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Politics

U.S. Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Governor Kasich holds a campaign town hall meeting in Peterborough

U.S. Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Governor John Kasich holds a campaign town hall meeting in Peterborough, New Hampshire, August 11, 2015. (Photo: Reuters/Brian Snyder)

The Republican Party in the Buckeye State has broken a 64-year tradition of neutrality to stop Donald J. Trump from winning the Ohio Republican Primary on Tuesday. Ohio Gov. John Kasich has been trailing the Republican frontrunner in the average of polls for the past several weeks, leading in only one of the four polls conducted in March.

Gov. Kasich edged Mr. Trump by 5 points in a [content_tooltip id=”37989″] 34% to 29%, while he trailed by 6 in two others. However, all the polls were taken before Mr. Trump won the Michigan Republican primary and swept the South with another big win over Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in Mississippi.

Gov. Kasich has been elected nine times as a congressman and twice as governor since his political career in Ohio began, making powerful friends within the party elite. While he’s a long-shot for the Republican nomination, the plan is to keep him alive in the March 15 primary because he has the best chance to defeat Mr. Trump, which the state and national party desperately wants to do.

To do so, the party is relying on its voter turnout Tammany Hall-like machine and what Bloomberg has once referred to as a “polished” absentee and early ballot operation. The Ohio Republican Party already sent out mailers to roughly 150,000 absentee voters and Kasich’s super PAC is now giving them follow-up calls. It’s a coordinated effort no other candidate can duplicate, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

The Sunshine State Republican Party claims to be neutral, but in fact is not when you take a roll call. Still, Gov. Kasich’s operation is second to none and hopes to overcome deficiencies in border counties that fired off warning shots during the Michigan Republican Primary. Mr. Trump won a resounding victory among blocs of voters the media narrative doesn’t suggest he would’ve won, including educated and working-class voters in typically moderate border counties.

“At the end of the day, we have the apparatus to turn out the vote,” Matt Borges, the state GOP chairman said. “It’s already been working for weeks, even months, to deliver this victory for John Kasich.”

The party hasn’t taken sides in a primary election since they endorsed Robert Taft in 1952. Ohio awards its 66 delegates on a winner-take-all basis, which along with a win in Florida, would put Mr. Trump clearly in command of the nomination, something Gov. Kasich and his free-trading supporters are hoping to prevent. The governor tried to separate himself from his past record during the debate in Florida this past week, attempting to align himself with the frontrunner on “fair” trade.

But, as congressman, then-Rep. Kasich voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which cost his home state more than 122,000 jobs, many of which good-paying jobs in the manufacturing sector. He also supported TPP right up until the debate last week, something Mr. Trump is hoping to remind voters before Tuesday. It was now inserted as a staple in his speech in Ohio on Saturday, which drew some 20,000 supporters.

But Gov. Kasich has surrogates hitting every official voter function, “reaching literally thousands of surefire Republican primary voters,” says Borges. The events included 14 Lincoln Day dinners held around the state in early March, the signature local Republican party event of the primary season. “We had a Kasich surrogate at every single one of them,” says Borges. No other campaign showed.

Absentee and early ballots typically account for a third of the vote. As of March 4, more than 84,000 had been received, according to Ohio Secretary of State John Husted. “It’ll come down to whether or not enough working-class voters, including defected Democrats, overcome Gov. Kasich’s operation,” Husted said on Friday. According to PPD’s senior political analyst Richard Baris, who aggregates election data for the PPD Election Projection Model, Gov. Kasich would lose his own state if all things were equal.

“Just judging by the voting behavior of similiar demographics in Michigan, Donald Trump should win Ohio,” said Baris. “But you never want to count out the party machine, who rely on organization and favors to get out the vote. It may not be pretty or the best of us, but it works. If anyone can overcome it, it’s Trump. He won and won big in Oakland County, Macomb County and just about everywhere else you would expect Gov. Kasich to do well.”

Borges and the Ohio Republican Party remain optimistic, despite the energy, aggregate polling and past Michigan voting favoring Mr. Trump.

“At the end of the day, we have the apparatus to turn out the vote,” says Borges. “It’s already been working for weeks, even months, to deliver this victory for John Kasich.”

