2016 and Onward: A New American Century

[Coolface Sock #42069]

FEBRUARy 20, 2016

JOE SCARBOROUGH: Welcome back from our commercial break. Breaking news: During those commercials, we received word from our election personnel that we can now project a winner in the nation's second primary. Months of diligent campaigning  have paid off for Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who gets 32 delegates in the Palmetto State, the biggest prize to date. This vaults Rubio into second place behind only Scott Walker and is the big break his languishing campaign had sought.

✓ Marco Rubio 23%
Rand Paul 22%
Scott Walker 17%
Chris Christie 10%
Lindsey Graham 8%
Ben Carson 8%
Jeb Bush 7%
Donald Trump 5%

SCARBOROUGH: Here with us to discuss the current state of the election is Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, one of the Republican Party's most influential statesmen. Senator, we brought you in to discuss the coming year's farm subsidy fight, but would you give us your thoughts on the current state of the GOP field following Senator Rubio's win?

GRASSLEY: As you know, I endorsed Scott Walker in January, and I continue to believe he has the best chance of being the nominee. Marco has always been a viable candidate, however, and the disappointment that has been the Bush campaign to date removes his biggest obstacle, which has always been the prospect of losing in his home state. I imagine Bush will concentrate resources there to try to make a resurgence, since losing there would spell the end of his campaign.

GRASSLEY: The big thing you've overlooked is that Senator Rubio's win makes Senator Tim Scott seem like more of a kingmaker, and I predict that his influence will continue to grow.

[Coolface Sock #42069]

SOUTH CAROLINA - AFTERMATH

Sen. Marco Rubio delivers victory speech in Greenville, South Carolina

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Friends, volunteers, and supporters of my campaign, thank you all for being here tonight. On this day, South Carolina has sent a message to Washington that we no longer can afford the luxury of waiting around. We need a strong leader to defeat the Islamic State, and we need it now!

RUBIO: I'd like to congratulate Senator Rand Paul on a very close finish. Senator Paul finished within a point of us, and he could just as easily have come out on top.

RUBIO: I remain very confident in my chances in the next state, Nevada, where I spent part of my childhood. But for now, thank you all for your support and for moving us one step closer to the start of a new American century.

[Coolface Sock #42069]

Carson, Graham, Kasich drop out

Ben Carson, Lindsey Graham, and John Kasich have all dropped out of the race this morning, each citing low support in South Carolina as the main reason. Carson has endorsed Scott Walker, while Graham has endorsed Jeb Bush and Kasich has endorsed Chris Christie. This winnows the field down to six candidates ahead of Tuesday's Nevada primary.

Chrisrie is now the prohibitive favorite in Kasich's home state of Ohio, home to 63 delegates.

The state of Nevada is home to four kingmakers, the most important of whom is 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Romney has not made an endorsement yet, but Walker and Rubio are thought to be the frontrunners for that endorsement.

Other influential Nevada figures include Gov. Brian Sandoval (endorsed Bush), Sen. Dean Heller (Rubio) and US Rep. and 2016 Senate candidate Joe Heck, who has not yet made an endorsement.

[Coolface Sock #42069]

FEBRUARY 22, 2016

US Rep. Joe Heck will not be making an endorsement ahead of tomorrow's Nevada Republican primary, sources say. This follows Mitt Romney's interview with Sean Hannity yesterday in which Romney stated that he, too, will decline to make an endorsement.

Many are surprised at Romney's decision after his comments last year that new leadership and ideas are needed in the Republican Party.

This year's Republican presidential primary has been without a clear leader so far, a sharp contrast from the scene in Iowa after conservatives seemed to be uniting behind Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, followed by a Walker win in New Hampshire. But Walker finished third in South Carolina. As it stands now, the field is down to five candidates, three in the "top tier" (Walker, Rubio, and Sen. Rand Paul), two in the "lower tier" who could still plausibly win (Chris Christie and Jeb Bush), and one, Donald Trump, who has far more money than support. Paul narrowly missed a win in South Carolina and sorely needs a victory. Christie and Bush have yet to place in the top two in a state but have earned a few delegates a piece.

For the first time, all five candidates seem to be making a big push for votes in Nevada.

