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Buzz Cuts:
• California chaos
• Kasich kaput
• Power Play: Hillary can now pivot, but how?
• ‘Clinton Cash,’ the movie
• Waiting on an, ahem, cat-a-logue?
CALIFORNIA CHAOS
It had been so long since there were violent riots at a campaign event that we almost forgot it was 2016.
But California came through in a big way on Thursday with bloodshed, smashed police car windows and mass arrests outside a Donald Trump rally in Costa Mesa. But don’t expect that to do anything to dampen enthusiasm for Trump in the Golden State.
Quite the contrary.
For what’s left of California’s Republican Party, Trump is a fantastic fit: A celebrity of the Schwarzenegger scale but with the kind of hardline talk on illegal immigration that has broad appeal in a state where residents have borne the worst of the problem over the past 40 years.
The riots and rage on the other side should only serve to conform to the state’s beleaguered Republicans that they are on the right track. And if Trump is still plowing the primary calendar when he arrives there, there’s plenty of reason to think that he can lock up the nomination in California on June 7.
But with 159 of 172 delegates apportioned among 53 congressional districts in a closed primary, it gets tricky. There are plenty of places in coastal California where Republicans are all-but invisible. How will their scant numbers be voting?
Consider California’s 13th Congressional District, which includes Oakland and Berkeley. Mitt Romney took just 9 percent of the voter there four years ago. And there are 17 districts in the state where Romney got less than 30 percent of the vote
That’s why Trump and remaining rival, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, along with his prospective running mate Carly Fiorina, will all be at the state Republican Party’s convention, which starts today.
Trump wants to slam the door shut there next month. And while winning Tuesday in Indiana could make his task much easier, everyone knows that California is the key. Cruz, on the other hand, needs to look beyond must-win Indiana. He has been cultivating California for longer than any other candidate and hopes to hold his own when the delegates are awarded.
Likely, the violence and uproar will help Trump. His supporters want revolution in a state where many voters in the state’s white minority believe they have been badly mistreated and taken advantage of for decades.
The outrage Trump sparks on the other side is likely seen as evidence that he is just the disruptor they’ve been looking for.
Fox News Sunday: Double header! - Both Donald Trump and Ted Cruz sit down for separate interviews with Mr. Sunday. “Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace” airs at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel. Check local listings for broadcast times in your area.
[Pew Research Center found Republican levels of favorability dropping to its lowest levels since 1992.]
Indiana ad wars - In a new ad in Indiana, Trump slams Cruz for supporting trade bills that sent American jobs overseas arguing that Trump is the only one who will stand up to China and Mexico. Cruz, however, was out with an ad of his own in the Hoosier State, featuring running mate Carly Fiorina, who says only Cruz is a defender of the Constitution. A pro-Cruz PAC also announced they plan to increase ad spending in the state by $350,000 in addition to the $1.6 million ad buy they already have.
[Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is reportedly making a “major announcement” today at noon ET – one Team Cruz certainly must hope involves a primary endorsement.]
Cruz responds to Boehner - Ted Cruz responded to attacks from former House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday’s “The Kelly File” saying that he, “I don’t know John Boehner. He and I have never worked together.” Watch here.
Cruz poised of Old Dominion domination this weekend - Politico reports that Republican Party of Virginia insiders expect Ted Cruz’s supporters to dominate at Saturday’s state party convention.
Kasich kaput - In his deal with Ted Cruz to stand clear of Tuesday’s Indiana primary, Ohio Gov. John Kasich laid claim to both New Mexico and Oregon. According to a new poll, it looks like Kasich has bigger problems than Cruz in the Beaver State. He clocked in with only 17 percent of the vote, 9 points behind Cruz, and 26 points behind Donald Trump.
[GOP delegate count: Trump 994; Cruz 566; Kasich 153 (1,237 needed to win)]
WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE…
Paris Review: “One of the many treasures preserved in the British Library’s audio archive is this vintage lesson in ‘English Conversation.’ As a document of instruction, it’s interesting enough. But it also bears the distinction of being an early recording of J. R. R. Tolkien. Of course, Tolkien would go on to international fame and fortune for his fiction, all of which was informed by his fascination with language and history. But in 1929, he was known as a respected professor and lecturer, making a little extra money as a contributor to the Linguaphone Conversational Course, a series issued on seventy-eights by the Linguaphone Institute of London. On these recordings, the thirty-eight-year-old Tolkien … not only provides introductions, but plays one of the “roles” in the sample conversations. Now, the “wireless” might not exactly provide a scintillating sample conversation … but as played digitally, in 2016, it’s a source of both postmodern and historical interest."