Donald J. Trump leads Gov. John Kasich on the PPD average of Ohio Republican Primary polls by 2.5%.

The state Republican Party has broken a

Polls

Ben-Carson-Donald-Trump-FL

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson endorsed his former rival and Republican frontrunner Donald J. Trump at a news conference in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 11, 2016. (Photo: AP)

The window is quickly closing on the argument that another rival can beat the Republican frontrunner head-to-head in upcoming state primary contests. In a new [content_tooltip id=”37972″] poll conducted for High Point University, Donald J. Trump leads Texas Sen. Ted Cruz 48% to 28% in the North Carolina Republican Primary.

Among voters who say “experience” is most important in a candidate, Sen. Cruz leads Mr. Trump by 24 points. However, this is just about the only category in which the Texas senator and closest rival has an edge over the frontrunner.

Among voters who say “new ideas” are most important in a candidate, Mr. Trump holds a commanding 44-point lead over Sen. Cruz. Voters who have confidence in the public’s ability to make intelligent decisions back Mr. Trump by a whopping 39%. That’s a particularly interesting result considering conservatism, the ideology at the core of the Republican Party espouses just that idea. Of course, Sen. Cruz has tried to cast himself as the standard-bearer of conservatism in the race against a man he says is a billionaire liberal New Yorker.

But, as we’ve seen, Mr. Trump has locked down key voting blocs are that pivotal to Sen. Cruz’s path to the nomination.

“For all the talk about who is the real conservative in the race for the Republican nomination, it is Donald Trump who has received the larger share of self-identified conservatives overall,” said PPD senior political analyst Richard Baris. “Whether the contest was open or closed to independent voters, it hasn’t mattered much. That is hype, as well. The over-performance of Sen. Ted Cruz in a caucus versus a primary is the real reason for the disparity, which is largely due to his organization.”

Among voters who have little or no confidence in the public’s ability to make intelligent decisions, Trump leads by 5 points. Among voters who are “frustrated,” Trump leads by 8 points. Among voters who are “angry,” Trump leads by 30 points. Among evangelicals, Trump leads by 15. Among non-evangelicals, Trump leads by 28. Trump leads in every region of the state. Cruz runs second in every region of the state. John Kasich runs 3rd in a GOP Primary today, with 12%. Marco Rubio runs 4th, at 8%.

The North Carolina Republican Primary (PPD Average: Trump + 11.8) is one of several contests on Tuesday, March 15. North Carolina allocates 72 delegates on a proportional basis, while Missouri awards 52 delegates on a hybrid winner-take-most basis. However, the Ohio (66 delegates), Illinois (69 delegates) and Florida (99 delegates) award on a winner-take-all. Donald Trump leads on the PPD average of polls in every single state, though polls are tight and home state favorite Gov. Kasich may pull out a win in the Buckeye State.

In a new SurveyUSA poll conducted for

Editorials

CNN-Republican-Debate-Florida

Republican presidential candidates, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., from left, Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, stand together during the signing of the National Anthem, before the start of the Republican presidential debate sponsored by CNN, Salem Media Group and the Washington Times at the University of Miami, Thursday, March 10, 2016, in Coral Gables, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

The editorial board at the South Florida-based Sun Sentinel has decided not to endorse a Republican candidate in the Florida primary. It’s the first time they’ve made such a decision in five presidential election cycles.

They claimed it was because “the kind of person who should be running is not in the race.” Essentially, they argued Donald Trump, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz are unqualified and unfit to be and run for president of the United States.

Let us be very clear. The Sun Sentinel editorial board is a total joke. They obviously lack the professional and personal ethics to put forward an intellectually sound argument that demonstrates they have the courage of their blatantly partisan convictions.

“Cruz scares us. He also should scare Republicans who want to win in November. Cruz has not earned your vote,” the editorial said.

What scares them, exactly? They couldn’t come up with and put forward a single issue that causes them such trepidation aside from electability?

Yet, they find nothing terrifying about the ongoing electoral success a socialist has had in the Democratic Party primary? Socialism, along with other statist systems of government, murdered over 262 million human beings in the 20th century, alone. It’s called democide. Google it. They all rose to power with the same set of promises Sen. Bernie Sanders and other leftwing radicals hijacking the Democratic Party have made.

