POLITICO Playbook: TRUMP TUESDAY! Frantic (and likely fruitless) quest to deny nomination – BALZ: ‘Nightmarish’ for GOP

WAKE-UP CALL: The GOP establishment is now ONE for 15 in this cycle (and the one is liberal Minnesota, Marco Rubio's sole win). After his Super Tuesday romp, Trump has a 90%-plus chance of winning the nomination. He has more delegates than Cruz and Rubio COMBINED, 10 wins, and big leads in upcoming states. Talk of a brokered convention seems nuts: Imagine the blowback from Trump and his followers if they were denied by a bunch of stuffy rich white dudes behind closed doors. Rubio bombed in his chance to be the alternative. Turns out, doing a cheap impression of Trump's cheap tricks does not a winner make.

MARK HALPERIN on "Morning Joe": Trump is overwhelming favorite, but "if one of these guys [Cruz, Rubio, Kasich] get a hot hand," there's a scenario where they could stop him from getting a majority of delegates.

Good Wednesday morning. BRIAN WILLIAMS on MSNBC: "The Republican Party is facing an existential crisis. We're covering a moving history lesson."

By Mike Allen (@mikeallen; [email protected]) and Daniel Lippman (@dlippman; [email protected])

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BRET BAIER on Fox and MATTHEW DOWD on ABC: Trump "hostile takeover" of GOP. ... ABC's Jon Karl, on-set with George Stephanopoulos in Times Square: "This Super Tuesday is Trump Tuesday ... Donald Trump is stronger than ever. His opposition is as divided as ever."

TOP TWEETS: @jonkarl: Because of Hillary strength, "The odds of Michael Bloomberg running for President as an independent are 'very, very low. Almost zero,' a Bloomberg confidant tells me" ...@chucktodd: "Cruz and Rubio camps are no longer pretending they can win this nomination before Cleveland. Both camps pushing convention scenarios" ...

... @ezraklein: "Christie [behind Trump during last night's presser] looks like he's in a hostage video" ...@JamesGleick: "Trump calls Christie: 'Chris.' Christie calls Trump: 'Mr. Trump'" ... @danpfeiffer: "For the record, most Democrats would much rather face Cruz than Trump" ... @jonward11: "Lindsey Graham on CBS just now [tells Charlie Rose]: 'we may be in a position where we have to rally around Ted Cruz.'" ...@chrislhayes: "This is it. This is Trump's best argument, the most deadly. Incomes have stagnated: 'why haven't they done anything about it?'"

"STRANGER THAN FICTION" -- "The day the Republican Party ruptured: Growing resistance to a dominating Trump could splinter the GOP beyond repair," by Eli Stokols: "The Manhattan billionaire, boosted by support from disaffected blue-collar voters, relished his Super Tuesday victories beneath giant chandeliers inside a Versailles-inspired ballroom at his own Mar-a-Lago resort. Trump had just razed Ted Cruz's Southern firewall and left Marco Rubio gasping as Chris Christie, the former alpha male he's turned into his own obsequious warm-up act, introduced his former rival as 'Mr. Trump.'

"It was just the latest surreal moment in a stranger-than-fiction election cycle-and vivid proof that the Republican Party as we've known it for decades, a party controlled by an enclave of country clubbers and an East Coast establishment, is no more. ... Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, the GOP's last presidential ticket, have ratcheted up their criticism of Trump. New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, chairwoman of the Republican Governors Association, couldn't say Tuesday night if she'd support Trump as her party's nominee." https://politi.co/24AudH6

--"Ryan and McConnell's plan for Donald Trump: The GOP leaders have an almost impossible task in figuring out how to deal with the incendiary front-runner," by Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer and John Bresnahan: "McConnell nor Ryan ... have steered clear of an endorsement, saying only that they will support the eventual nominee. But declining in real time to disavow white supremacists and threatening to undermine the First Amendment is a step too far, according to people familiar with the leaders' thinking. And people close to both men vow they will continue to speak out if Trump gets out of line."  https://politi.co/1QrjpFc

BEN GINSBERG of Jones Day, the nation's leading GOP elections lawyer, on MSNBC's set at 30 Rock, said March 15 (including Florida and Ohio, both winner take all) "is kind of the cut-off day" for Cruz or Rubio to block Trump. Ben agreed with Chuck Todd that this is "a two-week sprint" not to BEAT Trump, but to DEPRIVE HIM of delegates. Ben then gave a clinic on what co-anchor Rachel Maddow called "the dark art" of contesting a convention.

