No show
If, in fact, the Donald actually skips the Fox News debate tonight, he is taking a huge gamble that could turn into one of the all-time unforced errors in political history. Or it could, in the way it always seems to, turn into one more Trumpian stroke of genius. Or something. Via Slate.
Who loses?
How did Fox News and Trump get themselves into this situation — and which one has more to lose? Via The Washington Post.
Conservative crackup
Is the long-predicted “conservative crack-up” finally here? Jonah Goldberg writes in The National Review that today may be closer than a day away.
Now what?
David Frum writes in The Atlantic that Republican elites thought they could bring down Trump by saying he’s not a principled conservative and then, if that didn’t work, by saying it louder. Now what?
Going negative
The question for Bernie Sanders: Will he or won’t he? He and his advisers are struggling whether to go negative against — OK, contrasting with — Hillary Clinton in the final days before the Iowa caucuses. Via The New York Times.
Strange meeting
Sanders and Obama meet. No photos. No lunch. But it was a 45-minute sit down that seemed only to remind people that Obama is privately favoring Clinton. Via Politico.
Occupiers leaving
It appears that the remaining armed occupiers of the Oregon wildlife refuge are beginning to leave in the aftermath of the confrontation with law enforcement that led to one death. Via The Oregonian.
American growth
“The Rise and Fall of American Growth” is an important, compelling book that challenges our assumptions on whether the American economy is destined to always keep growing. It’s also 762 pages. If you want the short version, read Paul Krugman’s review. Via The New York Times.
Lightning rod
And our Super Bowl update: When Carolina QB Cam Newton was asked why he is sometimes a lightning rod for criticism, he gave an answer that he knew would be a lightning rod for criticism: “I’m an African-American quarterback that may scare a lot of people because they haven’t seen nothing that they can compare me to.” Via The Charlotte Observer.
Photo credit: Michael Vadon, Creative Commons, Flickr.
