For the Record: The 2016 Games
Happy Friday, For the Record friends! We are inching ever closer to a time when hearts will be broken, destinies will play out and a new person will claim victory. Related: What does it say about us as a country that this describes both ‘The Hunger Games’ saga and our presidential election cycles?
Before we get ourselves to a movie theater because Team FTR *still* hasn’t seen ‘Mockingjay Part II’ (#teampeeta), give us -- Jessica, Brett and Joanna -- a follow on Twitter and get our witty commentary delivered to your inbox six days a week.
THE HUNGER GAMES
We like to think of the Iowa caucuses as the Hunger Games. You can't wait for them to be over. The tributes come from far and wide to battle it out and become victors. Some of them have trained all their lives for it, others, not so much. You have your favorites and the people you root against. And there's so much commentary happening about how various strategies are going to help/hurt the tributes. The latest to offer their thoughts: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Family Leader president Bob Vander Plaats.
CATCHING FIRE
A GOP rivalry is heating up: Marco Rubio vs. Ted Cruz. In the alternate universe where Trump doesn't rule GOP supreme, the two senators are vying for the role of the Chosen One (we recognize that we're mixing popular literature references at this point). And lucky for us, we get to see how the match plays out in Vegas, allowing us to put all those terrible casino metaphors to use. Who will hit the jackpot? Who has an ace in the hole? Can they beat the house when the house is Trump? (First lesson: the house always wins.)
MOCKINGJAY
Theory: Has Trump become the Mockingjay to the masses who believe in him? For all of the supposedly unelectable things he has said for months on end, he has held onto his status as the poster child of the anti-politician. Case in point: he's still leading the polls. A new national poll has him at 35%, nearly 20 points ahead of the No. 2 man, Cruz. CBS News, which conducted the poll, noted that "most" of the interviews for this poll came before Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the country. Still, "most" isn't "all." A South Carolina poll also shows the Donald leading Cruz, 24% to 16%.
MORE FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
- Maybe Ted Cruz has a future as a televangelist (Paste BN)
- Hillary Clinton to Iowa students: Ask and ye shall receive (Des Moines Register)
- Donald Trump is learning what consequences are (Paste BN OnPolitcs)
- Money, money, money for Marco Rubio (Paste BN)
Thanks for sticking it out. Your reward: another version of the Trump-eagle gif. (BTW, he totes wasn't scared of it anyway.)
