memeorandum: Alabama Senate race headed for GOP runoff on March 31 (John Sharp/al.com)

9:00 AM ET, March 4, 2020

Top Items:

Live updates: Biden and Sanders pick up wins in first Super Tuesday states — The first polls have closed in the Super Tuesday states of Virginia and Vermont. CBS News projects Joe Biden will win Virginia and North Carolina and Bernie Sanders will win Vermont.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, CBS Boston, National Review, The Week, CNN, WCCO | CBS Minnesota and WREG-TV

NBC News:

Live Blog / 2020 Super Tuesday live updates: Biden wins the South, Mass., Sanders takes Vt., Colo., Utah, NBC News projects — More than 1,300 delegates — or about a third of the total — are at play on Super Tuesday. — Fourteen states and one territory held nominating contests …

Discussion: Power Line, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Politico, POLITICUSUSA, Breitbart, The Week and The Hill

Politico:

Bloomberg considering dropping out after Biden rout — WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Mike Bloomberg is weighing dropping out as early as Wednesday after losing a string of Super Tuesday states where he invested a fortune in advertising, according to several people familiar with his plans.

Discussion: HuffPost, CNBC, Washington Post, Associated Press, Mother Jones, Common Dreams, Fox News, Twin Cities, Breitbart and Raw Story

Hallie Jackson / NBC News:

Trump camp publicly batting down Joe-mentum but privately concerned — We know President Donald Trump has been watching the Super Tuesday returns roll in — he predicted earlier that it would be an “interesting evening of television” — as he goes after both Mike Bloomberg and Elizabeth Warren on Twitter.

Discussion: The Hill and New York Times

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

“He Will Risk Making Ross Perot and Ralph Nader Look Good”: Bloomberg Resists Advisers' Push to Exit the Race — With his path disappearing after South Carolina, advisers pressed for a quick exit. But Mike has so far refused: I'll be damned if I walk away before a single vote is cast for me.

Discussion: NBC News, Breitbart, The Week, The Wrap and The Daily Beast

New York Times:

Biden Revives Campaign, Winning Nine States, but Sanders Takes California — The voting on the biggest day of the Democratic presidential campaign increasingly suggested a two-person race between candidates representing competing wings of the party. — The Democratic presidential race emerged …

Discussion: The Atlantic and The Boston Globe

Ezra Klein / Vox:

Sanders can't lead the Democrats if his campaign treats them like the enemy — What Bernie needs to learn from Biden. — Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have been running very different kinds of campaigns, built on very different ambitions. Biden's been running to lead the Democratic Party more or less as it exists today.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Week and The Daily Caller

Bonchie / Redstate:

Stop Gaslighting, Joe Biden Is Still Joe Biden and He's Not Ok — The comeback of Joe Biden not only looks real at this point, it appears inevitable. Unlike the prior surge by Bernie Sanders, Biden will now be coddled, protected, and propelled into the rest of the primary season.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Dot and New York Magazine

Joseph Wulfsohn / Fox News:
Twitter suspends liberal journalist for quoting Joe Biden gaffe

Discussion: New York Post

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
Joe Biden's historic and unbelievable political comeback dominates Super Tuesday

Discussion: KTLA, fox8.com and The Guardian

Robby Soave / Reason:
Democratic Primary Voters Decisively Rejected the Media's Favorite Candidates

Discussion: Vox

Jim Geraghty / National Review: A Fantastic Night . . . If You Don't Like Bloomberg, Warren, or Sanders

Andrew Stiles / Washington Free Beacon:
Bernie Chokes

Discussion: NBC News, New York Times and New York Post

Ryan Lizza / Politico: Four reasons why Biden shocked Sanders

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Trump shifts his attention to surging Biden, stokes Sanders grievances

Discussion: PJ Media Home, HuffPost and POLITICUSUSA

Brian Schwartz / CNBC: Joe Biden fundraisers see millions of dollars in new commitments with Super Tuesday surge

ABC News:
The Note: Eyes turn to Warren and Bloomberg as two-way race takes hold

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill and Politico

Detroit News:
Poll: Biden leads Sanders in Michigan ahead of Democratic primary

Discussion: The Atlantic and The Hill

Politico:
'I've never seen anybody mount a comeback like this — ever'

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight and CNBC

New York Times:
Super Tuesday: Live Primary Election Results

Discussion: The Federalist, The Bulwark, IJR, The Daily Dot, Slate, Reason, The Nation, Deseret News, The American Spectator, The Week, The Guardian and Political Wire

FiveThirtyEight:
Our Final Forecast For Super Tuesday Shows Biden's Surge — And Lots Of Uncertainty

Discussion: Washington Post, Insights into Impact, Vox, Breitbart, The Week, Off the Kuff, New York Times, The Independent, Patterico's Pontifications, Reason, Four Freedoms, The Mahablog and IJR

Matt Flegenheimer / New York Times:
Democrats Decide That Joe Biden, as Risky as He Ever Was, Is the Safest Bet

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News and IJR

ABC News:
Super Tuesday results: Biden sweeps the South, Sanders strong in the West, anemic outcome for Bloomberg

Discussion: Associated Press, The Daily Beast, Townhall, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Deseret News, The Hill and HuffPost

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Why Elizabeth Warren is losing even if all your friends love her

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, PJ Media Home, Washington Post and CNN