But Ted Cruz is scary? Let us remind our media friends that–in those statist, leftwing governments Sen. Sanders has praised over the decades–journalists were always the first to be lined up against the wall.

The editorial board at the Sun Sentinel finds nothing scary about a woman who exposes the most damaging national security secrets to Russia, China and other adversarial nation-states for the sake of her own convenience and privacy? There’s nothing scary about a woman who looks into the eyes of a mother who lost her son in service to our nation, and lies to her face?

We suppose not. We suppose the editorial board at the Sun Sentinel believes Mrs. Clinton, a proven and known serial liar who once claimed she came under sniper fire in Bosnia, over a grieving mother. Pat Smith is a victim of a president’s and wanna-be president’s electoral ambitions, the latter of whom they find fit for the Office of the President.

The same paper that endorsed Barack Obama in 2008 dismissed a wildly successful albeit bombastic businessman as unfit for the same office political hacks have occupied for decades. Donald J. Trump isn’t fit for the Office of the President but a junior senator from Illinois with zero life accomplishments was prepared to be the leader of the free world? A man with no record of excellence–but not Donald J. Trump–was suited to run the largest apparatus in the world?

Speaking of Mr. Obama, who the editorial board endorsed in 2008, he may very well be the only other senator we could find with a worse attendance record in the U.S. Senate than Marco Rubio. We have our own problems with Sen. Rubio, primarily consisting of not keeping his promise to voters to oppose amnesty. But the Sun Sentinel actually cites his retreat from the Gang of Eight as a negative and conveniently–or dishonestly–overlooked their hypocritical criticism of Sen. Rubio’s attendance record.

Florida Republican primary voters might have assumed the same paper that endorsed liberal former Gov. Mitt Romney would continue with their trend and choose Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Unfortunately, according to them, voting for Gov. Kasich is a waste of your vote. He didn’t build a Florida ground operation sufficient enough to impress the intellectuals on the editorial board, largely because he isn’t funded and controlled by Wall Street like their gal.

Readers should just overlook that, too.

The Sun Sentinel has actually done us a service here. They have reminded us why PPD was founded and underscored why the anger among the electorate is actually rational, justified anger.

Voters, particularly Republican primary voters, are sick and tired of intellectually feeble editorials, the defense of policy that doesn’t serve their interests and the incestuous relationship between power-brokers and their media acolytes.

We wouldn’t recommend spending another dime in support of this publication.

The editorial board at the Sun Sentinel,

Politics

AP_carson_trump

Dr. Ben Carson, left, shakes hands with Donald Trump, right, during a Republican debate in Ohio. (Photo: AP)

PALM BEACH, FL: Dr. Ben Carson, the former children’s neurosurgeon and candidate, endorsed frontrunner Donald J. Trump in Palm Beach, Florida on Friday with a message of unity. Carson, calling out the media for distorting people’s character, said he has come to know a very different Donald Trump than the man or candidate portrayed on television.

“There’s a lot more alignment spiritually and philosophically than I ever expected,” Dr. Carson said. “I think the American people, as they begin to see more of this ”

Dr. Carson slammed the Republican Party elites and Establishment for holding secret meetings to plot to take down their own party frontrunner. He said it would be a grave mistake to “thwart the will of the people.” He asked the media to due their part by taking their individual role as an American first seriously.

“We cannot allow the agents of division to separate us,” he added. “As a nation, our strength is our unity.”

“Donald Trump talks about making America Great. But he doesn’t just talk about it,” Dr. Carson said. “He means it.”

“It’s such an honor to have Ben. I really respect Ben and appreciate his endorsement,” Mr. Trump said.

Worth noting, Dr. Carson said two “big picture” factors in his decision was 1) what would happen if the elites “succeed in their effort to stop Donald Trump. It would fracture the party reputably and hand the election to Hillary Clinton.” And 2) Donald “Trump is willing to do what is necessary to break the stranglehold, the backs of the political class.”

Dr. Carson also said he has “completely forgiven” Sen. Cruz for cheating him out of votes in Iowa by falsely telling caucus-goers he dropped out of the race.