Real Clear Politics Recent Polling - Nevada GOP Primary

2/16 YouGov: Rubio + 2
2/16 Rasmussen: Walker + 3
2/16 Fox News: Walker + 1
2/17 PPP: Paul + 1
2/17 Quinnipiac: Walker + 1
2/18 ABC News/WSJ: Walker + 3
2/19 Gravis Marketing: Trump + 10
2/19 Rasmussen: Walker + 1
2/19 Fox News: Walker + 2
2/19 NBC News/Marist: Paul + 1

Real Clear Politics Recent Polling - Nevada Democratic Primary

2/16 Fox News: Clinton + 20
2/18 PPP: Clinton + 22
2/18 Gravis: Sanders + 2
2/19 ABC/WSJ: Clinton + 19

[Coolface Sock #42069]

Carly Fiorina drops out of 2016 presidential primary

After briefly considering making a push for a resurgence in Nevada, which borders her native California, Carly Fiorina has decided against such a strategy and has chosen instead to drop out of the race.

FIORINA: I thank you, each and every one of you, for your support in this long, hard journey.

[cheers]

FIORINA: While we have failed to gain traction, I believe we have spread a great message of small government, personal responsibility, and Republican leadership. We will continue to spread this message.

FIORINA: When the primary comes around, the most important priority for voters must be this: Choose a leader under whom there will be zero growth in government, period. In years past, government has steadily grown under Democratic and Republican administrations. It is critical that we allow this no longer. Today, I am endorsing the leader who I believe is best equipped to deliver on this goal: a highly successful chief executive who fought the big government interests and won, who fought cronyism and won, and who can also fight our enemies and win. This man's name is Scott Walker, and he will make a phenomenal president.

[speech continues]

[Coolface Sock #42069]

FEBRUARY 23, 2016

BRET BAIER: Welcome back to Special Report. The polls closed about 15 minutes ago in the Nevada presidential primaries, and we can now project a winner on the Democratic side. Hillary Clinton has sustained a surprisingly strong performance by former Virginia Senator Jim Webb in Nevada's rural counties to pull out a 15-point win. Clinton used the Democratic strategy of running up large margins in urban counties, in this case Las Vegas's Clark County, to overpower the rest of the state.

BAIER: Jim Webb, though he did not win, is seeing new life in his campaign, and he delivered this speech to supporters in Pahrump a few minutes ago.

FORMER SEN. JIM WEBB: Ladies and gentlemen, though we lost today, rural Nevadans have spoken with a loud voice that our party's current policy of running up large margins in urban counties and ignoring all other areas must stop. If unsuccessful, it leaves votes on the table. If successful, it amounts to disenfranchisement.

WEBB: Either way, our continued participation in this strategy is unnecessarily alienating voters who agree with our basic economic message: that large corporations wield too much power over our economy, power that must be returned to the people!

[Coolface Sock #42069]

NEVADA DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY MAP

✓ Hillary Clinton 47%
Jim Webb 32%
Joe Biden 15%
Lincoln Chafee 4%
Bernie Sanders 1%

[Coolface Sock #42069]

DEMOCRATIC DELEGATE COUNT

Hillary Clinton 113
Jim Webb 17
Bernie Sanders 15
Joe Biden 3

Reporters have begun coalescing around a narrative: Democrats are split in three parts: a small moderate/conservative remnant, who voted Jim Webb (and some of whom will likely vote GOP if anyone else is nominated); a far-left group who has voted for openly socialist Bernie Sanders and may not vote in the general if he is not nominated; and mainstream liberals, a mostly minority-based constituency that has gone heavily for Hillary Clinton.

Lincoln Chafee has fought for the allegience of the far left to no avail; Joe Biden appears to be destined to the same fate in his effort to woo the party establishment.

[Coolface Sock #42069]

MEGYN KELLY: Welcome back. Earlier this evening, the major networks called the Democratic primary in Nevada for Hillary Clinton. Now, we're ready to call the Republican side as well.

KELLY: The Silver State goes to the man who campaigned on not growing up with the silver spoon, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. The Wisconsin Governor won the state by approximately a seven-point margin over his nearest challenger, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who again has had a strong finish but failed to pull out the win. Paul has pulled together a coalition of blacks and young whites but has yet to see that coalition pull him to victory.

✓ Scott Walker 35%
Rand Paul 28%
Marco Rubio 20%
Jeb Bush 10%
Chris Christie 5%
Write-ins 1% (mostly Brian Sandoval)

DELEGATE COUNT
Scott Walker 45
Marco Rubio 38
Rand Paul 19
Jeb Bush 10
Chris Christie 4

KELLY: As you can see, this race is still extremely tight, particularly between the top two candidates, Walker and Sen. Marco Rubio, who came in with the wind at his back following his big win in South Carolina.

