The Commentariat -- Feb. 12, 2016

Afternoon Update:

This is going to create unprecedented turmoil in the Republic presidential race: Jim Gilmore just suspended his campaign.

Sabrina Tavernise of the New York Times: "Despite big advances in medicine, technology and education, the longevity gap between high-income and low-income Americans has been widening sharply.... The causes are still being investigated, but public health researchers say that deep declines in smoking among the affluent and educated may partly explain the difference.... Limited access to health care accounts for surprisingly few premature deaths in America, researchers have found.... The growing longevity gap means that benefits like Social Security are paid out even more disproportionately to the better-off, because they are around for more years to collect them."

By her own account, Hillary Clinton & Henry Kissinger were best buds, & she relied on him for policy advice. Amy Chosick of the New York Times reports.

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The anti-tax group Club for Growth is beginning a $1.5 million advertising buy against Donald J. Trump in South Carolina, with a kitchen-sink-style spot that describes the real estate developer as a fake":

Nick Miroff & Brian Murphy of the Washington Post: "Pope Francis landed [in Havana, Cuba,] Friday for an unprecedented encounter with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, a meeting that bridged a nearly 1,000-year rift in Christianity but whose focus was expected to be the current turmoil in the Middle East. The brief talks between the pontiff and Patriarch Kirill -- as they crossed paths at Havana's airport -- marked the first meeting between the religious leaders of the Vatican and Moscow since an 11th century Christian schism over papal authority and other disputes."

Presidential Race

When Debbie Was Right & I Was Wrong. ...

... The Bickersons. Amy Chozick & Patrick Healy of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton ... repeatedly challenged the trillion-dollar policy plans of Bernie Sanders at their presidential debate on Thursday night and portrayed him as a big talker who needed to 'level' with voters about the difficulty of accomplishing his agenda.... Mrs. Clinton pounced from the start, after Mr. Sanders demurred in saying how much his proposals would increase the size of the federal government." ...

... Obama Obama Obama. Evan Halper & Michael Memoli of the Los Angeles Times: "Hillary Clinton sought to reboot her candidacy in a nationally televised Democratic debate Thursday night by closely aligning herself with President Obama and charging that her opponent is running on a one-note agenda. A calm, measured Clinton mentioned Obama's name 21 times during the two-hour debate. She chastised Sen. Bernie Sanders for criticizing Obama in language she said a Republican might use. And she tried to move past the Wall Street ties that have become the albatross of her campaign by warning voters that cleaning up campaign finance alone won't fix the country." ...

... Brian Beutler: "... in the debate's closing moments, Hillary Clinton sharpened one of her most promising -- yet fraught -- appeals to the Democratic base. Clinton frequently portrays herself as President Obama's natural heir. On Thursday night, for the first time, she effectively portrayed Bernie Sanders as one of President Obama's most inconstant allies." ...

... John Cassidy of the New Yorker: "Time and again across a long, and occasionally tetchy, evening, Clinton sought to use the President as a shield to guard against Sanders's blows, and as a sword with which to try and wound her opponent. At one point, she even accused Sanders of echoing Republican attacks on Obama -- a claim that prompted Sanders to reply, Madame Secretary, that is a low blow.' Indeed it was. But these are low days for the Clinton campaign -- and the race is now headed to Nevada and South Carolina, two states with a lot of minority voters, a group that thinks very highly of Obama." ...

... Jim Newell of Slate: "I am right now listening to the CNN post-debate commentary, and analyst Gloria Borger is describing this tactic as one the Clinton campaign considers 'helpful for South Carolina.' Oh? What she's trying to say is: The Clinton campaign is talking so much about how great Obama is, and how mean Sanders is to Obama, because there are a lot of black voters in South Carolina. It is the most amusingly obvious campaign tactic since, say, Wednesday morning, when Sanders for whatever reason decided to meet with Al Sharpton in Harlem the day after the New Hampshire primary." ...

... David Graham of the Atlantic: "Henry Kissinger ... was the subject of the biggest fireworks of Thursday night's debate in Milwaukee, which came after some 75 minutes of a mostly earnest, dry debate.... 'I am proud to say that Henry Kissinger is not my friend,' Sanders declared, referring to Clinton's praise for the former secretary of state during the last debate. Suddenly, all hell broke loose. In a surreal spectacle, Clinton -- a child of the 1960s campus left and a leader of the nation's liberal party -- defended Kissinger, once a bogeyman to the Democratic Party. She tried to turn the argument back on Sanders, noting that he hadn’t managed to name who his own foreign-policy advisers are. He was ready: 'It ain't Henry Kissinger,' he replied." ...

... Fred Kaplan of Slate: "There is no question, Clinton jumps hoops over Sanders when it comes to foreign policy. Where he is eloquent on most other subjects, he's clearly sweating when the debates turn to the world outside our borders. Hence his constant retreat to the 2002 vote on Iraq and now her presumed guilt by association for secret decisions made between 1969 and 1972. Nonetheless, Clinton really should stop quoting the likes of Kissinger...." ...

... Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Facing off against Senator Bernie Sanders on Thursday night, Hillary Clinton did not comport herself like someone who had just suffered a landslide loss in New Hampshire. She did not raise her voice or express anger. She did not demonize Mr. Sanders or suggest he would be a dangerous choice for Democrats. She remained calm as he pungently sought to highlight their differences." ...

     ... CW: I agree. I didn't watch much of the debate, but I did get the impression that in her delivery, Hillary followed the advice of Reality Chex contributors. Now let's see if we can get Bernie to modulate the volume. Drop the Howard Beale impression, Bernie. Remember, the Beale character was crazy. We've heard you speak in conversational tones. You can do it. And we can hear you when you do.

... Jim Newell: During the debate, Hillary Clinton claimed she had nothing to do with & no knowledge of the superPACs that support her, & she repeatedly mentioned that superPACs supported our beloved President Obama, too. "The idea that there was Hillary Clinton just settin' up the ol' presidential campaign when along came this super PAC, unbeknownst to her, that decided to collect money on her behalf just for its own sake is risible. Support from Priorities USA, among other super PACs, was very much an effort on behalf of Clinton's team to get her elected. Clinton has even helped solicit donations for Priorities." ...

... Greg Sargent: At last night's debate, Hillary Clinton opened a new front of sorts against Bernie Sanders when she made this closing argument." Sargent points to the strategic implications of Clinton's argument. CW: I don't think anyone, including Sanders, would disagree that many of the country's systemic problems have little or nothing to do with big banks & fatcats.

A Democratic presidential debate will begin at 9 pm ET Thursday. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times has details on where you can access it live on PBS, CNN & NPR. ...

... The New York Times liveblog is here.

Manu Raju & Ted Barrett of CNN: "Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday that the Democratic race for president could drag on for months -- and possibly to the Democratic National Convention in July.... 'These races go on for a long long time,' Reid said. When asked if that included a brokered convention, he responded 'Sure, seriously some of the old conventions produced some good people.' Reid also said, 'It would be kind of fun.'" Raju's interview of Reid, which accompanies the story, is fun.

Elise Viebeck of the Washington Post: "Members of the Congressional Black Caucus launched a multi-pronged attack Thursday on Sen. Bernie Sanders as a false revolutionary who lacks strong ties to the black community. The influential African American elected officials are seeking to use their clout to boost Hillary Clinton.... They officially endorsed the former first lady inside the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington (though it was deemed an 'unofficial' event) and pledged to vigorously campaign for her in upcoming contests.... One key South Carolina Democrat did not attend the CBC PAC's news conference. Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the No. 3 House Democrat, has not endorsed a candidate.... Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), a member of the CBC, accused the group Thursday of excluding him from its endorsement process." ...

... Lee Fang of the Intercept: "... the Congressional Black Caucus PAC [which endorsed Clinton Thursday] is not the same thing as the Congressional Black Caucus, which is made up of 46 members of Congress.... Ben Branch, the executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, told The Intercept that his group made the decision after a vote from its 20-member board. The board includes 11 lobbyists, seven elected officials, and two officials who work for the PAC. Branch confirmed that the lobbyists were involved in the endorsement...." Read on.

... Hillary's War on Math: 80 = 60. John Ralston of the Ralston Report: "Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon told NBC's Chuck Todd..., 'There's an important Hispanic element to the Democratic caucus in Nevada. But it's still a state that is 80 percent white voters....' 80 percent white? What? This canard was later repeated Wednesday by Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook.... And it was then repeated on a conference call.... I understand the desire of Team Clinton to lower expectations in Nevada.... But both Mook and Fallon know that 80 percent figure is ludicrous, and the attempt to make Nevada seem like Iowa and New Hampshire is a spin too far.... Nevada's Hispanic population is about 27 percent. African-Americans and Asian/Pacific Islanders make up almost 10 percent each. That is, nearly half of the state's population is made up of minorities. The Democratic caucus population was 35 percent minority in 2008, according to exit polls, and is expected to be as high as 40 percent in 2016, according to local Democratic sources." ...