PALM BEACH, FL: Dr. Ben Carson, the

Politics

CNN-Republican-Debate-Florida

Republican presidential candidates, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., from left, Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, stand together during the signing of the National Anthem, before the start of the Republican presidential debate sponsored by CNN, Salem Media Group and the Washington Times at the University of Miami, Thursday, March 10, 2016, in Coral Gables, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

The remaining GOP presidential candidates chose to focus on issues over insults during the final debate hosted by CNN before winner-take-all contests on March 15. However, frontrunner Donald J. Trump and his closest rival Texas Sen. Ted Cruz did make clear that they were the only two candidates remaining on the stage with a mathematical path to the nomination.

Mr. Trump, for anyone who has read “The Art of the Deal,” obviously thought it was time for the “handshake” and to close the deal. The GOP frontrunner took a presidential tone and refused to open his answering remarks with an attack on one of his opponents, as did Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Sen. Cruz on the other hand sought to draw a contrast with the frontrunner ahead of the delegate-rich winner-take-all contests on March 15.

“I think, frankly, the Republican establishment, or whatever you want to call it, should embrace what’s happening,” Trump said in his opening remarks.

“There are only two of us who have a path to winning the nomination — Donald and myself,” Cruz said, while also jokingly referring to Trump as the “son of a businessman.”

But Trump didn’t take the bait.

“That is not meant to be a criticism … that’s just a mathematical fact,” Mr. Trump said, urging the party to “be smart and unify.”

Donald-Trump-CNN-Republican-Debate-FL

“So far I cannot believe how civil it’s been up here,” Mr. Trump said after a mild exchange with Sen. Ted Cruz over alleged flip-flops in his positions on ethanol and immigration. (Photo: AP)

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus sought to set the tone and silence increased chatter concerning party division. Introducing the program on the debate stage Thursday, he said the party will get behind the eventual nominee no matter who that may be.

“We are going to support the nominee of our party, whoever it is, 100 percent,” Priebus said. After all, he implored, wouldn’t any of the Republican candidates “be a world better than Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders?”

Noteworthy: Immigration Exchange

“I know the H1-B very well. We shouldn’t have it, it’s very, very bad for workers,” Mr. Trump said during the Republican debate at Miami University. He added as an employer, he’s used the program, but in reality it doesn’t benefit U.S. workers.

“It’s unfair to our workers and we should end it,” Mr. Trump said, saying the program should be evaluated and ended if needed within one to two years after he takes office.

Sen. Cruz also now agreed with Mr. Trump on the problem of immigration, stating the system needed to be reformed to work for the American people. Ohio Gov. John Kasich stood out as the only candidate who still openly supports a pathway to citizenship.

“We need to redefine our legal immigration system, so that it meets the needs of the American people,” Mr. Cruz said. “Right now we’re bringing in too many low skilled workers and what that’s doing is driving down the wages of hard working Americans.”

Sen. Cruz recommended building a wall along the Mexican border, tripling the border control and end sanctuary cities by cutting off taxpayer to any city that doesn’t obey federal immigration laws.

Trade Policy

Exit polls have shown that one of the non-Trump candidates have won the final week in the campaign in most states. However, Mr. Trump has won the last seven months. Trade, which the Establishment on both sides of the aisle has ignored, has risen to the level of top issue. Despite their past positions, the frontrunner’s rivals sought to catch up align themselves with the “fair” trade banner rather than free trade.

Kasich, eying Ohio voters in his home state, flipped on his support for free trade agreements in the past. While serving as congressman, Gov. Kasich supported NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). He also supported TPP in prior statements. But Kasich changed his message in light of Trump’s successful populist appeals.

“My position has always been, we want to have free trade, but fair trade,” Kasich said.

Mr. Trump leads by double-digits on the PPD average of Florida Republican Primary polls, while he holds a much smaller lead over John Kasich in Ohio. Kasich, though trailing, has the Ohio Republican Party on his side, breaking a tradition of neutrality they have held since 1952.

The remaining GOP presidential candidates chose to

Video

Charles Krauthammer said on “The Kelly File” that rivals missed an opportunity to derail the Trump Train during the CNN Republican debate and were “out of bullets.” The People’s Pundit echoed Krauthammer’s sentiment following the debate.

The kind of thing that would have been needed, to slow down the Trump train, simply didn’t happen tonight.