Got a TIP from the RIGHT or the LEFT? Email FoxNewsFirst@FOXNEWS.COM
POLL CHECK
Real Clear Politics Averages
National GOP nomination: Trump 43 percent; Cruz 30 percent; Kasich 21 percent
National Dem nomination: Clinton 49.5 percent; Sanders 45.8 percent
General Election: Clinton vs. Trump: Clinton +8.5 points
Generic Congressional Vote: Democrats +2.3
POWER PLAY: HILLARY CAN NOW PIVOT, BUT HOW?
The Democratic race is over. Yes, Bernie Sanders pledges that he will continue to run until the last contest on June 14, but… c’mon. This is good news for presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton who can now focus on the general election. While Clinton can be happy that the GOP process has been such a mess and Democrats are confident about her chances against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, there are still worries. How can she most affectively make her case to voters? MoveOn.org 2016 spokeswoman, Karine Jean-Pierre and GOP strategist Mercedes Schlapp look at Clinton’s strategies and assess her chances. WATCH HERE.
[Schlapp and Jean-Pierre also broke down the GOP side of things with a look ahead to Indiana. WATCH HERE.]
Scramble - WSJ’s Peggy Noonan writing on the Peroist appeal of Trump in the general election: “He positioned himself to Hillary Clinton’s left on foreign policy—she is hawkish, too eager for assertions of U.S. military power, and has bad judgment. This will be the first time in modern history a Republican presidential candidate is to the left of the Democrat, and that will make things interesting. It reminded me of how Mr. Trump, in his insistence that he will not cut or add new limits to entitlement spending, could get to Mrs. Clinton’s left on that key domestic question, too.”
Hillary lets supporters buy Trump’s ‘woman card’ - TPM: “The Hillary Clinton campaign wasn’t going to let an opportunity to fundraise off of Donald Trump’s latest jab at her just pass it by. Supporters of the former secretary of state’s campaign received an email offering them a literal ‘woman card,’ a reference to Trump’s comments Tuesday…‘Chip in and we'll send you your very own Official Hillary Clinton for America Woman Card,’ the email said.”
‘Clinton Cash,’ the movie- The book that told stories of questionable money ties and corruption by the Clinton family, “Clinton Cash,” has been turned into a film that will be featured at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The U.S. premiere is set to take place on July 24, the eve of the Democratic National Convention, in Philadelphia, but the trailer is already out for your viewing.
Ummm… - Sun Sentinel: “Bob Sutton, chairman of the Broward County Republican Party, used a startling metaphor to explain his view that Donald Trump would perform better than Hillary Clinton in a presidential debate. ‘I think when Donald Trump debates Hillary Clinton she’s going to go down like Monica Lewinsky,’ he said in a quote attributed to him by The Washington Post.”
Why Bernie can’t come back - FiveThirtyEight goes back in Democratic primary history to explain why, barring a catastrophic and unforeseen act, Bernie Sanders cannot be the nominee: “…[A]fter the mad scramble for the first 10 percent of delegates, no candidate ever crosses over the 50 percent line. That is, the king stays the king…The reason for this is pretty simple: Proportional allocation of delegates makes comebacks really, really hard. You can’t just notch wins in a string of states, as Sanders did in late March and early April. You have to start consistently trouncing your opponent by large margins in every contest. You need, well, a political revolution.”
[Heh - The Washington Free Beacon wants MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to know they got the message.]
#mediabuzz - Host Howard Kurtz breaks down the week’s media coverage. Watch Sunday at 11 a.m. ET, with a second airing at 5 p.m.
[Dem delegate count: Clinton 2165; Sanders 1357 (2,383 needed to win)]
Bully! - Fox News Contributor Pete Hegseth is out with his first book, In the Arena, on strengthening American leadership in the 21st century. The book is out May 3, but you can catch Hegseth at the Heritage Foundation in Washington on May 2 at noon, or in New York on May 3 at the Republican Jewish Coalition at noon.
WAITING ON AN, AHEM, CAT-A-LOGUE?
The Guardian: “A couple have been told to restrain their cat or face having their mail deliveries suspended. Matthew Sampson said he was notified by the Royal Mail last week of a ‘potential hazard’ at his home in Patchway [England]…which was affecting deliveries. According to a letter sent to Sampson by the Royal Mail, four-year-old Bella was a ‘threat’ to staff. In the letter, the Royal Mail said it had been experiencing difficulties in delivering mail to Sampson’s home ‘because of the actions of a cat.’ The postman had reported that when he pushed mail through the letterbox, a black and white cat ‘snatches the mail and puts his fingers at risk of injury’…The couple have been advised to ‘restrain their cat at all times’ or provide an alternative ‘safe’ post box, or deliveries would be suspended.”
AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“[Ted Cruz’s] appeal has never been personal. It’s always been ideological. I’m a conservative and now he says Trump is not. So that’s what it all hinges on.” -- Charles Krauthammer on “Special Report with Bret Baier”
Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Sally Persons contributed to this report. Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here.
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