The National Media, GETS BACK ON THE #TRUMPTRAIN
The national media’s Donald Trump obsession is back and as intense as ever. After falling into something like parity with his chief rivals after his Iowa defeat, media mentions of Trump skyrocketed after his New Hampshire win.
A media measurement taken by New Analytics before and after Tuesday’s primary shows that Trump is back to doubling up the media mentions of his next closest competitor. Number two this week is Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who saw media mentions spike on his runner-up finish in New Hampshire.
As for the rest of the pack, media attention was spread evenly among the trio that essentially tied for third in the Granite State: Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Jeb Bush. Ben Carson, on the other hand, is approaching absolute zero.
The team at New Analytics has built The Edge, a unique tool to measure which candidates are being talked about the most, and provided the first look to Fox News First.
Here are the percentages for the candidate’s shares of national mainstream media mentions on Feb. 10. Points gained or lost from before New Hampshire are listed in brackets. See the full results here.
Donald Trump 41.6 [+7.57]; John Kasich 19 [+11.2]; Ted Cruz 12.9 [-1.1]; Marco Rubio 12.9 [-11.6]; Jeb Bush 12 [-3.25]; Ben Carson 1.1 [-3.3]
Trump turns up Bush bashing ahead of Dubya’s campaign debut - The Hill: “Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is mocking rival Jeb Bush for bringing his brother, former President George W. Bush, to help campaign. ‘Don’t fall asleep when I mention the name,’ Trump said, when he brought up Jeb Bush during a rally in Louisiana on Thursday. ‘I see he’s bringing his brother in now. He tried the mother, who’s a very nice lady, I’m sure, but he tried the mother. That didn’t work out so good,’ he said. ‘Now he’s bringing in his brother.’”
Getting rougher - Conservative group Club for Growth Action, launched a new anti-Trump ad in South Carolina backed by $1.25 million that hits the celebrity billionaire for not having conservative values.
Oh, because political ads are so much classier? - NYT: “The campaign of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas released a biting negative ad against Senator Marco Rubio of Florida on Thursday, featuring a mock focus group and a woman decrying Mr. Rubio as nothing more than a ‘pretty face.’ Few will see that ad, however. The woman who made the comment in the ad is a soft-core pornography actress. The woman, Amy Lindsay, as first reported by BuzzFeed, has appeared in multiple movies with titles like ‘Carnal Wishes,’ ‘Insatiable Desires’ and ‘Private Sex Club.’ Ms. Lindsay told BuzzFeed that she was a Christian conservative and a Republican, deciding between supporting Mr. Cruz or Donald J. Trump. The Cruz campaign pulled the ad soon after the report on Thursday.”
Rubio’s comeback play - With his analysis as smooth as his pocket silk, David Drucker lays out Marco Rubio’s new strategy with a narrowed field in the first-in-the-South primary: “‘This isn’t a resume competition; it’s about judgment,’ senior Rubio advisor Todd Harris told the Washington Examiner on Thursday.”
Kasich nets Christie whale - WaPo: “Republican presidential candidate John Kasich’s campaign has secured the coveted support of billionaire Ken Langone, who will join the team to help with fundraising as it seeks to build out a robust national campaign infrastructure.”
#mediabuzz - Host Howard Kurtz is joined by excellence purveyor and Georgia Bulldog enthusiast Mary Katherine Ham, who will share her experience as a debate moderator. Watch Sunday at 11 a.m. ET, with a second airing at 5 p.m.
WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE…
Thursday marked 41 years since Margaret Thatcher became leader of the Opposition Party in Great Britain. She went on to become prime minister and an icon for the conservative movement in Europe, but the so-called “Iron Lady” was apparently not a fan of the European Union. The Telegraph brings us the recent story: “A private letter written by Margaret Thatcher reveals she would have campaigned to leave the European Union, according to the Eurosceptic Conservative MP who has released the note.
Sir Bill Cash MP has revealed the private correspondence he had with the former Prime Minister, in which she describes the EU project as ‘contrary to British interests and damaging to our Parliamentary democracy’…The letter to Sir Bill was composed shortly after the European Union was established under its current name in 1993 following the Maastricht Treaty. Lady Thatcher had stepped down and was no longer an MP in 1993, so was unable to vote.”