... Tom Hamburger & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Investigators with the State Department issued a subpoena to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation last fall seeking documents about the charity's projects that may have required approval from the federal government during Hillary Clinton's term as secretary of state, according to people familiar with the subpoena and written correspondence about it. The subpoena also asked for records related to Huma Abedin, a longtime Clinton aide who for six months in 2012 was employed simultaneously by the State Department, the foundation, Clinton's personal office, and a private consulting firm with ties to the Clintons." CW: The issuance of a subpoena suggests Hillary was not fully cooperating with investigators although it's possible the subpoena was a formality designed to absolve the Clintons of responsibility for turning over docs.

Sahil Kapur of Bloomberg: "Bernie Sanders' pitch to Democrats is that all the new voters he'll energize will compel Congress to support the transformative programs they want.... The first tests are in, and the signs of a revolution at the ballot box are scant. Rather than a surge of the previously disaffected, Democratic turnout was down in the first two states to hold contests in the nomination race -- by 28 percent in Iowa and 13 percent in New Hampshire."

... Driftglass says Bernie's ad producer "deserves a massive raise."

Steve M. learns that Confederate Democrat Jim Webb will not be running an independent race for the presidency. Steve thinks that's too bad, because Webb, although nominally a Democrat, would surely take more votes from the Republican candidate than from the Democratic nominee. CW: I don't know that Webb would have been a factor at all, tho as a former Virginia senator, he might have garnered enough votes in that important swing state to alter the outcome.

Tim Egan: "... the most likely Republican nominees have left a precise guide of what they would do on Day One in office. From violating the Geneva Convention on war crimes and torture, to becoming a renegade nation on climate change and trade, to kicking millions of people off health care, it's a hefty list of first-day promises."

Marco's "War on Math." Jonathan Chait: "The Tax Policy Center released on Thursday its analysis of Marco Rubio's ginormous-tax-cut plan. The figures are pretty staggering. Once fully in effect, Rubio's plan would increase the budget deficit by almost a trillion dollars a year. Rubio's tax cuts would overwhelmingly accrue to the rich. The highest-earning one percent would take home 40 percent of the benefit. The lowest-earning two-fifths of the country would see its income rise just over one percent from the Rubio tax cuts, while the richest one percent would see its income rise by almost 9 percent.... Naturally, Rubio's campaign is disputing the validity of these numbers.... In total, Rubio promises an enormous tax cut, higher defense spending, no changes to Medicare or Social Security over the next decade, and a balanced budget.... But because these promises are so impossible, he can't accept the legitimacy of standard budget accounting and must rely on fantasy promises of massive economic growth." ...

... Jordan Weissmann of Slate: "At this point, a Republican tax plan would not be a Republican tax plan if it weren't a morally and mathematically risible giveaway to America's wealthy. The latest reminder of this fact comes to us from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, which Thursday released an assessment of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's especially plutocrat-friendly proposal."

How to Get the Catholic Vote. Alan Rappeport: "Donald J. Trump has a message for Pope Francis ahead of the pope's trip to pray with migrants along the Mexican border: You don't get it.... In an interview with the Fox Business Network on Thursday, the Republican presidential candidate, who has proposed building a wall along the United States's southern border, suggested that Francis was serving as a pawn of the Mexican government. 'I think that the pope is a very political person,' Mr. Trump said.... 'I think Mexico got him to do it because they want to keep the border just the way it is. They're making a fortune, and we're losing.'"

It's $8 billion.... And of the 2,000 [miles], we don't need 2,000, we need 1,000 because we have natural barriers, et cetera, et cetera, and I'm taking it price per square foot and a price per square, you know, per mile, and it's a very simple calculation. I'm talking about precasts going up probably 35 to 40 feet up in the air. That's high; that's a real wall. -- Donald Trump, on the cost of building a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. Feb. 9

... based on the costs of the Israeli security barrier (which is mostly fence) and the cost of the relatively simple fence already along the U.S.-Mexico border, an $8 billion price tag is simply not credible. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post

Marc Fisher of the Washington Post: In 2002 (or thereabouts) Donald Trump "wanted to develop a weekly drama series based on his own life. The show, titled 'The Tower,' was to feature the adventures of a New York City developer who makes big deals, loves to win, and has set out to construct the tallest building in the world. Producers hired a Hollywood TV writer, Gay Walch, to create a pilot script for 'The Tower.'... Network executives said the script, like the overwhelming majority of pilots, never made it to TV because it wasn't a compelling story." Embedded with the story is "a scene from NBC's pilot script, read ... by actors." CW: So the nightmare thru which Trump is now putting the country is little more than material for a more "compelling" story about an egomaniacal sociopath who runs for president.

Nick Gass of Politico: "Ted Cruz's campaign pulled a recent ad after it was discovered that one of the actresses featured in it has also appeared in softcore porn films. The 30-second ad..., which launched Thursday, is set during a group therapy session in which conservative voters talk about being double-crossed by Marco Rubio. The video was pulled from YouTube on Thursday evening. 'Maybe you should vote for more than just a pretty face next time,' the woman played by Amy Lindsay tells another group member. Lindsay's filmography includes titles such as 'Animal Lust,' 'Co-Ed Confidential' and 'Carnal Wishes.'" CW: Probably Driftglass wouldn't give Ted's adman "a massive raise." ...

     ... Andrew Kaczynski & Christopher Massie of BuzzFeed have embedded the Cruz ad. ...

... MEANWHILE. M.J. Lee of CNN: "Ted Cruz will launch his most forceful attack yet against Donald Trump in a TV ad that accuses Trump of buying political influence 'in a pattern of sleaze stretching back decades.' The 60-second spot, shared first with CNN, is part of a six-figure ad buy that will hit voters' TV screens across South Carolina starting as early as Thursday":

... Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: Just before Cruz started airing negative ads against Trump in South Carolina, the Trump campaign "abruptly" pulled an attack ad against Cruz. "Mr. Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, had made the decision to go with all positive spots beginning on Thursday." ...

He's watching you.... Cruz Control. The Creepiness of Ted Will Go to Your Head. Michael Biesecker & Julie Bykowicz of the AP: "Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has campaigned against government spying on law-abiding citizens, but his campaign is testing the limits with personal data from his supporters. His 'Cruz Crew' mobile app is designed to gather detailed information from users' phones -- tracking their physical movements and mining contact information of friends. That information is fed into a database containing details about nearly every adult in the U.S. to build psychological profiles that target individual voters with uncanny accuracy. Data-mining to help candidates win elections has been increasingly used by both Republicans and Democrats. But The Associated Press found the Cruz campaign's app goes furthest to glean personal data."

Joanna Walters of the Guardian on John Kasich: "... behind the unassuming image is a track record in his home state of Ohio, where he is a second-term governor, that puts him a big step to the right of what many Americans would consider moderate. Within hours of his success in New Hampshire, fresh legislation was passed in Ohio that will further restrict access to abortion in a state where Kasich has signed every one of a series of href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/eb8b7ad955ce4544b36e169a94529946/apnewsbreak-kasich-aides-helped-craft-abortion-restrictions">anti-choice measures that has ever reached his desk. Across the state he has made an enemy of public sector unions, teachers and environmentalists with attacks on collective bargaining, cuts to funding of public schools alongside scandals in the charter school education sector, and enthusiastic support for oil and gas production via fracking -- even though that has not brought as much prosperity to the state as some think." CW: And this doesn't even speak to his ignorance of sound federal fiscal policy. ...

... Paul Krugman: "It looks ... as if we're still living in the economic era we entered in 2008 -- an era of persistent weakness, in which deflation and depression, not inflation and deficits, are the key challenges. So how well do we think the various presidential wannabes would deal with those challenges? Well, on the Republican side, the answer is basically, God help us. Economic views on that side of the aisle range from fairly crazy to utterly crazy."

Other News

** David Sanger of the New York Times: "Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, announced that they had agreed on the delivery over the next few days of desperately needed aid to besieged Syrian cities, to be followed by a cease-fire that is supposed to clear the way for renewed peace talks. 'We have agreed to implement a nationwide cessation of hostilities in one week’s time,' Mr. Kerry said. 'That is ambitious.'"

Louis Sahagun of the Los Angeles Times: "President Obama designated three new national monuments in the California desert Thursday, expanding federal protection to 1.8 million acres of landscapes that have retained their natural beauty despite decades of heavy mining, cattle ranching and off-roading. The designation was requested by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who for a decade has sought to protect land that wasn't included in the 1994 California Desert Protection Act. That measure covered nearly 7.6 million acres, elevated Death Valley and Joshua Tree to national park status and created the Mojave National Preserve."

