From Kyle Cheney’s Politico article, “Democrats draw plan to shatter the GOP“: “Democracy Corps’ Stan Greenberg, a prominent national Democratic pollster, released data Monday morning that suggest moderate Republicans — nearly a third of the GOP base — are being ignored by their presidential candidates. These Republicans don’t revile Planned Parenthood — in fact, many prefer the women’s health group to pro-life groups and candidates who take hard-line stances on abortion. They’re supportive of same-sex marriage. They’re not enamored of the NRA. They have less rigid attitudes about sex. They accept climate science…”It’s mind-boggling,” Greenberg said. “They’re considered illegitimate within the Republican Party, and no one is speaking to them.”…It’s a dynamic Greenberg said could drive those moderates toward Democrats this fall, and he wants his party to work to make that happen.”
“The Republicans seem to be reeling, unable or unwilling to comprehend that a shady, bombastic liar is hardening the image of their party as a symbol of intolerance and division,” says the editorial board in today’s editorial on “The Party of Trump, and the Path Forward for Democrats.”
“Anti-Trump Republicans Call for a Third-Party Option,” reports Alexander Burns at The New York Times. “Two top Republicans, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, said this week that they would not vote for Mr. Trump in November…William Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard magazine, said he would work actively to put forward an “independent Republican” ticket if Mr. Trump was the nominee, and floated Mr. Sasse as a recruit…A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey this week found that 48 percent of Republicans who do not already back Mr. Trump said they would probably not or definitely not support him in November.”
NJ Gov. Christie sinks in poll of RVs following his Trump endorsement.
Many have noted that the GOP presidential candidates are collectively out-polling Democratic rivals and setting turnout records in the primaries thus far, while Democratic turnout is declining from 2008 figures. But Democratic front-runner Clinton received more votes than Republican front-runner Trump in the four largest Super Tuesday states (GA, MA, TX and VA).
On that topic, Patricia Sullivan writes that “GOP vote surge in Northern Va. definitely included some Democrats.”
Nate Silver addresses the question of the hour, “Can Republicans Still Take The Nomination Away From Trump?” and concludes that “anti-Trump Republicans ought to look for ways to test their voters’ resolve to back Trump. They could develop better anti-Trump advertising campaigns, which have received shockingly little financial backing so far. Even if they can’t push Trump’s opponents out of the race, they can push back against a media-driven coronation of Trump or a premature consolidation around him. They ought to make Trump fight like hell for the nomination through all 50 states. But if he seems to have earned it, they probably shouldn’t count on taking it away from him.”
“The tragedy of the 2016 campaign is that Trump has mobilized a constituency with legitimate grievances on a fool’s errand,” notes Thomas B. Edsall in his NYT op-ed, “Why Trump Now?”
At The Nation Ari Berman explains how “Voters Were Blocked From the Polls on Super Tuesday by New Voting Restrictions: The 2016 election is the first in 50 years without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act.”