It looked as if they took the same advice, perhaps the pressure of the media, perhaps when Rubio spoke with you, Megyn, when yesterday, when he said he regretted having taking his attacks a little bit too far. They thought it was hurting them. It wasn’t necessarily hurting Trump. I think the only hope for these candidates, starting from about a couple weeks ago was to go after Trump himself, to go after the weak elements in his past, they tried that in the last two debates, and decided it wasn’t working. So we got a lot of words. We got a lot of, you know, substantive, to some extent, but there wasn’t anything really new here. And if you’re Cruz, particularly if you’re Rubio or Kasich, I think it was an opportunity missed…

You get the impression watching them, that these guys on the stage, the Trump opponents, had run out of bullets. They tried it soft, in the early debates, trying to best him on policy, which they do. These guys know their stuff thoroughly. They’re very eloquent. They’ve been in these debates for decades. Trump is new to it. That was very evident in the early debates. But it didn’t hurt Trump.

So, a month ago or so they decided they’re going to try it another way, they’re going to go after him, his weaknesses, make it personal, get in there, in the trenches, and they concluded, I suspect, from watching tonight, that’s not going to work, either.

So they’re now reverting. The problem is is that the train is moving. At the beginning of this campaign, it was a reasonable strategy to say I can do better on substance. I’ll try it, and perhaps, I’ll get ahead, but that didn’t work.

So I don’t know what their strategy is.

Charles Krauthammer said The Donald's rivals missed

Opinion

Ted-Cruz-Marco-Rubio-Fox-Google-debate-Iowa

Ted Cruz, left, and Marco Rubio, right, argue over immigration during the Fox News/Google debate in Iowa on Thursday, January 28, 2016. (Photo: FOX News)

I appealed to Donald Trump supporters to consider voting for Ted Cruz, and I now make the same request of Marco Rubio supporters.

I must emphasize that my primary motivation is to advance conservatism, not to defeat Trump, though the two might be more similar than dissimilar.

The remedy for what ails America is full-throated conservatism, not a smattering of populist ideas — no matter how forcefully implemented — and Cruz represents the best opportunity we’ve had in decades for effecting conservative solutions.

Admittedly, a union of Cruz and Rubio supporters would be tricky because Cruz is anti-establishment and Rubio remains the de facto establishment candidate, despite John Kasich’s increased visibility.

This is an overwhelmingly anti-establishment year, as seen by the combined vote totals of Trump and Cruz. The Trump phenomenon is real, and it has arisen out of the anguished cries of his anti-establishment supporters, which are legitimate. Washington hasn’t been listening, much less responding, to the people’s concerns.

Even if you disagree that anti-establishment sentiment is justified or reject the very notion of “establishment,” surely you’ll concede that a large group of Republican primary voters disagrees with you and intends to do something about it. It’s too late in this primary campaign for you to dissuade them.

Cruz supporters are staunch constitutional conservatives, and most are also anti-establishment because they believe that the GOP establishment hasn’t fought hard enough to block President Obama’s agenda and has sometimes enabled it. Cruz would be taking a risk to unify with Rubio at this point, because Trump supporters would claim that it proves Trump is the only bona fide outsider in the race. They would paint it as a sellout, especially on the important immigration issue.

But even if Cruz went so far as to select Rubio as his running mate, it wouldn’t be a sellout. As president, Cruz would set executive policy. This is also true of the other major issue on which they differ — foreign policy. While Rubio’s foreign policy is more proactive than Cruz’s, Cruz is far from an isolationist and would vigorously protect our interests at home and abroad, first by rebuilding the military. Throughout history, presidential candidates have picked running mates who haven’t perfectly aligned with them on policy.

How about from Rubio’s perspective? Well, both he and his supporters have said that he is nearly as conservative as Cruz and that he’s certainly not for open borders. They insist that even if there was a great difference between him and Cruz on immigration before, that gap has significantly narrowed. And I believe the foreign policy hawks in Rubio’s camp could comfortably live with Cruz’s approach — particularly compared with Trump’s.

Rubio supporters reject the idea that Marco is establishment or centrist in any way. They say he’s a 97 percent conservative and resent the claim that Cruz is the only true conservative in the field. Throughout the budget battles during the past several years, Cruz’s GOP opponents, many of whom are now Rubio supporters, have said that their differences with Cruz and the conservative “firebrands” in Congress are more about strategy than policy. I have expressed my skepticism about that before, but now is a good time to put that to the test. If they really just disagree with Cruz’s tactics and even have thought he has been grandstanding, surely they can put those concerns aside and support Cruz because he is the last best chance to advance conservative ideas they say they believe in.