Martha Mendoza of the AP: "A bill headed for President Barack Obama this week includes a provision that would ban U.S. imports of fish caught by slaves in Southeast Asia, gold mined by children in Africa and garments sewn by abused women in Bangladesh, closing a loophole in an 85-year-old tariff law that has failed to keep products of forced and child labor out of America. An expose by The Associated Press last year found Thai companies ship seafood to the U.S. that was caught and processed by trapped and enslaved workers. AP tracked fish and shrimp from people locked in cages and factories to supply chains of top retailers and restaurants, from supermarket chains like Wal-Mart and Whole Foods to restaurants including Red Lobster."

Les Zaitz of the Oregonian describes the end of the siege of the Malheur Refuge. ...

... Here's an account by Carissa Wolf & others of the Washington Post: "After repeatedly threatening to shoot himself, complaining that he couldn't get marijuana, and ranting about UFOs, drone strikes in Pakistan, leaking nuclear plants and the government 'chemically mutating people,' the last occupier, David Fry, 27, lit a cigarette, shouted 'Hallelujah' and walked out of his barricaded encampment into FBI custody." CW: Apparently there is a Constiutional right to free cannibis. ...

... The Oregonian is running a liveblog of developments at the Malheur Refuge stand-off. At 12:15 pm ET, it appears the married couple -- Sean & Sandy Anderson -- is surrendering; they have to walk about a half-mile from their hideyhole to the check-point. The page also has an embedded livefeed from KGW-TV. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Update: "The four remaining occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge surrendered Thursday morning, bringing an end to the standoff on its 41st day. Jeff Banta, Sean Anderson, Sandy Anderson and David Fry were taken into FBI custody. Fry was the last to surrender, finally emerging after an extended phone dialogue with supporters who tried for over an hour after the others left to get him to walk out." ...

... The New York Times story, by Dave Seminara & Richard Perez-Pena, is here.

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Matthew Lee of the AP: "The Obama administration opened a two-front campaign on Syria on Thursday with a push to end one war there and step up another. As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry scrambled in Germany to negotiate the timing and conditions for a cease-fire between the Syrian government and moderate rebels, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter was in Belgium trying to rally new support for the fight against the Islamic State group. Meanwhile, the United States and Russia traded allegations over the bombing of civilian areas around the besieged city of Aleppo as fighting there intensified, further fueling fears of a mass exodus of refugees." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Tierney Sneed of TPM: "An Iranian official said 'Republican rivals of the current US administration' attempted to stall last month's Iranian-U.S. prisoner swap until the eve of the U.S. presidential election, Tasnim News Agency reported.... The prisoner swap ... included Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian and three other U.S. citizens imprisoned in Iran, who were freed in exchange for the release of seven Iranians." CW: That's a devastating charge.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. CW: I know many Reality Chex readers are fans of Charles Pierce, & I admire the way he can often bring snark to a high art form. Moreover, the points of the snark are usually well-taken. BUT. I objected when he laughed off sexual abuse, to no avail, & I don't like it when he uses ethnic slurs to characterize minorities. Last week I would have linked one of his posts deriding Marco Rubio but again Pierce called Rubio "greasy," so I took a pass. Yesterday he went over the top: "The Rubio people should be selling this from in front of an abandoned gas station, along with boiled peanuts and a picture of Elvis on velvet." I doubt Pierce would acknowledge his bigotry; he probably isn't aware of it. He's one more guy who came up in an age when white men thought demeaning everybody else was funny, & he never outgrew it.

Senate Race

Why Can't We Get Better Politicians? Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "... emails and marketing documents obtained by The New York Times show the extent to which [Rep. Alan] Grayson's [D.-Fla.] roles as a hedge fund manager and a member of Congress were intertwined, and how he promoted his international travels, some with congressional delegations, to solicit business." Grayson is running for the Senate seat Marco Rubio is vacating. The House Ethics Committee is investigating Grayson's shenanigans. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Roll Call lists Grayson as the 12th-wealthiest member of Congress. The list includes both senators & representatives. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Alice Walton, et al., of the Los Angeles Times: "Nearly four months of environmental contamination and civic disruption in Porter Ranch came close to an end Thursday when work crews pierced the underground casing of the damaged Aliso Canyon gas well and started injecting it with a mud-like compound. 'The well is no longer leaking,' said Jimmie Cho, senior vice president of gas operations and system integrity for Southern California Gas Co. The final step is for concrete to be pumped into the well, a process that could begin as soon as Friday, and for state regulatory officials to declare that the leak has ceased."

Sarah Nir of the New York Times: "A New York City police officer was convicted of manslaughter on Thursday in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn for killing an unarmed man who was hit by a ricocheting bullet fired from the officer's gun in the stairwell of a housing project. The officer, Peter Liang, and his partner were conducting a so-called vertical patrol on Nov. 20, 2014, inside the Louis H. Pink Houses in East New York, Brooklyn. At one point, Officer Liang opened a door into an unlighted stairwell and his gun went off. The bullet glanced off a wall and hit Akai Gurley, 28, who was walking down the stairs with his girlfriend, piercing his heart."

The Commentariat -- Feb. 11, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Matthew Lee of the AP: "The Obama administration opened a two-front campaign on Syria on Thursday with a push to end one war there and step up another. As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry scrambled in Germany to negotiate the timing and conditions for a cease-fire between the Syrian government and moderate rebels, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter was in Belgium trying to rally new support for the fight against the Islamic State group. Meanwhile, the United States and Russia traded allegations over the bombing of civilian areas around the besieged city of Aleppo as fighting there intensified, further fueling fears of a mass exodus of refugees."

Michael Virtanen of the AP: "Morgan Stanley will pay $3.2 billion in a settlement over bank practices that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis, including misrepresentations about the value of mortgage-backed securities, authorities announced Thursday. The nationwide settlement, negotiated by the working group appointed by President Barack Obama in 2012, says the bank acknowledges that it increased the acceptable risk levels for mortgage loans pooled and sold to investors without telling them. Loans with material defects were included, packaged into the securities and sold."

The Oregonian is running a liveblog of developments at the Malheur Refuge stand-off. At 12:15 pm ET, it appears the married couple -- Sean & Sandy Anderson -- is surrendering; they have to walk about a half-mile from their hideyhole to the check-point. The page also has an embedded livefeed from KGW-TV.

Why Can't We Get Better Politicians? Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "... emails and marketing documents obtained by The New York Times show the extent to which [Rep. Alan] Grayson's [D.-Fla.] roles as a hedge fund manager and a member of Congress were intertwined, and how he promoted his international travels, some with congressional delegations, to solicit business." Grayson is running for the Senate seat Marco Rubio is vacating. The House Ethics Committee is investigating Grayson's shenanigans. ...

... Roll Call lists Grayson as the 12th-wealthiest member of Congress. The list includes both senators & representatives.

*****

AP: "President Barack Obama returned Wednesday to the Illinois capital where he launched his national political career and appealed for help ridding politics of 'polarization and meanness' that discourage participation in civic life. In an address to the Illinois General Assembly, Obama said he regretted his failure to apply to Washington politics the lessons he had learned about working across the political aisle as a state senator. Changing the tone is possible, he said, but it 'requires citizenship and a sense that we are one." (Also linked yesterday afternoon):

Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed legislation that would impose mandatory sanctions on North Korea, in a bid aimed at forcing the international community to retaliate more strongly against the rogue nation after a series of worrisome moves."

Michael Schmidt & Sewell Chan of the New York Times: "NATO will deploy ships to the Aegean Sea in an attempt to stop smugglers moving migrants from Turkey to Greece, the military alliance's secretary general said on Thursday. The alliance will also enhance its surveillance of the Turkey-Syria border to monitor more closely the flow of migrants and the activities of smugglers, the secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said. Officials emphasized that the patrols would focus on deterring human trafficking, not on stopping refugees from trying to make the journey."

The Feds Have Had Enough of Your Crap

Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times: "The Department of Justice filed a civil rights lawsuit against Ferguson, Mo., on Wednesday, less than a day after the city rejected an agreement to overhaul its beleaguered criminal justice system and address allegations of widespread abuses by its police department. 'Their decision leaves us no further choice,' Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said at a news conference announcing the suit.... In announcing the Justice Department's move, Ms. Lynch, who has a reputation for delivering impassive and guarded public remarks, was as animated as she has been in nearly a year as attorney general. 'The City of Ferguson had a real opportunity here to step forward, and instead they've turned backwards,' she said. 'They've chosen to live in the past.'"

Les Zaitz of the Oregonian: "Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who touched off one armed showdown with federal authorities and applauded another started in Oregon by his sons, was arrested late Wednesday at Portland International Airport and faces federal charges related to the 2014 standoff at his ranch. Bundy, 74, was booked into the downtown Multnomah County jail at 10:54 p.m. He faces a conspiracy charge to interfere with a federal officer.... He also faces weapons charges." Bundy had intended to go to Burns, Oregon. ...

... Les Zaitz: "The FBI on Wednesday evening moved in on the last four occupiers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, apparently placing armored vehicles around their camp. A friend of occupier David Fry was streaming on YouTube through an open phone line with the occupiers as authorities made what appeared to be a final push to end the 40-day old occupation. Besides David Fry, 27, of Ohio, the encampment includes Jeff Banta of Elko, Nevada, and Sean and Sandy Anderson of Riggins, Idaho." ...

