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No, he won’t win the Republican nomination for president, and no, his rambling announcement-day speeches (Mexico? Free trade? China?) won’t help him get taken much more seriously. But there’s a slice of voters, not insignificant in the Republican primary race, who despise Washington and politicians more broadly. Every candidate likes to try to channel that, but none bring the bluster that Trump does. (Tuesday night in Des Moines, he blasted Jeb Bush as a poor dresser, and said he had better hair than Marco Rubio.) Trump is a sideshow, but one whose act will spill on to the main stage, particularly if he earns a debate invitation or three. His candidacy may be a giant joke. But don’t forget there are voters who want to laugh, and hard, at the entire political process.
— Rick Klein, on ABC News.
It’s tempting to feel a little sorry for the Republican Party. Here they were, trying to have a perfectly civil and sober primary campaign to determine their candidate for the presidency, when along comes Donald Trump. … Here’s the problem, though: Donald Trump is the essence of contemporary Republicanism. It’s a distilled essence, boiled down to a viscous and sour consistency. But if you want to know what Republicans believe and who they are, you don’t need to look much further. He’s a walking caricature, but it’s a caricature created from everything Republicans believe.
— Paul Waldman, in The Week.
17%
Scott Walker’s lead over the GOP presidential field, followed by Jeb Bus at 15%, Marco Rubio at 13%, Ben Carson at 12%, Mike Huckabee at 11%, Ted Cruz at 8%, Rand Paul at 8%, Carly Fiorina at 5%, and Chris Christie at 4%, a new Public Policy Polling survey finds. “Small though the lead may be, this is the fourth consecutive national survey we’ve done where we found Walker out in front.”
I’m really rich…that’s the kind of thinking you need for this country. It sounds crass, it’s not crass… We have the opposite thinking. We have losers. We have people that don’t have it. We have people that are morally corrupt.
— Donald Trump, quoted by Politico.
10 points
Hillary Clinton’s lead over Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential race is 41% to 31%, according to a new Suffolk University poll in New Hampshire. Said pollster David Paleologos: “Most political observers felt that Hillary Clinton’s large early lead among Democratic voters would eventually shrunk a bit over time. But in New Hampshire right now, the lead has shrunk a lot, and this is a much different Democratic primary race than we are seeing in other states so far.”
81%
Of those enrolled in ObamaCare plans are satisfied with their health insurance,The Hill reports. “The survey from the Commonwealth Fund, a health research group, found that 45 percent of people enrolled through ObamaCare’s marketplaces are “somewhat satisfied,” and 36 percent are “very satisfied.” Fifteen percent are not satisfied. ObamaCare also expanded Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor, in states that agreed to accept the expansion — 29 so far. The survey finds that 93 percent of people enrolled in Medicaid are satisfied with their plans.”
567%
Of Republicans have an unfavorable view of Trump, according to an average of the three most recent polls, according to FiveThirtyEight. “That beats former record holder Pat Buchanan, who had a 43 percent unfavorable rating at this point in the 2000 election cycle.1 Buchanan, of course, ended up running as an independent.”
