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On this week’s Slate Political Gabfest, David Plotz, John Dickerson, and guest Ruth Marcus discuss the latest Super Tuesday results and delegate system, the significance of the violence at Trump rallies, and President Obama’s calculated nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court.
Here are some of the links and references mentioned during this week’s show:
- Is Trump going to avoid a contested convention?
- The delegate process is confusing. Here it is spelled out. Are there any scenarios in which Trump does not win a majority of the delegates?
- Is Trump inciting violence? Is this a real sign of fascism? Where do we draw the line with free speech?
- Trump has no boundaries—see his YouTube video slamming Hillary Clinton.
- Trump is the most unfavorably rated presidential candidate ever recorded.
- Why did President Obama nominate Merrick Garland? What is Obama saying by doing so? What have the reactions been to Garland’s nomination?
- The political climate could not support a non-traditional SCOTUS nominee. Take as evidence the immediate and extreme TV advertising against Jane Kelly.
John chatters about “A King in His Castle”—Jason Horowitz’s New York Times piece on Donald Trump’s lavish Mar-a-Lago home and the habits he keeps while there.
Ruth chatters about a Washington Post story about four 99-year-old friends who’ve grown up together in Washington, D.C. and lived through an incredible transformation of the city.
David chatters about Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth—a stunning historical novel about the Atlantic slave trade he re-reads every few years.
Topic ideas for next week? You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest (#heygabfest). (Tweets may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Podcast production by Jocelyn Frank. Links compiled by Elle Bisgaard-Church.