[Coolface Sock #42069]

MARCH 1, 2016

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Fellow Americans, welcome to ABC News's special coverage of the biggest day in this year's presidential primary: Super Tuesday. Historically, in each party, many candidates begin this day with a good chance to become their party's nominee, but by the time the day ends, the nomination is often all but sealed.

STEPHANOPOULOS: This year, Democrat Hillary Clinton will look to the diverse mix of Southern states available to her today to break the race for the Democratic nomination against openly socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders from Vermont wide open after losing to Sanders in New Hampshire last month.

LATEST POLLING - DEMOCRATS

Rasmussen (TX): Clinton + 17
PPP (AL): Clinton + 28
Talk Business (AR): Clinton + 19
Quinnipiac (VT): Sanders + 19

STEPHANOPOULOS: On the Republican side, with the contest led by the trio of libertarian Sen. Rand Paul, conservative Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and young national security hawk Sen. Marco Rubio, today could determine not only the presumptive frontrunner but the nominee. Southern states are given heightened influence with eight southern states choosing their delegates today. Senator Marco Rubio looks to have the best campaign operation in place in many of these states, but the high-profile endorsement by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz gives Scott Walker a boost, and Sen. Rand Paul, who represents Kentucky and whose father represented Texas in the Hosue of Representatives, also has strong ties to the area. Jeb Bush has also put considerable resources into each Super Tuesday state but is conserving the bulk for later contests, including the winner-take-all primary in Florida later this month.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Here's a map showing the current state of the Republican race. The three red states have been won by Scott Walker. The blue state, South Carolina, was won by Marco Rubio. The dark gray states will all begin reporting their results shortly.

STEPHANOPOULOS: One big looming question is this: what will the Tea Party do? If they unite hard behind a candidate today, that candidate will likely become the nominee.

RECENT POLLING

2/25 PPP (NC): Rubio + 3
2/25 PPP (TX): Walker + 5
2/26 Rasmussen (TX): Paul + 5
2/26 NBC News (AR): Paul + 10
2/26 ABC/WSJ (TN): Walker + 1
2/27 FOX News (VA): Walker + 9
2/27 Rasmussen (ID): Walker + 18
2/27 Harper (MN): Walker + 15
2/27 Rasmussen (VT): Paul + 8
2/27 FOX News (ND): Walker + 16
2/27 FOX News (TX): Walker + 1
2/28 FOX News (AL): Bush + 1
2/28 FOX News (MA): Walker + 6
2/28 FOX News (OK): Paul + 4
2/28 FOX News (GA): Rubio + 1

[Coolface Sock #42069]

BRET BAIER: Welcome to the FOX News Super Tuesday election coverage. I'm Bret Baier alongside Megyn Kelly and Bill O'Reilly. The polls have just closed on the East Coast, and there is one projection we can make right off the bat: Openly socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders will win the Democratic primary in his home state of Vermont. All other Eastern Time states are too close to call, with exit polls showing a smattering of significant leads and very close results.

✓Bernie Sanders 59% (13)
Hillary Clinton 30% (0)

[Coolface Sock #42069]

BAIER: Each candidate has chosen a different location for his official Super Tuesday poll-watching rally. Here's a list of the place where each candidate will address supporters.

Hillary Clinton (D): Little Rock, AR
Bernie Sanders (D): Burlington, VT
Jim Webb (D): Macon, GA
Joe Biden (D): Arlington, VA
Jeb Bush (R): Marietta, GA
Chris Christie (R): Barnstable, MA
Donald Trump (R): Mobile, AL
Rand Paul (R): Fort Worth, TX
Marco Rubio (R): Durham, NC
Scott Walker (R): St. Paul, MN

[Coolface Sock #42069]

BAIER: We can now project the state of Vermont on the Republican side as well, where Senator Rand Paul has pulled in a majority and won 13 of 14 counties.

✓Rand Paul 51%
Scott Walker 25%
Chris Christie 20%
Marco Rubio 3%
Jeb Bush 1%

[Coolface Sock #42069]

Comments?

[Classic Conservative]

It's awesome!!!

[Coolface Sock #42069]

REPUBLICAN DELEGATE COUNT
Scott Walker 45
Marco Rubio 38
Rand Paul 35
Jeb Bush 10
Chris Christie 4
Unpledged 6

BAIER: A truly tight three-way race so far. The big prize, Texas, has yet to report any votes, as it's in Central Time. Its 155 delegates are thought to be a true three-way toss-up between Walker, Rubio, and Paul. Any of these three candidates would build a commanding lead with the addition of Texas's delegates.

