Four More Today
Republican voters in Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan and Mississippi are going to the polls today to cast their ballots in the presidential primaries. Democrats are voting today in Michigan and Mississippi.
Michigan is the biggest prize at stake for both parties. Most polls show Donald Trump holding double-digit leads over his nearest competitor, although one poll did find John Kasich narrowly leading. It is worth noting, however, that in recent contests, Trump has underperformed at the ballot box compared to the polls.
Among Democrats, Hillary Clinton enjoyed a 27-point lead over Bernie Sanders in the most recent poll.
Speaking Of Polls. . .
A new ABC News/Washington Post poll is raising eyebrows for its results, which are critical of both front-runners.
In the GOP contest, the poll found Trump leading with 34%, followed by Cruz 25%, Rubio 18% and Kasich 13%.
In head-to-head match-ups, Cruz beats Trump 54% to 41%. Marco Rubio also beats Trump but by a closer 51%-to-45% margin.
The difference is the intensity of support for Ted Cruz among conservatives and evangelicals. Cruz carries "very conservative" Republicans by 26 points and evangelical voters by 33 points. Rubio's margins are 15 and 13 points respectively.
The biggest red flag for Trump is his overall favorability: Just 52% of Republican-leaning independents view Trump favorably, and a bare majority (51%) says they would be satisfied with Trump as the party's nominee.
The poll does have good news for Trump, too. Fifty-five percent of Republican-leaning independents prefer an outsider versus someone with political experience, and 53% oppose the idea of a brokered convention attempting to block Trump's nomination.
In the Democrat contest, the ABC News/Washington Post poll finds Hillary Clinton leading Bernie Sanders by just seven points -- 49% to 42%. It marks the first time that Clinton has fallen below 50% and she's down 19 points since January, when she led Sanders 55% to 36%.
In addition, Clinton continues to struggle with questions about her honesty -- a record 59% of those surveyed said Mrs. Clinton is not honest and trustworthy.
Bloomberg Out
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced yesterday that he would not launch an independent campaign for the presidency this year. And he was pretty blunt about why.
In a statement, the left-leaning Bloomberg said: "As the race stands now . . . there is a good chance that my candidacy could lead to the election of Donald Trump or Senator Ted Cruz. That is not a risk I can take in good conscience."
Cultural Elites Purge Faith
Football superstar Peyton Manning announced his retirement yesterday. His remarks were widely covered by many news outlets. He had an impressive career with 200 wins, including two Super Bowl championships, in addition to setting a number of NFL records.
Manning concluded his retirement speech yesterday by saying, "Well, I've fought a good fight. I've finished my football race, and after 18 years it's time. God bless all of you and God bless football."
Men and women of faith will recognize the scriptural reference there. But Manning actually quoted the Bible. Just prior to his remarks about fighting the good fight, Manning said, "There's a scripture reading, 2 Timothy 4:7: 'I have fought the good fight and I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.'"
That line was excised from most media coverage. Our media elites could not bring themselves to allow a football hero to connect his success with his Christian faith. Our culture and media elites are doing everything they can to deny that the greatness of our nation is rooted in that deep religious heritage.
How sad and dangerous. If they succeed in pulling us out by the roots of the rich soil of our Judeo-Christian heritage, America will be finished.