Tal Axelrod / The Hill:
Hillary Clinton says she's ‘not planning to endorse’ anyone in 2020 race

Discussion: The Daily Caller, ABC News, Fox News and Breitbart

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Voter turnout in Virginia nearly doubles from 2016

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Vox, Breitbart and Washington Post

Kathleen Ronayne / Associated Press:

AP source: Bloomberg to reassess after disappointing results — Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg waves to supporters as he arrives to his campaign rally at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., Tuesday, March 3, 2020. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via AP)

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post, HuffPost, The Daily Caller, Vanity Fair, KUSI-TV, Power Line, The Week, The Daily Beast, Florida Politics, KTLA and The American Independent

Hunter Woodall / The Daily Beast:

Bloomberg Voters Feast on the Carcass of His Campaign — “I have no intention of dropping out,” said former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg said. “We're in it to win it.” — WEST PALM BEACH, Florida—Mike Bloomberg stood inside a Florida convention center on Tuesday night looking …

Discussion: ABC News, Politico and The Hill

J. Edward Moreno / The Hill:
Bloomberg on Warren: 'I didn't realize she's still in'

Discussion: Politico, Fox News, The Daily Beast, Vanity Fair, IJR, POLITICUSUSA and The Daily Caller

FiveThirtyEight:

What Went Down On Super Tuesday — Want the latest politics news? Get it in your inbox. — Get more FiveThirtyEight — Store

Discussion: New York Times and Washington Post

Alex Thompson / Politico:

Warren team turns grim after Super Tuesday wipeout — Elizabeth Warren had a plan for winning. It didn't work: In 18 nomination contests, she hasn't finished above third place — including in her home state. — Now, she's facing political and financial pressures to get out.

Discussion: Townhall, The Daily Caller, The Week and BuzzFeed News

NBC News:
NBC News Exit Poll: Late-deciding Super Tuesday voters break heavily for Biden

Discussion: Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, HuffPost and BuzzFeed News

NBC News:
LGBTQ voters flock to Bernie Sanders, NBC News Exit Poll finds

Discussion: The Hill

Ledyard King / USA Today:
Many young voters sat out Super Tuesday, contributing to Bernie Sanders' losses

Discussion: The Dispatch and NPR

New York Times:

Coronavirus Live Updates: Disease Caused by Virus Is Deadlier Than the Flu — The World Health Organization announced on Tuesday that the global death rate of the new coronavirus was 3.4 percent. — RIGHT NOW Deaths outside China exceeded those inside the country for the first time since the start of the outbreak.

Discussion: UPI

CNBC:
WHO says coronavirus death rate is 3.4% globally, higher than previously thought

Discussion: News Items

Tim Mak / NPR:

Former Prisoner Recalls Sanders Saying, 'I Don't Know What's So Wrong' With Cuba — Audio will be available later today. — American Alan Gross, a prisoner in Cuba for five years during the Obama administration, is accusing Sen. Bernie Sanders of commending the communist country when he came to visit him behind bars.

Politico:

Trump launches an urgent fight to save his ticket to reelection — Eight months from a general election, President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers are considering an urgent effort to rescue the U.S. economy from a coronavirus panic. — Trump advisers and GOP lawmakers have spent …

Discussion: Washington Post, Letters from an American, New York Post and The Hill

Associated Press:
Trump meets with GOP lawmakers amid surveillance rift

Discussion: The Hill and ABC News

CBS News:

Pierce Bush is first Bush to lose Texas race in over 40 years — Austin, Texas — Republican Pierce Bush, a grandson of former President George H.W. Bush, failed to advance out of Tuesday's primary in his bid for a Houston congressional seat, becoming the first member of his family to lose a race in Texas in more than 40 years.

Susannah George / Washington Post:

U.S. targets Taliban with airstrike days after peace deal — KABUL — The United States conducted an airstrike against Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan Wednesday just days after the two sides signed a peace deal. — The strike comes just hours after President Trump spoke …

Discussion: CNN, ABC News and ABC13

Associated Press:
U.S. strikes Taliban forces, in first hit since peace deal

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Marisa Schultz / Fox News:

Tight Alabama GOP Senate race poised for Round 2 as Sessions, Tuberville head to runoff — No one won the GOP nomination outright for the Alabama Senate, which means voters will head back to the polls for a runoff election later this month to determine whether former Sen. Jeff Sessions can mount a political comeback.

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Beast and The Week

John Sharp / al.com:
Alabama Senate race headed for GOP runoff on March 31

Discussion: Roll Call and Raw Story

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Feds: Mystery witness will implicate 'Putin's chef' in election interference — U.S. prosecutors say they have a witness who will directly implicate a Russian businessman known as “Putin's chef” in schemes to carry out election interference overseas. — The mystery witness is prepared …

Discussion: Redstate

Tyler Cowen / Bloomberg:

Bill Gates Is Really Worried About the Coronavirus. Here's Why. — The debate is splitting into two broad camps: Call them the “growthers” and the “base-raters.” — Just how bad will the new coronavirus be? I can't answer that question, but I have observed the debate splitting into two broad camps …

Discussion: UPI

Alexandra Petri / Washington Post:

I just remembered Joe Biden is fine — This is a little awkward, but better late than never! I suddenly remembered that Joe Biden is a dynamite candidate, something I had forgotten over the past few months of watching Joe Biden campaign. Joe Biden is the best hope of the party and its logical standard-bearer!

Discussion: National Review