GINSBERG: "If you were to devise a plan to stop a runaway nominee, you would have to do a lot of state-by-state organizing." Most delegates aren't bound past the first ballot, or on rules questions or credentials challenges. Ginsberg, who played a central role in the Florida recount of 2000, admitted this is "the equivalent of a triple bank shot: [I]t has not happened in history, but neither had a presidential recount." Nicolle Wallace, who was on-set, laughed appreciatively.

In response to the anchors' point that this plan would be seen as "disenfranchising a movement," Ginsberg said Trump "is the guy in the driver's seat," but that if he were to go to the convention lacking a majority of delegates, "that is a historically weak frontrunner": "There are rules of the convention that apply, and people will take advantage of those rules."

PLAYBOOK IN-BOX -- SAM NUNBERG, ousted Trump aide, on Trump's 9:40 p.m. news conference (in lieu of victory speech) at his gilded Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach: "Holding the press conference at Mar-a-Lago reinforces Mr. Trump's strong roots across Florida as an accomplished job producer. Being introduced by Gov. Chris Christie reminds the GOP primary electorate that Mr. Trump has already earned major endorsements.

"The anticipation of an 'announcement' created a higher interest than the conventional victory speech, also reinforcing the uniqueness of the Trump candidacy. Not only did Mr. Trump smartly congratulate Sen. Cruz on his primary victories in his opening remarks, whose supporters Mr. Trump will need later in the process, but he made a point to reinforce that the Rubio campaign does not have a plausible path to the nomination."

TRUMP, at his presser: "I know it was a very tough night for Marco Rubio. He had a tough night, but he worked hard. He spent a lot of money. He is a lightweight, as I've said many times before. ... And I just want to leave you with this. I am a unifier. I would love to see the Republican Party and everybody get together and unify. And when we unify, there's nobody, nobody that's going to beat us. Thank you very much everybody. Thank you." Applause.

THE FALL CAMPAIGN BEGINS - AP overnight lede-all, "Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump cemented as 2016 leaders," by Julie Bykowicz in D.C. and Lisa Lerer in Miami: "Clinton and ... Trump ... are beginning to focus on each other ... Clinton previewed a 'love and kindness' message while Trump traded his typical rollicking rallies for a sober media conference where he pressed his case that Clinton is a proven failure as a longtime politician. Both spoke from Florida, where the general election is often won or lost." https://apne.ws/1RmslZ1

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TIM MILLER'S NEW GIG - "Anti-Trump super PAC adds top Bush adviser," by Alex Isenstadt: "An anti-Donald Trump super PAC has hired former Jeb Bush spokesman Tim Miller to be its communications adviser ... Miller ... will join Our Principles PAC, [which] held a conference call [yesterday] with ... Hewlett Packard President and CEO Meg Whitman, Chicago Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts, and New York hedge fund manager Paul Singer." https://politi.co/1QT0EfS ... New web video from Our Principles PAC, "Unelectable" https://bit.ly/21GPxIP

N.Y. POST COVER, with illustration of a grinning Trump, looming over a mud-spattered brick wall: "TEFLON DON! ... Mud fails to stick."  https://nyp.st/21GS9Gy

GLENN THRUSH, "5 takeaways from Super Tuesday: Welcome to the Donald and Hillary show": "1. Trump is resilient. ... 2. Clinton's perfectly happy to run against Trump. ... 3. Ted's not dead. Yet. ... 4. Bernie Sanders: Money for nothing? ... 5. Did John Kasich wreck Rubio?"  https://politi.co/1WUw443

--"Scenes from Super Tuesday," by Kristen East: "POLITICO takes you behind the scenes of Super Tuesdaywith these photos from the 2016 campaign's biggest day to date." 37 pix  https://politi.co/21GQfpk

EXIT POLLS from all Super Tuesday states, presented by MSNBC's Steve Kornacki on his Telestrator: FEELINGS ABOUT GOVERNMENT: Angry: Democrats 14%, Republicans 44% ... Dissatisfied: Democrats 44%, Republicans 46% ... Satisfied: Democrats 33%, Republicans 8% ... Enthusiastic: Democrats 8%, Republicans 1%.

--ANGRY AT GOVERNMENT: Trump 42% ... Cruz 33% ... Rubio 14%.

--DEMS' DEMOGRAPHICS - Sanders only wins 1 group (White men): Black voters: Clinton 83%, Sanders 15% ... Hispanics: Clinton 67%, Sanders 33% ... White voters: Clinton 50%, Sanders 48% ... White women:Clinton 57%, Sanders 41% ... White men: Sanders 54%, Clinton 44%.