     ... Update 10 pm PT: "The live stream that broadcast online what appears to be the last stage of the refuge occupation stopped after more than five hours. The phone feed ended as the occupiers headed to their night camp, preparing to surrender Thursday morning. They said they have a promise that the encircling FBI agents would leave them alone overnight." ...

... There's a rebroadcast of yesterday's livefeed here. And this seems like a different, earlier, portion of the livefeed. CW: Listening to a bit of it is riveting, in a sickening way. ...

... Kirk Johnson of the New York Times: "Negotiations were continuing into the evening, the F.B.I. said in a statement, and no shots, they said, had been fired. But in a live phone feed that was streaming on YouTube, with more than 20,000 listener/viewers, the occupiers said they believed the government agents had closed in to kill them. They said that they would not fire their weapons first, but that tear gas would be considered an attack that would justify shooting back."

Presidential Race

PBS is hosting a Democratic debate at 9:00 pm ET. Moderators will be Gwen Ifill & Judy Woodruff. The livestream will be here; the feed will begin at 8:30 pm ET.

Frank Rich on the New Hampshire primaries: "My guess is that these same [establishment] types -- including the opportunistic [Bill] Kristol, no doubt -- will start to shift back into Neville Chamberlain mode and look at the bright side of Trump again." Entertaining. ...

... Charles Pierce has fun reflecting upon the outcomes of the primaries. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: "... after Mrs. Clinton's overwhelming defeat in New Hampshire by Senator Bernie Sanders on Tuesday..., Nevada is looming as a turning point in their increasingly competitive contest, offering critical tests of the two candidates' strengths." ...

... Anne Gearan, et al., of the Washington Post: "The race for the Democratic presidential nomination turned sharply Wednesday into a battle for Hispanic and African American voters, who are expected to play a decisive role in a long list of upcoming contests in Southern and Western states.... Making clear how crucial minority support will be, Sanders's first stop after leaving New Hampshire was in Harlem, where he met Wednesday morning with the Rev. Al Sharpton and Benjamin Jealous, the former head of the NAACP.... With a blast of announcements about endorsements, travel plans and more, the Clinton campaign sought to turn to subjects -- gun control, criminal justice, the water crisis in Flint, Mich. -- that speak to African American and blue-collar voters in the states that vote next." ...

... Susan Davis of NPR: "The morning after his New Hampshire primary victory, Bernie Sanders made a highly publicized visit to Harlem to dine with Al Sharpton, one of America's most prominent civil rights activists and media personalities. The two dined at Sylvia's, the same New York City restaurant where Sharpton huddled with Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign." ...

... CW: Let us not forget this landmark dining moment at Sylvia's. Andrew Ironside of Media Matters (September 2007): "Discussing his recent dinner with Rev. Al Sharpton at the Harlem restaurant Sylvia's, Bill O'Reilly reported that he 'couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks, primarily black patronship.' O'Reilly added: 'There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, "M-Fer, I want more iced tea."'" With video. I myself have enjoyed Sylvia's fried chicken, served by Sylvia herself, & I completely forgot to scream, "Motherfucker, I want more iced tea." Just shows how white I am. Bernie is from New York. Maybe he better handled the imagined O'Reilly protocol. ...

... "Stop Bernie-splaining to Black Voters." Charles Blow: "Tucked among all [the] Bernie-splaining by some supporters, it appears to me, is a not-so-subtle, not-so-innocuous savior syndrome and paternalistic patronage that I find so grossly offensive that it boggles the mind that such language should emanate from the mouths -- or keyboards -- of supposed progressives. But then I am reminded that the idea that black folks are infantile and must be told what to do and what to think is not confined by ideological barriers. The ideological difference is that one side prefers punishment and the other pity, and neither is a thing in which most black folks delight." ...

... Matea Gold & John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Sen. Bernie Sanders took a few moments in his victory speech Tuesday night to make a small request of his supporters: 'Please help us raise the funds we need, whether it's 10 bucks, 20 bucks, or 50 bucks,' he said. The response was so overwhelming that his website buckled under the traffic. Between the close of polls and mid-afternoon Wednesday, his campaign brought in a record $5.2 million. Sanders is barreling out of New Hampshire in a position few anticipated when he first entered the 2016 White House contest: financially competitive with Hillary Clinton." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Yamiche Alcindor of the New York Times: "Ta-Nehisi Coates, the award-winning writer who has become one of the nation's most influential voices on cultural and political issues, particularly touching on race relations, said Wednesday that he would be voting for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The decision by Mr. Coates, the recipient of a MacArthur 'genius grant' and ... winner of the National Book Award, came as something of a surprise: Last month, Mr. Coates, author of a widely read 2014 Atlantic essay, 'The Case for Reparations,' wrote two articles sharply criticizing Mr. Sanders over his opposition to reparations for slavery." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... CW: Washington Post Editors criticize Sanders for supposedly proposing a policy they made up out of thin air: "We think forcing working people to subsidize, through their taxes, the college tuition of wealthier Americans is not a progressive policy...." Really? Sanders' free-tuition (for public universities) proposal, which he repeats ad nauseum, & which appears on his Website, "... is fully paid for by imposing a tax of a fraction of a percent on Wall Street speculators who nearly destroyed the economy seven years ago." No wonder the WashPo editors don't like Sanders; I don't like the policies they pretend he's proposed, either. They should issue a correction, but they won't. ...

... Nick Gass of Politico: "President Barack Obama will not endorse a candidate in the Democratic primary, but there is no doubt where he is leaning, according to former White House press secretary Jay Carney. 'I think the president has signaled while still remaining neutral that he supports Secretary Clinton's candidacy and who prefer to see her as the nominee,' Carney said on CNN Wednesday following coverage of the president's speech to the Illinois state Senate in Springfield." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

Annie Karni of Politico: "As she looks toward the more diverse March states, [Hillary] Clinton is putting a new focus on race. The first salvo came Wednesday, when African-American elected officials and civil rights leaders supporting her campaign participated in a conference call to raise questions about Sanders' record on gun violence and criminal justice reform.... On a conference call with African-American surrogates for Hillary Clinton, civil rights leader and former NAACP president Hazel Dukes dismissed the significance of Bernie Sanders' participation in the March on Washington in 1963.... New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on the call that ... 'When you match up the record of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, there simply is no comparison.... She's been at the dance from the beginning of her career.' In contrast, 'Sanders has been missing in action on issues of importance to the African American community,' Jeffries said, characterizing him as 'a new arrival to the dance ... at the twilight of his career.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "On Thursday morning, the [Congressional Black Caucus's] leaders said they will appear at a club adjacent to the Democratic National Committee to formally endorse Clinton for president, through the CBC political action committee. The group will then disperse its African-American lawmakers to states where black voters are crucial, particularly in South Carolina's Democratic primary on Feb. 27." ...

... Susan Page of USA Today: "Rep. Jim Clyburn, the most influential Democratic officeholder in South Carolina, says he'll 'huddle' with his family to decide this weekend whether to make an endorsement in the presidential race -- a move that could help shape the race in a state Hillary Clinton's campaign views as a crucial firewall." Page's interview of Clyburn, which accompanies the story, is worth hearing. He's a mightily talented politician. ...

Contributor Nancy points to a post Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone wrote last week in which he asserts that Bill & Hillary Clinton have gone over to "the other side of the ropeline"; that is, they're one with Wall Street. Taibbi backs up his assertion with anecdotal evidence.

... ** Michelle Alexander of the Nation: "... Hillary Clinton Doesn't Deserve the Black Vote. From the crime bill to welfare reform, policies Bill Clinton enacted -- and Hillary Clinton supported -- decimated black America.... [President Bill Clinton] capitulated entirely to the right-wing backlash against the civil-rights movement and embraced former president Ronald Reagan's agenda on race, crime, welfare, and taxes -- ultimately doing more harm to black communities than Reagan ever did.... By the end of Clinton's presidency, more than half of working-age African-American men in many large urban areas were saddled with criminal records and subject to legalized discrimination in employment, housing, access to education, and basic public benefits -- relegated to a permanent second-class status eerily reminiscent of Jim Crow....If you listen closely here, you'll notice that Hillary Clinton is still singing the same old tune in a slightly different key." CW: I think Anderson somewhat overstates her case, but it is nonetheless a strong case. ...

... Gail Collins: "If the younger voters who are flocking to Bernie Sanders don't share their elders' intense feelings about needing to elect a woman president right now, it's partly because Hillary Clinton helped create a different world. So no matter what comes next, everybody's a winner." ...

