Dirty politics
Welcome to South Carolina, where dirty tricks and brawling are how they play the game in Republican primary politics. As Lindsey Graham put it, “If you’re not ready to play, don’t come to South Carolina.” Katon Dawson, a former South Carolina GOP chair, takes it a little deeper: “People in Iowa expect the candidate to trudge through the snow, do small meetings in diners. In New Hampshire, they expect a candidate to come to their living room, sit on the sofa, have some coffee. In South Carolina, 700,000 people want to see how you take a punch.” And so it begins, with everyone swinging. Via The Washington Post.
Too late
The tragedy of the commons: The Republican establishment took too long to take on The Donald and now it may be too late. Via New York Magazine.
Donald’s Doomsday
The National Review takes the Trump win in New Hampshire a few steps further, calling it “Armageddon” for the GOP establishment.
History matters
Every Republican candidate who has a first place and second place in Iowa and New Hampshire has gone on to win the nomination. Trump now has joined Reagan, Bush Senior, W., Romney and Dole. Via The Weekly Standard.
Broken record
Looking back at Marco Rubio’s debate night disaster and how he ended up in fifth place in New Hampshire. Via The New York Times.
Who’s losing?
Jeb! makes his latest final stand against The Donald by, yes, becoming more like The Donald. Who’s the loser now? Via The Los Angeles Times.
Fade out
It’s not just the kids. How the Clintons have lost the white working-class vote. Via The New Yorker.
Black vote
Will the black vote rescue Hillary Clinton? We’ll see. But the Congressional Black Caucus PAC is doing its part by endorsing her today. Via The Washington Post.
Big money
Only Bernie Sanders could raise $5.2 million for making a speech bashing money in politics. Via Vox.
Bad ruling
The Supreme Court makes a devastating decision on Obama’s climate change rules — if, that is, you think climate change is real. But it’s not only about climate change science, it’s also about the presidential election. Via The Atlantic.
Correction 2/14/2016: This story originally stated the Congressional Black Caucus endorsed. Hillary Clinton. In reality, it was the Congressional Black Caucus PAC.
Photo credit: Michael Vadon, Creative Commons, Flickr.