WHO WON WHAT - AP's Cal Woodward: "Clinton won Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Texas, Massachusetts and Arkansas ... Sanders won Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma and home-state Vermont ... Trump took Alabama, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Georgia, Virginia, Arkansas and Vermont ... Cruz won Oklahoma as well as his home state, Texas, and Alaska ... Rubio ... won Minnesota for his first victory of the 2016 campaign."

AP DELEGATE COUNT for the year: "Trump has amassed 285 delegates, Ted Cruz 161, and Marco Rubio, 87 [Kasich 25 and Carson 8]. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the GOP nomination. ... Clinton had at least 1,005 delegates [including superdelegates], Sanders 373. It takes 2,383 Democratic delegates to win."

PIC by John Paul Filo/CBS: CBS election set, with John Dickerson, Scott Pelley and Norah O'Donnell. https://bit.ly/217Fmuv

N.Y. DAILY NEWS cover, "MAKE AMERICA MIGRATE: Remember when you said you'd leave the U.S. if Trump were elected? We don't blame you. And it's time to start planning. -- END OF DAYS GUIDE TO FLEEING THE COUNTRY: Pages 2-7" - With pic of Trump and illustration of match lighting a U.S. passport. https://nydn.us/vp5qdB

ATLANTA Journal-Constitution banner, "CLINTON,TRUMP ON A ROLL." See the page. https://politi.co/1QKwWn5

PRINT HEADLINES: USA Today, "SUPER SURGE: Trump and Clinton rack up wins" ... WashPost banner, "The front-runners sprint ahead" ... N.Y. Times banner, "TRUMP AND CLINTON FEAST AS 12 STATES VOTE: Cruz Takes Texas, Leaving Rubio Struggling ... For Democrats, Minority Vote Is Decisive ... NEWS ANALYSIS G.O.P. Split Is Becoming Deep Chasm." See the page.  https://nyti.ms/1nhHv9M ... WSJ banner, "Trump, Clinton Pile Up Victories" ... L.A. Times 5-col. lead, "Clinton, Trump separate themselves from the rest" ... Denver Post banner,"Shows of strength."

DAN BALZ "The Take" on WashPost A1, below fold, "GOP establishment's fears are quickly becoming reality" (online: "The GOP has two weeks to take down Donald Trump"): "The window for stopping Donald Trump closed almost completely Tuesday night, leaving the demoralized anti-Trump forces with two weeks and no agreed-upon strategy for denying the New York billionaire the Republican presidential nomination. ... For Rubio, ... Super Tuesday turned into a super disappointment. ...

"For the GOP establishment, Super Tuesday had nightmarish qualities. Not only did Trump tighten his grip on the nomination, but the only candidate who has been able to beat him more than once so far is Cruz, the nemesis of Republican congressional leaders and what the Texas senator likes to call the 'Washington cartel.' ...

"Some believe that the most realistic scenario for stopping Trump begins with victories by Cruz, Kasich and Rubio in their home states. Cruz managed that Tuesday; Rubio and Kasich face those tests March 15. Theoretically, that could lock up enough delegates against Trump to prevent him from winning a majority before the Republican convention and force a battle in Cleveland in July for the nomination." https://wapo.st/217EKoB

BOB COSTA on MSNBC: "Glimmer of hope for Rubio ... This is an extended race ... Not ending any time soon ... All the anti-Trump forces in the Republican Party are gathering via phone, email, meeting for breakfast ... I expect more ads, more money, more people to make themselves known."

BRIAN WILLIAMS to Costa: "It's very hard to super PAC your way out of an IDEA - a notion that has caught fire ... that is kind of a perfect message for the time, and then add to that the stagecraft we saw tonight of A MAN IN FULL, to borrow Tom Wolfe's phrase."

COSTA: Elected Republicans think/fear maybe "Trump is becoming more seasoned ... He sees the prize, and he's not going to maybe make as many mistakes" like KKK. Christie "gets Trump. He understands how to talk to him and guide him."