... CW: Steve Kornacki of MSNBC is too polite to say so, but in his comparison of the demographics of the 2008 & 2016 New Hampshire Democratic primaries, one can see how Democrats vote when their racism isn't showing. We had a brief discussion in yesterday's Comments about whether or not Sanders' Jewish heritage could be a factor in a general election. I thought maybe not so much, but the New Hampshire results make me think that the nearly-even Clinton/Sanders split in the Iowa Democratic caucuses did indeed reflect a religious/ethnic bias. In the Iowa exit poll interviews, Clinton beat Sanders as the candidate who most closely "shared my values." That certainly sounds like code for "Christian!" ...

     ... P.S. It occurs to me that religion may play a role in the minority vote, too: both black & Latino voters have, on the whole, strong Christian affiliations. As Greg Sargent points out this morning, "... the Clinton campaign is aggressively pursuing a strategy that depends in part on the support of influential black pastors, an approach Bill Clinton relied on in 1992." ...

... Benjamin Wallace-Wells of the New Yorker: "... in New Hampshire, the rare demographic group [Clinton] won was those with incomes of more than two hundred thousand dollars a year. For now, at least, Clinton has become the wine-track candidate." CW: If that's how the cookie crumbles as the campaigns move forward, Clinton would be going into the general election as the candidate of the rich; obviously that's ironic in view of the policies of whoever her opponent might be. ...

... ** Robert Parry of Common Dreams provides a very useful shortcourse on the history of Democratic primary battles. Bottom line, especially when read alongside Martin Longman's post, linked below: we the people are screwed. ...

... The Establishment's Votes Count Way More than Yours. Martin Longman of the Washington Monthly gets real: "As of right now, with 92% of the vote reporting, Bernie Sanders is projected to have won 13 delegates from New Hampshire. Hillary Clinton is projected to have won nine. There are still two delegates left to be allocated.... But ... even winning 60% of the vote, he barely scratched the surface of Clinton's lead, which thanks to superdelegates currently stands at 394-42. The same proportional rules that make it impossible for Clinton to put Sanders away also make it nearly impossible for Sanders to overcome a 350 delegate deficit."

Anthony Gaughan, in the Raw Story: "Above all, the fact that a socialist won the New Hampshire Democratic primary and a billionaire won the GOP primary demonstrates that the two parties are headed in profoundly different directions. Polarization is shaping the 2016 presidential campaign in unpredictable ways as Americans grow ever more divided."

Ed O'Keefe, et al., of the Washington Post: South Carolina, "a state known for its nasty political brawls, is about to host an epic one, pitting a foul-mouthed celebrity billionaire against a band of senators and governors scrapping to challenge him. The Republican presidential candidates arrived here Wednesday ready for 10 days of combat.... Since Tuesday's New Hampshire primary failed to deliver much certainty, the Palmetto State's GOP primary on Feb. 20 could prove determinative for a trio of candidates vying to become the GOP establishment's consensus alternative to front-runner Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas." ...

... Digby, in Salon: "... it's a good bet that the GOP race is going to come down to either an authoritarian white nationalist or a far-right zealot. And the authoritarian white nationalist, the man who has convinced over two thirds of Republicans in New Hampshire that we need to ban Muslims from America, is the most likely winner. This is no longer a bizarre spectacle. It's a horror movie." ...

... Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker: "... New Hampshire’s failure to sweep away the also-rans dramatically increases the odds that the Republican nomination process will end with Trump as the G.O.P. nominee.... No Republican candidate who has won a gold and a silver in the first two states has ever lost the G.O.P. nomination.... As long as Cruz, Kasich, Bush, and Rubio stay in, they will divide a sizable chunk of the vote that could be consolidated against Trump, and Trump will be able to collect delegates with his thirty- to forty-per-cent share." ...

... Jonathan Chait: "Among those shocked by Donald Trump's runaway victory in the New Hampshire primary was Eric Cantor, who had just a few weeks before made a bet that Trump would fail to win a single primary. The experience of being shocked should not come as a shock to Cantor. In 2010, Cantor invested some $15,000 in a fund that bet on higher inflation, which was widely predicted by conservatives at the time but utterly failed to come about. In 2014, he lost his primary despite internal polling that showed him 34 points ahead, and admitted he was 'absolutely' shocked by the defeat.... People who want to bet their money on Cantor's ability to see the future" can find him at his investment firm, advising wealthy people on what the future holds. CW: Love the accompanying photo of Cantor, adjusting his glasses in such a way as to remind potential investors that he is (a) a very smart guy (b) who can see into the future. My dart board would be a better advisor on picking stocks & bonds. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Steve Peoples of the AP: "The best hope of the Republican establishment just a week ago, Marco Rubio suddenly faces a path to his party's presidential nomination that could require a brokered national convention. That's according to Rubio's campaign manager, Terry Sullivan, who told The Associated Press that this week's disappointing performance in New Hampshire will extend the Republican nomination fight for another three months, if not longer." ...

... Marco Marco Marco Knew Christie Was on the Attack. Jeremy Peters & Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "Mr. Christie had not just telegraphed the coming attack, he directly forewarned Mr. Rubio backstage on Saturday night as the two men waited for their names to be called by the ABC News moderators. 'I understand I am going to have a hard time tonight,' Mr. Rubio playfully told Mr. Christie. 'Yes, you are,' Mr. Christie replied, according to three people to whom he recounted the conversation. Todd Harris, a senior Rubio adviser, called the conversation 'completely fabricated.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... BUT Now Marco Marco Marco Is "Funny, Unscripted & Human." Jeremy Peters: "Senator Marco Rubio of Florida ... took questions from reporters aboard his charter flight to South Carolina for nearly 45 minutes.... As he spoke, he made it clear that he was entering a new phase of his campaign, one less burdened by the caution and message discipline that have made him seem mechanical and scripted at times." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... "Control-Alt-Delete." Michael Crowley of Politico: "... the freewheeling Rubio who appeared for reporters on his campaign plane was gone once he disembarked and walked in front of voters in South Carolina. Rubio stuck to his standard script at two events. (He skipped a third event to return to Washington for a Senate vote on North Korea sanctions and, he said, to catch up on classified briefings.)... It was unclear whether the charge that Rubio is robotic would dog him here (although two young men in cardboard 'Marco Roboto' costumes posed for photos outside his first event)."

CW: Dana Milbank makes a point I mentioned yesterday: Jeb!'s prospects aren't necessarily dead: "Only in the bizarre world of politics would Bush's fourth-place finish in New Hampshire be considered good news: His millions of dollars got him only 31,160 votes, or 11 percent of the total. But considering that Bush was ready for embalming before Tuesday night, the notion that Jeb is not dead is noteworthy. At the very least, he lives to be awkward another day.... Republicans, at least until the age of Trump, have shown a tendency to select the most obvious candidate after exhausting all other possibilities. For better or worse, that would be Jeb." Milbank writes that Bush is now totally energized & suddenly comfortable in his [WASPy white establishment] skin. ...

... David Korn of Mother Jones: "South Carolina has a history of below-the-belt politics, and the Bush family has been part of that. (See the 2000 GOP primary campaign, when the George W. Bush camp slimed John McCain to defeat.) The Bush clan knows how to get dirty in South Carolina. Regardless of what happens with Trump and Cruz, a Bush-Kasich brawl could well be the main event."

Alexander Burns & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a once-commanding figure in the Republican Party who struggled to attract support for his presidential campaign but unsettled the race with his strident attacks on Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, ended his run for the White House on Wednesday. The decision came a day after Mr. Christie came in sixth in the New Hampshire primary, an embarrassing result after he had focused the bulk of his campaign's efforts on the state. He was also facing the prospect of being left out of the group that will take the stage at the Republican debate on Saturday because of his poor showings in the Iowa caucuses last week and in New Hampshire on Tuesday." ...

... Matt Arco & Claude Brodesser-Akner of the Star-Ledger list "25 reasons Chris Christie's presidential campaign tanked." CW: P.S. Welcome home, Gov. Chrisco. ...

...Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "... Donald Trump says fellow GOP primary candidate Chris Christie called him after Tuesday night's New Hampshire primary to have a 'long talk.' Asked whether he would seek Christie's endorsement if the New Jersey governor drops out of the race, Trump praised Christie for his performance at last week's GOP primary debate. 'I think that Chris did an amazing job in terms of the debate, as a prosecutor, and he's a friend of mine, Trump said early Wednesday on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe.'" ...

... Anne Laurie of Balloon Juice: "Fortunately, by shivving Rubio so effectively, [Christie] should've guaranteed himself a nice cushy schedule of private planes and high-dollar hotel rooms while backing up either Trump or Jeb for the next few months." CW: As you may recall, Christie has a long history of partaking of luxury travel & accommodations paid for by others (including taxpayers). He'd be in his element in one of Trump's 24-karat-gold-plated private jet(s):

     ... Given all that, I don't see how poor Jeb!, with his cheesy rent-a-planes has a shot at a Christie endorsement.

     ... P.S. When our lovely hostess tour guide refers to a "dive-in," she means "divan" (dəˈvan).