This campaign has been especially strident from both sides as each of the candidates has challenged the other’s integrity. The tension between their supporters has been palpable. If the candidates are big enough to mutually forgive for the good of the nation, surely their supporters should follow suit.

How about concerns that Cruz wouldn’t be able to work with Congress? Well, if Cruz is elected on presenting the most unambiguous conservative message in years, he will have a mandate to push his conservative solutions through Congress, many of whose members will have been elected with the same message. The climate for advancing an unapologetically conservative agenda under a Cruz presidency would be dramatically different from the one Cruz has encountered under Obama’s presidency. Also, I assume Rubio supporters would consider Rubio a great asset in a Cruz administration because he could help bridge gaps and build coalitions.

Trump boasts that he is building the Republican Party by bringing in new constituencies, and we should applaud that — but not at the expense of losing our bearings. What is the point of expanding a party if, in the process, the party’s platform becomes incoherent? The point of a party is to advance ideas, not the other way around. We mustn’t lose sight of that.

Rubio may be hanging on to the hope that he can turn the tide, but I can’t see how that is remotely realistic. I hope he will withdraw soon and urge his supporters to back Cruz. I have no idea whether they can ever formally join together in a unity ticket, but for the reasons I’ve stated, I am quite open to the possibility.
In the meantime, I urge Cruz supporters and Rubio supporters not to attack and further alienate each other. We each sincerely believe in our respective causes.

Let’s remember that the primary agents of destruction are Obama and his leftist colleagues and causes. Let’s bury the hatchet for the good of this nation, for which conservatism is the only answer.

[mybooktable book=”the-emmaus-code-finding-jesus-in-the-old-testament” display=”summary” buybutton_shadowbox=”true”]

I appealed to Donald Trump supporters to

Video

[brid video=”29955″ player=”2077″ title=”Corey Lewandowski Ending Trump’s Jupiter Press Conference”]

Corey Lewandowski, campaign manager for Donald J. Trump, came under fire after Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields alleged he assaulted her after his victory press conference in Jupiter, Florida last Tuesday.

Ms. Fields claims that Mr. Lewandowski assaulted her after Mr. Trump stopped answering questions from reporters on the ground. He had come out from behind the podium and was briefly taking questions. He is Michelle Fields, who also claims she “never sought to be part of the story,” “in her own words”:

I wasn’t called upon to ask a question during the televised press conference, but afterwards Trump wandered around, stopping at every reporter to take their questions. When he approached me, I asked him about his view on an aspect of affirmative action.

Trump acknowledged the question, but before he could answer I was jolted backwards. Someone had grabbed me tightly by the arm and yanked me down. I almost fell to the ground, but was able to maintain my balance. Nonetheless, I was shaken.

The Washington Post’s Ben Terris immediately remarked that it was Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who aggressively tried to pull me to the ground. I quickly turned around and saw Lewandowski and Trump exiting the building together. No apology. No explanation for why he did this.

Even if Trump was done taking questions, Lewandowski would be out of line.

Indeed. We agree. But Fields is clearly suggesting that the incident occurred when “Trump was done taking questions.” Well, that’s what the video depicts and there is no such incident. Further, the question that is audible in the video depicting the moment they move to exit the room isn’t even about affirmative action, it’s about party unity. Listen closely. Ms. Fields doesn’t appear to be in the proximity of the footage or Mr. Lewandowski at the time he moves Mr. Trump toward the exit.

Politico, the leftwing D.C. insider website, published a transcript of what they described as a “roughly two and a half minute audio recording of the incident.” The report claims–“while not definitive”–it supports Ms. Field’s version of events.

We have requested the actual audio recording but have not received a response.

UPDATE: HERE IS THE ACTUAL AUDIO

The Washington Post’s Ben Terris, who consequently Mr. Trump has called a “dishonest reporter” and “a real creep,” claimed to have witnessed the assault. In an unrelated article on The Post, he briefly mentioned the incident, which apparently no other reporter can verify or has verified. When People’s Pundit Daily numbers-cruncher Richard Baris offered to put him in touch with the Jupiter Police Department if he was willing to make a statement, he heard no response.

