CREDIBILITY PROBLEM?: “Is it just me, or does the rhetoric about the crisis in Ukraine sound as if all of Washington is suffering from amnesia? We’re supposed to be shocked — shocked! — that a great military power would cook up a pretext to invade a smaller, weaker nation? I’m sorry, but has everyone forgotten the unfortunate events in Iraq a few years ago?” (Washington Post)
FURTHER RIGHT: “”Cruz scared the daylights out of center and center-right conservatives to the extent that they do not feel comfortable enough to run on their true positions and feel compelled to cater to the most conservative elements of the Texas Republican primary electorate,” said Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University in Houston.” (Reuters)
WHERE’S THE EDGE?: “The Post-ABC survey affirms those projections, showing Republicans in a stronger position than Democrats in the states with Senate races this fall and more than holding their own in the battle for control of the House. In the 34 states with Senate races, 50 percent of voters say they favor Republicans and 42 percent favor Democrats.
That is the case despite the Republican Party’s poor image nationally and its deficit on some important issues. About two in three Americans say the GOP is out of touch “with the concerns of most people in the United States today.”” (Washington Post)
IN OTHER NEWS…
- QUOTE OF THE DAY: “People are looking at Putin as one who wrestles bears and drills for oil. They look at our president as one who wears mom jeans and equivocates and bloviates.” –Sarah Palin
- NUMBER OF THE DAY: $1 billion–that’s how much the U.S. is working to provide in loan guarantees to Ukraine
- TWEET OF THE DAY:
Incredibly moving visit to Shrine of the Fallen.Courageous,proud people.We stand w/ Ukrainians for self-determination pic.twitter.com/N6klo1LanK
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) March 4, 2014
Hardball staff