Daniel Strauss of Politico: "... Carly Fiorina dropped out of the 2016 [presidential] contest on Wednesday, ending a campaign that failed to enlist enough support despite Republican voters' clear preference for a Washington outsider this cycle. I've said throughout this campaign that I will not sit down and be quiet. I'm not going to start now,' the former Hewlett-Packard CEO said in a statement. 'While I suspend my candidacy today, I will continue to travel this country and fight for those Americans who refuse to settle for the way things are and a status quo that no longer works for them.'" CW: With any luck, the media won't cover her travels & fights. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Driftglass Welcomes Michael Bloomberg: "... who better to step in out of the Beltway pundit's magic Centrist unicorn dreams and into the race... Who better to dump another shit-ton of money into a race already choking on the fumes of burning piles of cash...Who better to grab both the unruly anti-Wall Street Democrats and the unhinged, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant wingnut rabble by the scruff of the neck and tell them all to STFU and fall in line... than yet another New York billionaire!" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Donna St. George, et al., of the Washington Post: "An investigation into child pornography at a Prince George's County[, Maryland,] school broadened Wednesday as officials interviewed more than two dozen families, placed the principal on leave and examined whether any policies on reporting child abuse were breached. But officials offered few new details about how an unpaid library volunteer in suburban Maryland allegedly managed to make videos of children performing sex acts on school grounds during school hours.... Deonte Carraway, 22, of Glenarden has been charged with 10 counts of felony child pornography and related charges. He has admitted creating the videos, in which he sometimes can be seen or heard directing children between 9 and 13 years old to perform various sexual acts, police said." CW: Words fail me.

Marcus Gilmer of Mashable: "The City of Cleveland has filed a claim against the estate of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy who was shot and killed by a police officer in 2014. It asks for for $500 to cover 'ambulance advance life support' and other medical expenses, including mileage, related to Rice's ride to the hospital the day he was shot."

Tony Barboza & Dan Weikel of the Los Angeles Times: "The California Coastal Commission fired its executive director Wednesday -- a decision made despite an overwhelming show of public support for the land use agency's top official. The panel disclosed that it voted 7 to 5 in a private session to dismiss Charles Lester, touching off an emotional scene unique in the agency's 44-year history."

News Lede

AP: "Sirhan Sirhan was denied parole Wednesday for fatally shooting Robert F. Kennedy after a confidante of the slain senator who was shot in the head forgave him and repeatedly apologized for not doing more to win his release. Paul Schrade's voice cracked with emotion during an hour of testimony on his efforts to untangle mysteries about the events of June 5, 1968. The 91-year-old former labor leader said he believed Sirhan shot him but that a second unidentified shooter felled Kennedy."

The Commentariat -- Feb. 10, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Daniel Strauss of Politico: "... Carly Fiorina dropped out of the 2016 [presidential] contest on Wednesday, ending a campaign that failed to enlist enough support despite Republican voters' clear preference for a Washington outsider this cycle. I've said throughout this campaign that I will not sit down and be quiet. I'm not going to start now,' the former Hewlett-Packard CEO said in a statement. 'While I suspend my candidacy today, I will continue to travel this country and fight for those Americans who refuse to settle for the way things are and a status quo that no longer works for them.'" CW: With luck, the media won't cover her travels & fights.

Annie Karni of Politico: "As she looks toward the more diverse March states, [Hillary] Clinton is putting a new focus on race. The first salvo came Wednesday, when African-American elected officials and civil rights leaders supporting her campaign participated in a conference call to raise questions about Sanders' record on gun violence and criminal justice reform.... On a conference call with African-American surrogates for Hillary Clinton, civil rights leader and former NAACP president Hazel Dukes dismissed the significance of Bernie Sanders' participation in the March on Washington in 1963.... New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on the call that ... 'When you match up the record of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, there simply is no comparison.... She's been at the dance from the beginning of her career.' In contrast, 'Sanders has been missing in action on issues of importance to the African American community,' Jeffries said, characterizing him as 'a new arrival to the dance ... at the twilight of his career.'"

Nick Gass of Politico: "President Barack Obama will not endorse a candidate in the Democratic primary, but there is no doubt where he is leaning, according to former White House press secretary Jay Carney. 'I think the president has signaled while still remaining neutral that he supports Secretary Clinton's candidacy and who prefer to see her as the nominee,' Carney said on CNN Wednesday...." ...

... AP: "President Barack Obama returned Wednesday to the Illinois capital where he launched his national political career and appealed for help ridding politics of 'polarization and meanness' that discourage participation in civic life. In an address to the Illinois General Assembly, Obama said he regretted his failure to apply to Washington politics the lessons he had learned about working across the political aisle as a state senator. Changing the tone is possible, he said, but it 'requires citizenship and a sense that we are one.":

Matea Gold & John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Sen. Bernie Sanders took a few moments in his victory speech Tuesday night to make a small request of his supporters: 'Please help us raise the funds we need, whether it's 10 bucks, 20 bucks, or 50 bucks,' he said. The response was so overwhelming that his website buckled under the traffic. Between the close of polls and mid-afternoon Wednesday, his campaign brought in a record $5.2 million. Sanders is barreling out of New Hampshire in a position few anticipated when he first entered the 2016 White House contest: financially competitive with Hillary Clinton."

Yamiche Alcindor of the New York Times: "Ta-Nehisi Coates, the award-winning writer who has become one of the nation's most influential voices on cultural and political issues, particularly touching on race relations, said Wednesday that he would be voting for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The decision by Mr. Coates, the recipient of a MacArthur 'genius grant' and ... winner of the National Book Award, came as something of a surprise: Last month, Mr. Coates, author of a widely read 2014 Atlantic essay, 'The Case for Reparations,' wrote two articles sharply criticizing Mr. Sanders over his opposition to reparations for slavery."

Marco Marco Marco Knew Christie Was on the Attack. Jeremy Peters & Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "Mr. Christie had not just telegraphed the coming attack, he directly forewarned Mr. Rubio backstage on Saturday night as the two men waited for their names to be called by the ABC News moderators. 'I understand I am going to have a hard time tonight,' Mr. Rubio playfully told Mr. Christie. 'Yes, you are,' Mr. Christie replied, according to three people to whom he recounted the conversation. Todd Harris, a senior Rubio adviser, called the conversation 'completely fabricated.'" ...

... BUT Now Marco Marco Marco Is "Funny, Unscripted & Human." Jeremy Peters: "Senator Marco Rubio of Florida took questions from reporters aboard his charter flight to South Carolina for nearly 45 minutes.... As he spoke, he made it clear that he was entering a new phase of his campaign, one less burdened by the caution and message discipline that have made him seem mechanical and scripted at times."

Alex Isenstadt & David Strauss of Politico: "Chris Christie is expected to formally suspend his campaign later on Wednesday, according to a source close to the campaign, after finishing a disappointing sixth in the New Hampshire primary. The New Jersey governor was expected to spend part of the day reaching out to donors and top supporters to discuss his decision, the source said."

Charles Pierce has fun reflecting upon the outcomes of the primaries.

Driftglass Welcomes Michael Bloomberg: "... who better to step in out of the Beltway pundit's magic Centrist unicorn dreams and into the race... Who better to dump another shit-ton of money into a race already choking on the fumes of burning piles of cash...Who better to grab both the unruly anti-Wall Street Democrats and the unhinged, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant wingnut rabble by the scruff of the neck and tell them all to STFU and fall in line... than yet another New York billionaire!"

Jonathan Chait: "Among those shocked by Donald Trump's runaway victory in the New Hampshire primary was Eric Cantor, who had just a few weeks before made a bet that Trump would fail to win a single primary. The experience of being shocked should not come as a shock to Cantor. In 2010, Cantor invested some $15,000 in a fund that bet on higher inflation, which was widely predicted by conservatives at the time but utterly failed to come about. In 2014, he lost his primary despite internal polling that showed him 34 points ahead, and admitted he was 'absolutely' shocked by the defeat.... People who want to bet their money on Cantor's ability to see the future" can find him at his investment firm, advising wealthy people on what the future holds. CW: Love the accompanying photo of Cantor, adjusting his glasses in such a way as to remind potential investors that he is (a) a very smart guy (b) who can see into the future.

*****

Presidential Race

Yuuuge! Here's a clip from Sanders' victory speech:

     ... Update: Here's the full speech:

Jeet Heer of the New Republic: "Bernie Sanders is the future of the Democratic party.... Democrats especially if they are white, millennial and postgrad -- are increasingly likely to call themselves liberals.... It is true that younger blacks and Hispanics are also trending liberal, but for now, there are enough moderate and conservative older blacks and Hispanics to give Clinton some breathing room." CW: The Democratic party will fade to a faction if it can't bring along minorities & moderate white people. ...

... Matt Yglesias of Vox: ""Bernie Sanders is the future of the Democratic party.... Hillary Clinton's campaign -- and, frankly, many DC journalists -- has been repeatedly taken by surprise by the potency of some of Sanders's attacks, because they apply to such a broad swath of the party. But this is precisely the point. Sanders and his youthful supporters want the Democrats to be a different kind of party: a more ideological, more left-wing one."