CLICKER -- "Twitter Rallies Around Donald Trump Hostage Chris Christie," by NYMag's Margaret Hartmann https://nym.ag/217NxqS

HOT VIDEO - "Jimmy Kimmel's 'Producers' sketch provides a hilarious explanation for the rise of Trump":"Instead of theater producers, [Nathan] Lane's Max Bialystock and [Matthew] Broderick's Leo Bloom are scheming, cynical political consultants." 5-min. video  https://wapo.st/21GVJAg

MEDIAWATCH -- "The media's Trump reckoning: 'Everyone was wrong': From the New Yorker to FiveThirtyEight, outlets across the spectrum failed to grasp the Trump phenomenon," by Hadas Gold: "David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, told his readers last summer that Donald Trump was running for president to promote his own brand and that the 'whole con might end well before the first snows in Sioux City and Manchester.'" https://politi.co/1QKJ7Ac

--"CNN's Van Jones, Jeffrey Lord launch into fiery debate," by Dylan Byers: "The extended debate, which was both passionate and personal, served as a microcosm of the national discussion over racial divisiveness and the increasingly negative tone of the presidential campaign."  https://cnn.it/21GPRqP

-- "Willie Geist scores his own NBC morning show," by N.Y. Post's Emily Smith: Geist "will next month step in as host of a revamped 'Sunday Today.' ... Geist ... is expected to continue to appear on 'Today' and MSNBC's 'Morning Joe.' ... The move also puts Geist head-to-head with his own father, Bill Geist, who has been a correspondent for 'CBS Sunday Morning' since 1987."  https://pge.sx/1VQ1b08

--Graydon Carter hires Nick Bilton as Vanity Fair special correspondent: "covering the intersection of technology and business for VF.com, as well as contributing regular features to the magazine ... Bilton comes to Vanity Fair after more than ten years at The New York Times, where he wrote the Disruptions column, which explored the cultural impact of technology."

--JOSH ELLIOTT to CBSN - "Elliott will join CBSN, its 24/7 digital streaming news service, as an anchor later this month. ... He will also appear on CBS News broadcasts and other platforms. ... Most recent, he worked with NBC Sports ... [and] spent three years at ABC News."

FUTURE OF MEDIA -- "Nobody Watches Live Television Anymore, Unless It's Sports: Nielsen's 2015 report on sports media also shows that ladies love soccer," by Vocativ's Cristina Cabrera: "93 percent of the top 100 live TV programs were sports content. This shows a dramatic increase from 2005, when sports programming made up only 14% of live TV viewership."  https://voc.tv/1LvbxlO ... The report https://bit.ly/1ONnfD5

GREAT SCENE -- "How Breitbart Unleashes Hate Mobs to Threaten, Dox, and Troll Trump Critics," by The Daily Beast's Lloyd Grove: "As for [Breitbart's Washington Political Editor] Matthew Boyle, jaws dropped during a recent dinner attended by political journalists-around the time of the Iowa caucuses ... when he was heard boasting that he will be named White House press secretary in the incoming Trump administration. It wasn't clear if Boyle was joking ... when he announced that one of his first acts on behalf of President Trump will be to ban Fox News from the White House press room. 'I talk a lot of trash at private dinners over beers-just like any guy from Boston,' Boyle said."  https://thebea.st/1REX7yM

MATT BENNETT, SVP of Third Way - "[W]e believe that the conventional wisdom will have been upended in three important ways: 1. In this 'year of the populist,' liberal populism is being routed in the Democratic primaries. ... 2. Hillary hasn't tacked left to beat Sanders; she is beating him because she has attacked his core premises. ... 3. Hillary can win white voters. ... Liberal populism can't possibly be the future of the Party. And by declining to go too far left, Hillary will be positioned well for the general."

IN OTHER NEWS ... "GOP research group targets court nominees," by AP's Alan Fram: A "Republican opposition research organization [America Rising Squared is] starting to investigate the backgrounds of potential court nominees. It's a hunt that could yield information that would damage ... Obama's selection and perhaps even discourage some from seeking the post. ... Brian Rogers, executive director of America Rising Squared ... said the group was using around 10 researchers to search the Internet, law libraries ... and other sources to probe the backgrounds of several possible selections to replace ... Scalia." https://yhoo.it/1ShpqWd

REMEMBERING JIM KIMSEY -- WashPost's Thomas Heath : "James V. Kimsey, a flinty former Army Ranger and Washington businessman who teamed with a young marketing expert named Steve Case to start America Online ... died March 1 at his home in McLean, Va. He was 76. ... If not as widely known as Case, Mr. Kimsey cut a distinctive and influential path through Washington's business elite. As an entrepreneur, he played a pivotal role in making AOL one of the region's great wealth creators, spawning the fortunes of Case, Washington sports mogul Ted Leonsis, and numerous other decamillionaires."  https://wapo.st/1TR8Xb9

PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION - "Metro: fare gates to stop accepting paper cards" - AP: "[A]s of Saturday, passengers will have to use plastic SmarTrip cards. Metro says that customers with paper fare cards can transfer the value to a SmarTrip card by using certain vending machines at rail stations. Metro says that vending machines have been dispensing only the SmarTrip cards since December and that paper fare cards account for less than half a percent of all rail transactions. Metro says customers can transfer any value from the paper cards to SmarTrip cards through June 30."

