NEWS AND OPINION:
At last there are only five Republican presidential hopefuls to track, rather than 17. It’s still a complicated business, though. Their political currency goes up and down like the stock market. Grappling has commenced for the title of establishment favorite, conservative standard-bearer and mighty outsider. Indefatigable front-runner Donald Trump continues to roar down the campaign track, miles ahead. Keenly focused Sen. Ted Cruz holds his ground. Sen. Marco Rubio? He is having a good week, despite an unresolved misunderstanding with the American Conservative Union over the candidate’s appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference in early March. Mr. Rubio may not go this year. But that’s another story.
Meanwhile, “Marcomentum” appears to be building. Mr. Rubio is picking up endorsements. Here’s the current tally so far for the month of February; new names will likely surface. The list does not include local or state public officials, grass-roots groups, activists, entertainers, news organizations or former elected officials. It does include seven sitting senators, 16 House members, three governors and four former GOP presidential hopefuls. The names:
Sens. Dan Coats, Jeff Flake, Dean Heller, Orrin Hatch, Tim Scott, Thom Tillis and Mack White.
Reps. Mark Amodei, Gus Bilirakis, Dan Benishek, Rick Crawford, Mario Diaz-Balart, Trey Gowdy, Cresent Hardy, Peter King, John Kline, Jeff Miller, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Matt Salmon, Austin Scott, Glenn Thompson, Lynn Westmoreland and Steve Womack.
Govs. Nikki Haley, Sam Brownback and Asa Hutchinson.
Former GOP hopefuls Bobby Jindal, Rick Santorum, Tim Pawlenty and Bob Dole.
SEE ALSO: Hillary Clinton: ‘I am a person of faith’
’THE UNACCOMPANIED ALIEN CHILDREN CRISIS’
“Fiscal year 2014 saw a record number of unaccompanied minors illegally crossing the border. Customs and Border Protection apprehended over 68,000 minors in that year. This year, we are seeing another surge of minors illegally crossing the border with 20,455 apprehended as of January 31, 2016. If these trends continue, we can expect to see an even greater number of minors crossing the border this year than in 2014.”
— Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley at a hearing titled “The Unaccompanied Alien Children Crisis” on Tuesday.
A TIMELY TALK
Scheduled for high noon on Wednesday, three blocks from the Capitol: “Political Correctness and Domestic Terror,” a lecture by Andrew McCarthy at Hillsdale College’s Kirby Center. Mr. McCarthy, a contributing editor at National Review, was previously chief assistant United States attorney and led the 1995 terrorism prosecution against defendants convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
“The United States faces a greater threat of domestic attacks than at any time since 9/11. For nearly a quarter-century, the West has remained willfully blind to Islamic supremacist ideology, preferring to see terrorists as wanton killers unconnected to any belief system,” the Kirby Center notes. “Refusing to come to terms with what jihadists are trying to achieve and why, we miss the connection between their objectives and those who promote accommodation of Islamic law through non-violence, and how unassimilated Muslim populations breed jihadism.”
SEE ALSO: Obama forces Hillary Clinton’s hand with Gitmo closure plan
The event will be live streamed at Kirbycenter.hillsdale.edu under the “Events” heading.
A BRIEF NOTE ON DEMOCRATS
“Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have multifaceted images among the American public. But the most common responses Americans give when asked to say what comes to mind when they think of each are ’dishonest’ and ’dislike her’ for Clinton, and ’socialist’ and ’old’ for Sanders,” noted a Gallup poll released Tuesday.
Yes, well. Regardless of public opinion, the high-profile fundraising continues for Mrs. Clinton: There are 20 fundraisers for her campaign this week in six states, each attended by Mrs. Clinton herself, former President Bill Clinton or a close representative. And the effort is expanding overseas: Three of the events this week are in London, two hosted by Chelsea Clinton, another by former Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh.
TWITTERTOPIA
“Wall Street can never be allowed to wreck Main Street again. No bank can be too big to fail and no executive can be too powerful to jail.” (Hillary Clinton in a tweet at 1:12 p.m. Tuesday.)
“For once I agree with Hillary Clinton. You, Madame, are not above the law. You are not too powerful to jail.” (Conservative-friendly actor James Woods, in a tweet at 1:46 p.m. Tuesday.)
ONE FOR THE OSS
Three cheers: The brave, clandestine warriors of the World War II era are ever closer to well-deserved recognition. The Senate has unanimously passed bipartisan legislation that would award the Congressional Gold Medal to veterans of the Office of Strategic Services — the OSS, the predecessor of the CIA.
“The members of the OSS saved thousands of lives in World War II, and their courage and sacrifice played a critical role in the success of the Allied campaign,” says Sen. Roy Blunt, Missouri Republican. “The 13,000 members of the OSS established intelligence networks deep behind enemy lines, bolstered resistance organizations throughout Europe and Asia, and helped the Allies win the war.”
The resolution, which was first introduced three months ago, now heads to the House for approval.
POLL DU JOUR
• 51 percent of Americans say computer giant Apple should assist the FBI by “unlocking” a terrorist’s iPhone; 56 percent of Republicans, 45 percent of independents and 55 percent of Democrats agree.
• 53 percent of other smartphone owners, 52 percent of those who do not own a smartphone, and 47 percent of iPhone owners also agree.
• 38 percent overall say Apple should not unlock the device; 32 percent of Republicans, 42 percent of independents and 37 percent of Democrats agree.
• 38 percent of other smartphone owners, 33 percent of those who do not own a smartphone and 43 percent of iPhone owners also agree.
Source: A Pew Research Center poll of 1,002 U.S. adults conducted Feb. 18-21.
• Squawks of indignation, sly comments to jharper@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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