... Eric Levitz of New York: "Sanders's victory is a remarkable triumph for a certain strain of American Jewish political thought. When asked about his spirituality at last week's Democratic debate, the Vermont senator replied, 'My spirituality is that we are all in this together and that when children go hungry, when veterans sleep out on the street, it impacts me.' Sanders's Judaism is the socialist, universalist sort that was conceived through centuries of Talmudic scholarship, incubated in sweatshop factories in New York and Chicago, and brought to life in the great labor struggles of the early 20th century."

Isaac Chotiner of Slate: "Hillary Clinton's impressive concession speech Tuesday night, which followed Bernie Sanders' even more impressive win in the New Hampshire primary, was a bracing call for getting real.... What made the speech better than many of her previous efforts -- I'm not including her Goldman Sachs speeches, since we haven't seen those -- was that she mixed this practical approach to leadership with a surprising amount of heart":

... Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "Bernie Sanders's nearly 22-point victory came after Mrs. Clinton's advisers had worked hard to lower expectations, but privately, many people close to Mrs. Clinton, including her husband, believed the state would once again serve as a lifeline." ...

... Annie Karni of Politico: "Both Hillary and Bill Clinton knew she would lose [in New Hampshire] -- but not by this much. Now, after a drubbing so serious as to call into question every aspect of her campaign from her data operation to her message, the wounded front-runner and her allies are actively preparing to retool their campaign, according to Clinton allies.... Clinton is set to campaign with African-American victims of law enforcement deaths, like Trayvon Martin's mother and Eric Garner's mother. And the campaign, sources said, is expected to push a new focus on systematic racism, criminal justice reform, voting rights and gun violence that will mitigate concerns about her lack of an inspirational message." ...

... Lisa Desjardins of PBS NewsHour: "Hours before official New Hampshire results appeared Tuesday, Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook conceded to staffers, supporters and some reporters that the Granite State race was lost, in a memo obtained by PBS NewsHour that urged the Clinton team to focus past February and on March."

... Molly Ball of the Atlantic: "One thing is certain: A major fight for the Democratic nomination lies ahead."

We're being ripped off by everybody. And I guess that's the thing that Bernie Sanders and myself have in common. We know about the trade. But unfortunately he can't do anything to fix it, whereas I will. The only thing he does know, and he's right about, is that we're being ripped off; he says that constantly; and I guess he and I are the only two that really say that. -- Donald Trump, on "Morning Joe" today...

... Greg Sargent: "In her concession speech..., Clinton continued to describe Sanders's success in limited emotional terms -- as if he is merely speaking to people's anger and frustration. Some pundits similarly describe Trump's appeal as an ability to harness 'anger.' Yet there's more to it than this. What both Trump and Sanders share is that they treat the problem as one of political economy, in which both the economic and political systems are rigged in intertwined ways, thus speaking directly to people's understandable intellectual assessment of what is deeply wrong with our system and why it no longer works for them." ...

... Michael Grunwald of Politico Magazine: "New Hampshire's unemployment rate is only 3.1 percent. New Hampshire's average gasoline price is only $1.98 per gallon. New Hampshire's murder rate is the lowest in the country, and so is New Hampshire's poverty rate. Also: New Hampshire's voters want serious change. That was the in-your-face message of last night's primary results, a widely predicted but still somehow viscerally shocking call for overthrow, on both sides.... The seething disgust that propelled Trump and Sanders to victory is hard to deny, and neither Clinton nor Kasich or Bush seems well-positioned to win a disgust-a-thon against more natural purveyors of disgust."

"A Racist, Sexist Demagogue Just Won The New Hampshire Primary." Ryan Grim & Igor Bobic of the Huffington Post: Donald Trump's "resounding victory amid a crowded field of more experienced and accomplished candidates is a stunning turn of events for a party that vowed just four years ago to be more inclusive to minorities after failing to unseat President Barack Obama in the bitter 2012 election. What the GOP got instead is a xenophobic demagogue who's insulted pretty much everyone and even earned the endorsement of white supremacists. Trump's victory in New Hampshire likely points to a drawn-out slog between Trump and at least one of his rivals as they battle to secure enough delegates in hopes of winning their party's nomination...." ...

... Brian Beutler of the New Republic: "Trump's victory, and the magnitude of his victory, is a political cataclysm for the Republican Party.... He more than doubled the support of the second-place finisher John Kasich. This gives Trump an early delegate lead going into nominating contests in South Carolina and Nevada, where he also enjoys commanding advantages in public polls.... Everything that's happened since last Monday has served as a reminder that the Republican establishment is hanging its fortunes on extremely thin reeds....

After Iowa, and despite a third-place finish, Rubio briefly benefited from a deluge of endorsements and campaign donations on the basis of the impression that he was both uniquely electable, and uniquely capable of uniting the party. These notions took hold despite widespread awareness of Rubio's thin resume and inability to act with a clear head under pressure. His momentum was thus extremely fragile and after one public demonstration that the concerns were valid, it collapsed. Tonight he finished fifth.

Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "For the establishment wing of the Republican Party, the picture just keeps getting bleaker.... The establishment lane is now more crowded than ever, with Rubio, Jeb Bush, and New Hampshire runner-up John Kasich heading for a brutal fight in South Carolina -- a state known for its rough-and-tumble political culture." CW: Really? Not if Chrisco drops out, as he seems likely to do. All the candidates are wing-nuts, but the perceived outsiders -- Trump & Cruz -- are battling for the same voters, & Rubio, too, is competing for the wing-nuttiest. If you squint, you can still see a path for Jeb!, where Trump, Cruz & Rubio duke it out for the crazies, Christie stays in New Jersey & the underfunded Kasich fades. Of course, there's always Carly! Oh, I forgot Ole Doc.

Andrew Ryan of the Boston Globe: "Senator Marco Rubio appeared to be heading for a distant fifth-place finish Tuesday in New Hampshire's Republican presidential primary, a stinging disappointment for a candidate who brimmed with momentum after his strong finish in Iowa.... 'I'm disappointed,' Rubio told supporters at his primary night rally. 'It's on me. I [did] not do well on Saturday night, so listen to this: That will never happen again.' Rubio added, 'We will win this election. Because if we do not win this election, we may lose our country.'" CW: So here's Marco once again portraying himself as the one-and-only savior despite his noxious remark that "There's only one savior and it's not me. It's Jesus Christ who came down to earth and died for our sins.'" We live on a pretty big piece of geography to get lost, but if HarpenCollins can lose Israel, I suppose anything is possible. ...

... Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "... Marco Rubio accepted the blame for his disappointing fifth-place finish in New Hampshire but also pointed to another culprit: the media. 'What happened is obviously Saturday night the debate went the way it went, and then just the media coverage over the last 72 hours was very negative about it and so forth,' Rubio said Wednesday on 'Fox & Friends.'" ...

... CW: Dana Milbank has another amusing anecdote about Marco that slipped my notice: "The reviews [of Rubio's debate performance] were savage, and then, on Monday night, RubioBot malfunctioned again. 'Janette and I are raising our four children in the 21st century, and we know how hard it's become to instill our values in our kids instead of the values they try to ram down our throats,' he told supporters, then added: 'In the 21st century, it's becoming harder than ever to instill in your children the values they teach in our homes and in our church instead of the values that they try to ram down our throats.'... Had Rubio received scrutiny earlier, voters might have been able to find a candidate who didn't wilt in the spotlight. But Iowa and New Hampshire didn't serve their functions this time. Trump got in the way."

Clare Foran of the Atlantic: Chris "Christie won't even finish in the top five. An as-yet-incomplete vote tally shows him trailing Trump, John Kasich, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, and Marco Rubio. Speaking to supporters Tuesday evening, Christie announced that he'll go home to New Jersey where he'll wait to see how the final vote shakes out before making a decision about what comes next. He said he should be ready to make that decision tomorrow, and it sounds very likely that he may soon drop out of the 2016 race." CW: But thanks, Gov. Chrisco, for exposing MarcoBot, even if you did copy President Josiah Bartlett. ...

... Claude Brodesser-Akner of NJ.com: "Gov. Chris Christie is still waiting to exhale, but Republican experts are saying the New Jersey governor is all but certain to end his presidential campaign in New Jersey sometime Wednesday."

Josh Voorhees of Slate: Ohio Gov. John "Kasich’s surprise [second-place] showing actually turns the GOP's Trump-themed headache into a migraine."

Paul Krugman (Feb. 8): "... on economic policy -- which sort of matters -- Kasich is terrible, arguably worse than the rest of the GOP field. It's not just his balanced-budget fetishism, which would be disastrous in an economic crisis. He’s also a hard-money man.... He is viscerally opposed to monetary as well as fiscal stimulus in the face of high unemployment. So no, Kasich isn't sensible. He's just off the wall in ways that differ in some ways from the GOP mainstream. If he'd been president in 2009-10, we'd have had a full replay of the Great Depression."