BAIER: We are nearing projections on both sides for several East Coast states, such as Virginia, North Carolina and Massachusetts.

[Coolface Sock #42069]

It's awesome!!!

Thanks!

[Coolface Sock #42069]

Sorry for not updating lately. I've had a hectic couple of weeks and have an actuarial exam coming up in November, but I still plan on finishing this timeline.

[Coolface Sock #42069]

MARK SUPPELSA: Welcome back to WGN Channel 9's special coverage of the 2016 Super Tuesday presidential primaries. Earlier tonight, we shared with you that the state of Vermont was called for Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders and also for Senator Rand Paul on the Republican side. Other states have been much closer, but we are now able to project several of them for you.

First up, Hillary Clinton has won in Massachusetts, a bit of an upset. The vote was close, with Bernie Sanders overperforming in upscale hipster areas and the western part of the state but Clinton winning big with minorities and the middle of the state as well.

✓Hillary Clinton 46%
Bernie Sanders 42%
Joe Biden 10%
Jim Webb 2%

MICAH MATTERE: We are also able to project this state on the Republican side, where Republican Scott Walker has won a slim margin but wider than expected:

✓Scott Walker 40%
Rand Paul 30%
Chris Christie 15%
Jeb Bush 10%%
Marco Rubio 5%

[Coolface Sock #42069]

SUPPELSA: Now, let's head down the Atlantic coast to the Old Dominion, where Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has pulled out the win. Also noteworthy is a surprisingly strong showing by Senator Marco Rubio in the state's rural counties. Rubio finished second.

✓Scott Walker 35%
Marco Rubio 25%
Chris Christie 10%
Rand Paul 10%
Jeb Bush 10%

SUPPELSA: Here's Virginia on the Democratic side, where native son Jim Webb has pulled an incredible upset over frontrunner Hillary Clinton, sweeping 119 of the state's 134 counties and independent cities.

Jim Webb 45%
Hillary Clinton 39%
Bernie Sanders 10%
Joe Biden 6%

[Coolface Sock #42069]

SUPPELSA: We can also call Virginia's neighbor to the south, North Carolina, which has been won by Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Rubio took nearly all of the state's non-Appalachian counties.

✓Marco Rubio 41%
Scott Walker 30%
Rand Paul 15%
Donald Trump 14%

MATTERE: On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will take another loss to former Sen. James Webb, who took 87 of the state's 100 counties and edged Clinton by about half a point.

✓Jim Webb 47%
Hillary Clinton 46%
Joe Biden 7%

[Coolface Sock #42069]

SUPPELSA: Here is the Peach State, Georgia, where Senator Rubio will cruise to a comfortable victory. Georgia borders Rubio's native Florida. In south Georgia, Rubio won nearly all counties but won some by a slim margin; Jeb Bush finished second in most of these.

✓Marco Rubio 40%
Jeb Bush 25%
Scott Walker 20%
Rand Paul 10%
Donald Trump 4%

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton has pulled out a slim victory over Jim Webb, who is beginning to emerge as Clinton's chief southern rival.

✓Hillary Clinton 41%
Jim Webb 40%
Joe Biden 8%
Bernie Sanders 1%

MATTERE: That closes the book on the Eastern Time states for tonight. The big winners so far? On the Democratic side, it's Jim Webb, who has positioned himself as a viable moderate alternative to Hillary Clinton, and on the Republican side, Marco Rubio, who has taken two key victories in delegate-laden Georgia and North Carolina, the third- and second-most desirable prizes tonight, respectively.

SUPPELSA: As the clock ticks closer to 7:00 PM here in Chicago, we can expect results from the Central Time states soon, including Alabama, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Texas, North Dakota, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Texas's 155 Republican delegates are the prize of the night.

[Coolface Sock #42069]

MATTERE: It's now 7:00 here in Chicago, and we can now project the state of Minnesota on the Republican side, where Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has won in an absolute landslide. Here's the map of Walker's 22-point romp in his state's northwestern neighbor.

✓Scott Walker 55%
Marco Rubio 23%
Rand Paul 20%
Jeb Bush 2%

[Bigby]

Could we have an updated map and delegation count of everything, please?

[Coolface Sock #42069]

Could we have an updated map and delegation count of everything, please?

Was going to wait until the end of Super Tuesday, but I'll get one in now since there are so many states.

Republican

Democratic