post and Vox

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Winners and losers from the I-95 primaries

Discussion: Indianapolis Star, Los Angeles Times, National Review, The Moderate Voice and Politico

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Bernie Sanders is no fool. He'll back Clinton when he drops out.

Discussion: The New York Observer, Daily Kos, MSNBC, Guardian and Rewire

Abby Phillip / Washington Post:
Clinton decisively wins Democratic primaries in 4 states

Discussion: Politico, National Review, Scared Monkeys, ABC News and Shakesville

Michael Barbaro / New York Times:
Primary Takeaways: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Edge Closer to Nominations

Discussion: RedState, The Week and Shakesville

New York Times:
Donald Trump Sweeps 5 States; Hillary Clinton Takes 4

Discussion: American Prospect, No More Mister Nice Blog and NPR

New York Times:
Pulling Away From Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton Is Turning to the Fall

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, New York Magazine, Washington Free Beacon, AOL, Business Insider and CNBC

Ashley Feinberg / Gawker:

Ted Cruz Desecrates Classic Movie Scene By Calling Hoop a “Basketball Ring” — While stumping in Indiana tonight, Ted Cruz attempted to recreate a classic scene from Hoosiers in the very same gym in which part of the movie (thought not this particular scene) was filmed.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post, Raw Story, Mother Jones and Prntly

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

IT'S OFFICIAL=> Ted Cruz Is Mathematically ELIMINATED from GOP Race - With Chart — As we predicted on April 2nd.... As of today, April 26, 2016, Ted Cruz is mathematically eliminated from winning the Republican nomination outright. — On April 2nd we predicted that Donald Trump …

Discussion: Politico, DailySurge, Joe Hoft, Walid Shoebat, The Last Tradition and JustOneMinute

Allum Bokhari / Breitbart:

Sci-Fi's Hugo Awards Swept by Anti-SJW Authors — Again! — For the second year in a row, nominations for the prestigious Hugo Awards for science fiction & fantasy have been swept by the Sad Puppies & Rabid Puppies, two groups of authors and fans who oppose left-wing domination of the community.

Discussion: Vox Popoli

David Barnett / Guardian:
Hugo awards shortlist dominated by rightwing campaign

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Vox Popoli and The Week

Joe Scarborough / Washington Post:

Trump's sweep is another humiliating defeat for media and political elites — Donald Trump's sweeping victories Tuesday night move the Manhattan billionaire a step closer to winning the Republican nomination for president and to pulling off the most improbable political feat in modern American history.

Daniel Bethencourt / Detroit Free Press:

Saying ‘vagina’ got me fired, Battle Creek middle school teacher says — Vagina. It's a noun describing female anatomy that caused such outrage in the Michigan Legislature in 2012 that a legislator was blocked from speaking after using it. — Now, a substitute teacher says using it got …

Discussion: Raw Story

Nicky Zizaza / WWMT-TV:
W. Mich. substitute teacher fired for using anatomical word during lesson

Discussion: The Daily Caller and EAGnews.org

Jose A. DelReal / Washington Post:

Trump: If Clinton 'were a man, I don't think she'd get 5 percent of the vote' — These 10 states will decide whether Trump is the GOP nominee … NEW YORK — While celebrating sweeping victories in five primaries Tuesday night, Donald Trump mocked the qualifications of Democratic front …

Discussion: ABC News, TheBlaze.com, Daily Kos, TPNN, Politicus USA, Slate and The Last Tradition

Libby Nelson / Vox:
Donald Trump says women don't like Hillary Clinton. They dislike him even more.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Week and Raw Story

Matt Ford / The Atlantic:

The Racist Roots of Virginia's Felon Disenfranchisement — Last Friday, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe restored voting rights to more than 200,000 people with previous felony convictions. It's a momentous stroke in both scope and effect; with an eye towards the 2016 races …

Sari Horwitz / Washington Post: How North Carolina became the epicenter of the voting rights battle

Los Angeles Times:

Clash over anti-Trump motion boils over in Anaheim: ‘Keep your noses out of the national election’ — Supporters and opponents of Donald Trump clashed at Anaheim City Hall on Tuesday as the City Council considers a resolution denouncing the GOP presidential candidate.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, KTLA and Raw Story

Baltimore Sun:

DeRay Mckesson finishes 6th in Democratic primary for Baltimore mayor … Prominent Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson finished in sixth place Tuesday in the Democratic primary for Baltimore mayor. — With 95 percent of results tallied, Mckesson garnered 3,008 votes — or 2.5 percent of the total.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit and theGrio

Frank Bruni / New York Times:

The Cult of Sore Losers — Bernie Sanders isn't losing. Just ask many of his backers or listen to some of his own complaints. He's being robbed, a victim of antiquated rules, voter suppression, shady arithmetic and a corrupt Democratic establishment. The swindle includes …