At 8:00 pm ET, the New York Times has already called the New Hampshire primaries, declaring Bernie Sanders the winner on the Democratic side & Donald Trump the winner of the GOP race. (Front page.) CW: Not sure who made the projections; it's usually the AP. ...

... Patrick Healy & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont rocked the American political establishment on Tuesday night, harnessing working-class fury to surge to commanding victories in a New Hampshire primary that drew energetic turnout across the state."

... Dan Balz, et al., of the Washington Post: "Sen. Bernie Sanders and billionaire Donald Trump have been projected as the winners of the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries in New Hampshire -- a remarkable victory for two outsiders who tapped into voter anger at the two parties' establishments, and each promised massive government actions to provide working people with an economic boost." CW: Really? Bernie Sanders is just like Donald Trump? Um, exactly what "massive government actions" has Trump promised? Oh, maybe Balz & Co. are referring to Trump's tax plan, which like all the other GOP tax plans, would make the rich richer & the government poorer. ...

... BUT Fox "News" had the results before noon! Nolan McCaskill & Hadas Gold of Politico: "Donald Trump won the New Hampshire primary Tuesday -- according to a premature Fox News report. Citing every precinct reporting, Fox News' website accidentally published election results declaring Trump the winner with 28 percent support and 14 delegates."

The New York Times' primary results page is here. On the Republican side with 37 votes cast (yep, 37), there's a three-way tie on the Republican side: 9 votes each for Cruz, Trump & Kasich. Sanders leads Clinton 17-9, with 28 votes counted.

The New York Times' liveblog is here. Even before the polls close, it has some interesting tidbits: Ben Carson felt he had to telegraph his intention to stay in the race, Bernie couldn't find his car in downtown Concord, Hillary doesn't know what "went viral" means (suggesting to me she doesn't read the news; she has it read to her), & Donald Trump says (3:21 pm) he won't be calling people pussies when he's president: ("On 'Fox and Friends,' Mr. Trump argued again that he was not to blame for the use of the expletive..., which a woman in the crowd called out and Mr. Trump repeated. 'It was like a retweet,' Mr. Trump ... said. 'I would never say a word like that.'"

Eric Levitz of New York: "... if Sanders wins by a margin of 55 to 45 percent, Hillary Clinton will walk away with an even share of New Hampshire's delegates. Since our nation was founded on the principle of 'no taxation without an insanely convoluted process of electing representation,' as long as Clinton gets above 43.8 percent of the vote, she's entitled to half the state's delegates."

At the end of yesterday's Comments thread, contributor Elizabeth has a great first-hand report on her New Hampshire polling place. Her report jibes with the New York Times' banner headline (at 6:45 pm ET): "Voter turnout is said to be strong as polls near close." Most polls close at 7 pm ET.

Andrew O'Hehir of Salon: "There is an immense ideological gulf at the heart of the Democratic electorate that this campaign has exposed, and it cannot be easily papered over, no matter who wins."

Charles Pierce: "One thing about the Clinton team: because they've been the object of sophisticated (and well-financed) ratfcking for over 25 years, they've developed a real talent for opposition research their own selves." Read on. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... "Half a Dream." Charles Blow (Feb. 8): "... possibly the most damaging of Clinton's attributes is, ironically, her practicality. As one person commented to me on social media: Clinton is running an I-Have-Half-A-Dream campaign. That simply doesn't inspire young people brimming with the biggest of dreams. Clinton's message says: Aim lower, think smaller, move slower. It says, I have more modest ambitions, but they are more realistic. As Clinton put it Thursday in a swipe at Sanders, 'I'm not making promises that I cannot keep.' But the pragmatic progressive line is not going to help her chip away at Sanders's support among the young. That support is hardening into hipness." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post: "During the 2000 presidential campaign, one of the mantras of then-Gov. George W. Bush's campaign was that he would 'restore honor and dignity' to the White House. That line was always met with a roar of approval from people appalled by the White House indiscretions of President Clinton.... [The Republican] party has gone from craving honor and dignity to demanding bread and circuses. And Trump gives the faithful exactly what they want, no matter how vile."

McKay Coppins of BuzzFeed: "... to those who have known him longest, [Marco] Rubio's flustered performance Saturday night fit perfectly with an all-too-familiar strain of his personality, one that his handlers and image-makers have labored for years to keep out of public view. Though generally seen as cool-headed and quick on his feet, Rubio is known to friends, allies, and advisers for a kind of incurable anxiousness -- and an occasional propensity to panic in moments of crisis, both real and imagined." CW: Panic under pressure: an excellent qualification for a job that requires responses to multiple crises every day.

Tuesday's Biggest Winners -- Karl & the Supremes. Ken Vogel of Politico: "The Internal Revenue Service ― in a move signaling a lack of appetite for policing big-money campaign spending ― granted tax exempt status to a Karl Rove-conceived non-profit group that pioneered secret money-funded attack ads. The group..., Crossroads GPS..., has come to epitomize the new types of big-money spending made possible by the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision. Elections watchdogs for years have accused it of violating tax and election laws by spending hundreds of millions of dollars on political ads attacking Democratic candidates and boosting Republican ones ― all while failing to disclose its donors' identities or registering as a political committee with the Federal Election Commission."

Other News

** Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked implementation of President Obama's ambitious proposal to limit carbon emissions and reduce global warming while the plan is challenged. The court granted a stay request from more than two dozen states, utilities and coal miners who said the Environmental Protection Agency was overstepping its powers. The court's decision does not address the merits of the challenge, but indicates justices think the states have raised serious questions.... The court's four liberal justices objected to the decision...." ...

... Jonathan Chait on the implications: "Democrats need to hold on to the White House or literally risk planetary disaster." CW: Gives new meaning to Kate Madison's call to "Remember the Supremes!"

Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "President Obama on Tuesday sent his final annual budget proposal to a hostile Republican-led Congress, seeking $19 billion for a broad new cybersecurity initiative and rejecting the lame-duck label as he declared that his plan 'is about looking forward.' The budget for fiscal year 2017, which starts Oct. 1, would top $4 trillion, although only about one-quarter of that is the so-called discretionary spending for domestic and military programs that the president and Congress dicker over each year. The rest is for mandatory spending, chiefly interest on the federal debt and the Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits that are expanding as the population ages." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Noam Scheiber of the New York Times: "At the center of the final budget of President Obama's term is a concession that the major macroeconomic trends of the past two generations -- particularly the loss of benefits that once went with formal employment relationships -- are largely irreversible. In laying out proposals from improving access to 401(k) plans to supplementing the incomes of workers who accept lower wages after losing jobs, the president laid out a clear, if limited, view of government's role in the labor market. Inside the budget is a detailed agenda to ease the anxieties of workers weighed down by job insecurity and income volatility." ...

... Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "The release of President Obama's eighth and final budget on Tuesday has forced into the open the seething tensions that never really went away after a spending agreement was reached last year, in part to ease [Paul] Ryan's transition into the speaker's suite. That deal set spending until the end of October of this year, at levels that the president adhered to and Senate Republicans hope to make stick. But a core group of House Republicans who gave Mr. Ryan a pass back then now say they want to toss those numbers out like so much flotsam and pass their own budget with far tighter spending restrictions."

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Ted Cruz blocked the Senate from confirming State Department nominees for the third time in the past week, even though the Texas Republican is campaigning in New Hampshire. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) tried on Monday evening to get unanimous consent to confirm Samuel Heins to be ambassador to Norway and Azita Raji to be ambassador to Sweden. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), however, objected, and said he was doing so on behalf of Cruz, who has spent much of the last week campaigning in New Hampshire...."

... Hurts the Bottom Line. Daniel Victor New York Times: "Having women in the highest corporate offices is correlated with increased profitability, according to a new study of nearly 22,000 publicly traded companies in 91 countries. The study, released Monday by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a nonprofit group based in Washington, and EY, the audit firm formerly known as Ernst & Young, found that despite the apparent economic benefits, many corporations are lacking in gender diversity. Almost 60 percent of the companies reviewed had no female board members, and more than 50 percent had no female executives. Just under 5 percent had a female chief executive."

David Jolly of the New York Times: "The United States Army will deploy hundreds of soldiers to the southern Afghan province of Helmand, where government forces have been pushed to the brink by Taliban militants, a military spokesman said Tuesday.It will be the largest deployment of American troops outside major bases in Afghanistan since the end of the NATO combat mission in 2014."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Adrienne Varkiani of Think Progress: "A statement released Tuesday by Doctors Without Borders confirms that a hospital in the Dara'a Governorate in Syria was hit by an airstrike on February 5. The airstrike on the hospital killed three people and wounded an additional six, according to the statement. The Talas hospital, which is close to the Jordanian border, is still partially damaged. It is the 13th health care facility to be attacked in Syria this year alone, according to Doctors Without Borders, which has documented such attacks in the past."