MARY KATHERINE HAM posts on her website mkhammertime.com, "Things, they are a'changin": "I'm happy to announce a bit of a twist in my career. I'll be joining the team at CNN as a CNN Political Commentator! I am excited about the future and the new team I'll be getting to know, and I'm elated to work with my friends S.E. Cupp, Amanda Carpenter, and Margaret Hoover. ... It has been a professional honor and a personal pleasure to work at Fox News as a contributor for the last eight years."  https://bit.ly/1QSfTFX

THE NEW GILDED AGE -- "Forbes 2016 World's Billionaires: Meet The Richest People On The Planet": "For our 30th annual guide to the world's richest, we found 1,810 billionaires, down from a record 1,826 a year ago. Their aggregate net worth was $6.48 trillion, $570 billion less than last year. It was also the first time since 2010 that the average net worth of a billionaire dropped - it is now $3.6 billion, $300 million less than last year. ... 221 people fell off the list, while 198 newcomers joined the ranks; another 29 people from 2015 died while 29 who'd previously fallen off climbed back on. Of those who were billionaires both years, 892 are poorer while 501 added to their fortunes." Full list  https://onforb.es/1nhwJjM

SPORTS BLINK: Sports Illustrated cover "features Golden State Warriors stars Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson with the cover line, 'This Is a Moment, Everyone; The Warriors' joy ride toward NBA history rolls on and on.' The cover story is written by ... Rick Reilly as he spends time with the team ... as they dominate, delight, enthrall - and inspire." See the cover.  https://bit.ly/1L54fFt ... Read the story, "Joy ride." https://on.si.com/217IO8l

ENGAGED -- Abbey Brokos, account director at FP1 Strategies, an RNC alum and native Michigander, recently got engaged to Edward Kang, a software engineer at Lockheed Martin. The couple met at McLean Bible Church and shared their first date on New Year's Eve 2013. This Valentine's Day, after ice skating in the Sculpture Garden, he proposed on the terrace of the Kennedy Center where they had shared their first anniversary. Pichttps://bit.ly/21zhNAe

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Dr. John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology

BIRTHDAYS : Kevin Madden, the pride of Yonkers, and a partner at Hamilton Place Strategies - his Twitter bio: "A simple city boy- you might say a cockeyed optimist- mixed up in the high stakes game of world diplomacy and international intrigue" ... Ashley Chang, the pride of ATL: This Stanford/GW/LSE alumna and former alternate for the U.S. Olympic swimming team is now director of public engagement at USTDA (hubby tip: Ben) ... Owen "O.G." Gallo (h/t Mom and Dad, Jessica and Phil) ... Tali Kauflin (h/t Jordan) ... Joe Brettell, VP at FleishmanHillard in Houston and a CRC alum (champion hat-tipper) ... author Tom Wolfe is 86 ... former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), running again for the seat, is 63 ... former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is 61 ... Brookings' Robin Lewis ... Emily Miller, chief investigative reporter at Fox 5 in D.C. ...

... Eric Bolling of Fox News (h/t Sergio Gor) ... Dylan Colligan, writer at Javelin and an FP1 Strategies and House Republican Conference alum ... Katherine Harris, who worked on the Christie campaign and is an Republican Attorneys General Association alum ... AFP public affairs guru Levi Russell ... Eric Phillips ... CBS News' Sally Rosen ... Kevin Benore ... Adrian Uribarri ... Jonathan Pelto ... Gary O'Connor of Barclays Capital ... B-J Certain ...

... Eric Dolan, managing editor at The Raw Story ... Grant Winter ... Joe Garofoli, senior political writer at S.F. Chronicle ... Aaron Sherinian (we jumped the gun yesterday) ... Yuri Beckelman, deputy chief of staff for Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and a former AFL-CIO organizer ... Anne Lindenfeld ... Sue Bauman ... Eric Phillips, the pride of Madison, Wisconsin (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ... former Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev is 85 ... author John Irving is 74 ... singer Jay Osmond is 61 ... Jon Bon Jovi is 54 ... Chris Martin (Coldplay) is 39 ... Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback Ben "Big Ben" Roethlisberger is 34 (h/t Tony Fratto) ... singer-rapper-actress Becky G is 19 (h/ts AP)

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