NY Times:
Fearing that Republicans will ultimately nominate an establishment presidential candidate like Jeb Bush, leaders of the nation’s Christian right have mounted an ambitious effort to coalesce their support behind a single social-conservative contender months before the first primary votes are cast.
In secret straw polls and exclusive meetings from Iowa to California, the leaders are weighing the relative appeal and liabilities of potential standard-bearers like Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and the former governors Rick Perry, of Texas, and Mike Huckabee, of Arkansas.
“There’s a shared desire to come behind a candidate,” said Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, a national lobbying group that opposes abortion and equal rights for gays.
Josh Kraushaar:
Talk to enough Republican insiders about the presidential primary field, and you'll get a common sentiment when it comes to Jeb Bush. Most strategists agree that Bush has to overcome serious hurdles to win the nomination, but they say he's a formidable candidate thanks to his deep political network and ability to dominate the competition in fundraising. "I can't see him dropping out before Florida," said one former GOP congressman well-connected to the field.
But there are signs that a worst-case, crash-and-burn scenario for Bush is more realistic than even his skeptics recognize. He's underperforming in early public polls and is receiving a frosty reception from Republican focus groups. His entitled biography is at odds with the Republican Party's increasing energy from working-class voters, who relate best with candidates who have struggled to make ends meet. The Bush name is a reminder of the past at a time when GOP voters are desperate for new faces. And after losing two straight presidential elections, Republican voters are thinking much more strategically—and aren't nearly as convinced as the political press that Bush is the strongest contender against Hillary Clinton.
He is disliked. But can Jeb be stopped? Probably not given his money and organization. He's built for late stage marathons. But he's going to take some hits in the early stages.
More politics and policy below the fold.
Fun piece from Sarah Kliff on shopping for Obamacare with Ted Cruz:
The news broke yesterday: noted Obamacare opponent Sen. Ted Cruz may sign up for Obamacare.
Cruz previously had a health plan through his wife Heidi's job at Goldman Sachs. But the family will lose that coverage when Heidi takes a leave of absence to campaign full-time. And this will put the Cruz family into a situation familiar to millions of Americans: figuring out what to do when you can no longer get coverage through work.
Now, Cruz's situation is a little bit different — he's a member of Congress, so he will have a job even after his wife Heidi leaves hers. But under Obamacare, legislators can only get their coverage through the law's insurance marketplaces rather than the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan, which covers other federal workers.
This means Cruz will likely spend some time shopping on Healthcare.gov. And because of the new window-shopping options the website added this year, we can actually see the plans the senator will choose from. But first, we have to enter in some information about the Cruz family.
Philip Bump:
Ted Cruz compares climate change activists to ‘flat-Earthers.’ Where to begin?
Philip Bump:
Ted Cruz, we argued in February, is the most underrated candidate in the 2016 field -- for the simple reason that he can make a strong play for solo ownership of the Tea Party "lane" of the primary electorate. If Cruz can carve out enough consistent votes from that group to stick around a while, we argued, his overall support could snowball as other candidates drop out. Other candidates, the theory goes, are in other, more crowded lanes in which they could split up the vote: Jeb Bush in the moderate/establishment lane along with a few others, Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee in the Evangelical lane (which Cruz made a play for on Monday as well), etc.
But how big are those lanes? And who's dominating in which lane? Let's say there are five lanes:
Religious voters
Tea Party voters
Very Conservative voters
Moderate/Establishment voters
Libertarians
Lawrence Korb:
President Barack Obama’s national security policies are being sharply criticized by Republicans and even undermined by members of the GOP foreign-policy establishment.
They insist Obama should significantly increase defense spending and respond more forcefully to threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin in eastern Ukraine, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and China in the Pacific. The White House must also stop making concessions to Iran, Republicans say. The letter to Tehran signed by 47 Republican senators is just the latest example of their attempts to undermine his policies.
Yet Obama’s strategic patience on national security continues a pattern set by the most successful Republican foreign-policy presidents: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Ronald Reagan and President George H.W. Bush.
Sacremento Bee:
Automatic voter registration sought in California
which ought to remind you that Republicans do not think everyone should vote.
See this obnoxious piece from 2007, especially ugly in light of modern GOP efforts to suppress voting.