In fact, he was attacked on Twitter by Fields’ supporters for simply suggesting she should call the police if her story is true. In America, people are “innocent until proven guilty,” but too often we are indicted, tried and convicted by a dishonest media with an agenda. While Breitbart News has been consistently described by Politico and The Washington Post as a pro-Trump or Trump-friendly organization, in truth it is rather split between Sen. Ted Cruz and Mr. Trump.

Maybe it happened and this very short video didn’t catch the incident. Then again, maybe it didn’t. Mr. Terris has a Twitter timeline filled with anti-Trump content–anti-Republican for that matter–that’s more than sufficient to raise an eyebrow. But Fields herself has a bit of a checkered history with the truth and stunt-pulling. That in no way shape or form excuses assault, but it does serve as a reminder that we have a justice system and law enforcement investigations for a reason.

Townhall, an anti-Trump conservative news outlet and website, published a report claiming a “source” told them Mr. Lewandowski admitted to the alleged assault. Publicly, however, he said Ms. Fields was an “attention seeker.” He tweeted out a series of articles calling her credibility into question, including We’re Calling Bullshit on Michelle Fields, which was written by Charles C. Johnson, who knows Ms. Fields and has quite the story to tell. He’s currently offering a reward for proof.

“I’m a supporter of Ted Cruz,” Mr. Johnson said. “I’ve even bet on him to win the election and primary, but I’m not going to allow a serial liar control the discussion of what happened.”

Video later surfaced of this alleged incident, as well, and it did not depict her getting beaten by the police with batons. Further, Ms. Fields once claimed that Lt. Colonel Allen West, a conservative icon and former Florida congressman, groped her. However, when pressed by Mr. Johnson, she retracted and went radio silent. Worth noting, Mr. Johnson still believes Lt. Colonel West is guilty of such conduct, just not regarding Ms. Fields, whom he basically called unstable.

We’re not making a call either way nor is our intention to smear a potential victim’s character. We’re are, however, reminding people of our principles and attempting to shine light on another piece of the story, whether someone wants to be a part of it or not.

Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields alleged Trump

Politics

ted-cruz-mike-lee-split

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), left, endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for the Republican nomination for president on Thursday, March 10, 2016. (Photo: Getty Images)

Utah Sen. Mike Lee on Thursday endorsed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for president in Florida and urged the state’s senator, Marco Rubio, to drop out of the race. The endorsement marks the first the Texas senator has received from his colleagues in the upper chamber.

Lee, who has not endorsed until today, is considered to be one of Cruz’s only allies in the Senate, but has campaigned for both Cruz and Marco Rubio. But when asked by reporters if he had spoken with Sen. Rubio and if he would request he unite behind Sen. Cruz, the Utah senator boldly called on Sen. Rubio to drop out of the race in his own backyard.

The development comes just days before the Florida Republican primary that awards 99 delegates on a winner-take-all basis on Tuesday, March 15. Frontrunner Donald J. Trump leads the junior senator and the field in the Sunshine State by 14.8% on the PPD average of polls. In a new FOX Poll and Quinnipiac University Poll, Mr. Trump holds a larger 23-point lead.

“Even if Sen. Rubio drops out before the contest on Tuesday, it is very unlikely Sen. Cruz can take Florida away from Mr. Trump,” said PPD’s senior political analyst Richard Baris. “First, there are thousands if not more votes already in the bank for Sen. Rubio from the early vote. Second, Mr. Trump doesn’t have the same image problems in Florida that he will have to contend with moving forward. The aggregate data show he would defeat Sen. Cruz even in a 1-on-1 in this state.”

Still, for Sen. Cruz to have a chance to catch Mr. Trump, which Baris says is still possible, the field would need to get to a one-on-one, and soon.

“We don’t talk about the big delegate, winner-take-all states coming up where Sen. Cruz will not perform well in,” Baris added. “But the best he can hope to do is stop Mr. Trump from getting to the magic number to secure the nomination. If he wins Ohio, too, it’s all over.”

Utah Sen. Mike Lee on Thursday endorsed

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