Weepy Wednesday

By: Meredith Kelly

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It’s a Weepy Wednesday for Speaker Paul Ryan and the Republican establishment.

Notable Highlights:

  • The Hill – Super Tuesday Losers: “The Republican establishment . . . The anti-Trump forces in the GOP now confront the fact that they might be too late. . . . Ryan, like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other senior members of the party, must now decide how far they can go in trying to stop Trump — apparently in defiance of their voters’ wishes.”
  • Washington Post – Super Tuesday Losers: “Republican establishment: What happened Tuesday night looks like a worst-case scenario for the GOP establishment. Why? Because Trump kept up the pace he needs to come close or go over the delegates he needs to be the nominee. And Cruz emerged as the most probable Trump alternative. That is a rock and a hard place choicefor establishment Republicans who fear Trump and hate Cruz. And it may be the only choice they have left.”
  • NYT Editorial Board: “Last summer, as Mr. Trump began to rise in the polls, party leaders took umbrage at the idea that they’d have to do something to keep the nomination from the likes of him. They stood aside and said, let voters decide. Now voters are deciding. They are leaning, in unbelievable numbers, toward a man whose quest for the presidency revolves around targeting religious and racial minorities and people with disabilities, who flirts with white supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan, who ridicules and slanders those who disagree with him.”
  • Patricia Murphy, Roll Call – “Profiles In Whatever”: “Ironically, the one way for Republican leaders to prove Trump wrong is to do what he does — to have a backbone, to show strength, to say what they really think no matter who is offended by it. But to roundly condemn a man’s words without being willing to walk away from the power he represents is just one more way they’re telling Trump’s voters he might have been right all along.”

Sampling of National Headlines:

  • Politico: “The day the Republican Party ruptured.”
  • New York Times: “As Donald Trump Rolls Up Victories, the G.O.P. Split Widens to a Chasm.”
  • Associated Press: “Clinton, Trump cemented as 2016 leaders; GOP desperate.”
  • The Hill: “Trump, Clinton cement status as 2016 front-runners with big wins.”
  • Politico: “Trump: Ryan will get along or ‘pay a big price.’”
  • Roll Call: Trump, Clinton Tighten Grip on Nominations.”
  • USA Today: “Donald Trump celebrates big wins, looks ahead to November election.”
  • Los Angeles Times: “Donald Trump starts adjusting to new role of GOP standard-bearer.”
  • Politico: “Trump’s Super Tuesday win sets off GOP alarm bells.”
  • New York Times: “Donald Trump Overwhelms G.O.P. Rivals From Alabama to Massachusetts.”
  • Boston Globe: “Trump closer to nomination after Super Tuesday.”

Sampling of Local Headlines:

  • Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton dominate Super Tuesday.”
  • Richmond Times Dispatch: “Analysis: Big turnout, Virginia win give Trump swing-state credibility.”
  • Washington Post: “Warning Signs in Virginia Primary for Republicans.”
  • El Paso Times: “El Pasoans overwhelmingly support Clinton, Cruz.”
  • Miami Herald, column: “Mr. Speaker, there’s no savior in sight for the Republican Party.”
  • Seattle Times: “Local Republicans worry Donald Trump’s rise means down-ballot disaster.”
  • Ralston Reports: “Trump Effect will continue to resonate in Nevada.”
  • KCRA: “California Republicans in ‘chaos’ over Trump’s rise.”
  • Duluth News Tribune: “Trump, Clinton score big wins on Super Tuesday.”
  • Star Tribune: “Trump extends dominance in Super Tuesday states.”
  • Detroit News: “Clinton, Trump cemented as 2016 leaders.”
  • Daily Herald: “Trump claims 7 GOP victories, extending dominance.”
  • Oakland Press: “Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump win big on Super Tuesday.”