Stop Trump makes a direct appeal

TAKING IT TO THE MAN: The Stop Trump movement took its case directly to the top of the Republican party today.

POLITICO’s Alex Isenstadt, checking in from the Republican National Committee’s meeting in Florida, reports that while DONALD TRUMP is working to build bridges with the Republican insiders who could decide a deadlocked convention, an anti-Trump group is racing to keep the two camps apart.


Our Principles PAC, an outside group devoted to defeating the billionaire, will be appealing to Republican National Committee officials gathered here for the party’s annual spring meeting. The super PAC, led by Republican strategists Brian Baker and Katie Packer, is presenting the committee’s 168 members — all of whom will be delegates at the July convention in Cleveland — with a four-page memo arguing they should reject calls to unify around Trump.

The offensive comes at a perilous time for the Stop Trump movement. Following Trump’s landslide win in New York, where the anti-Trump forces barely competed, there is a growing sense that he has seized momentum in the primary contest after a rocky period of internal disarray and a loss to Ted Cruz in Wisconsin. Trump is also expected to win all the states in contention next week. http://goo.gl/mxtMCS

Happy Friday. It’s your 2016 Blast. We’re proud to say we’ve stared down the Stop Blast movement and won. On to Cleveland. Henry C. Jackson (@henrycjjackson) is here to guide you through the day’s campaign news, so send your tips, complaints and best Prince memories to [email protected].

WHAT MATTERS: Here are four more things we’re watching today — and why they matter.

2. ALL EYEZ ON ME: Get it together, people. That was basically Reince Priebus’ message on Friday at the Republican National Committee’s meeting in Hollywood, Fla. The RNC chairman said it was imperative that Republicans unify, and he gently reminded attendees that voters are watching. "Our candidates are running for the nomination of the Republican Party. They’re trying out for our team. No one is forcing them to wear our jersey. We expect our candidates to support our party and our eventual nominee," Priebus said. http://goo.gl/yd4bwA

3. DELEGATE DANCE: Another subplot from the RNC meetings — all those delegates whose votes will determine the GOP nomination. As POLITICO’s Shane Goldmacher reports, delegates and RNC officials are feeling the warm embrace and hearing the whispered sweet nothings of all three of the remaining Republican candidates: DONALD TRUMP, TED CRUZ and JOHN KASICH. http://goo.gl/WAUn3s “The three-day, beachside meeting has amounted to a dry run of the kind of aggressive delegate hunting that would define an open convention this summer in Cleveland — and it saw some sharp elbows thrown between the Cruz and Kasich teams.” And, if courting doesn’t work, there’s always coercion. POLITICO’s Eli Stokols and Kyle Cheney report many delegates are getting death threats from DONALD TRUMP supporters demanding they support the GOP delegate leader. http://goo.gl/2Htfrh

4. MATTIS OF THE HEART: It wasn’t exactly a PAUL RYAN-esque “no way, no how.” But retired Gen. JAMES MATTIS doused a burgeoning draft-Mattis movement with cold water, POLITICO’s Austin Wright reports. The backstory: Amid fears about DONALD TRUMP, some have called for a plausible third-party candidate, perhaps a retired general, to run as an alternative — either as an option at a contested GOP convention, or as a third party candidate. Asked about the rumors on Friday, Mattis said flatly, “I haven’t given any thought to it.” And then insisted that reporters would know better than he would about stuff like that. http://goo.gl/tYy9LX

5. CROSSOVER HIT: Perhaps not surprisingly for a guy who defied categorization and bridged generations, the death of Prince managed to find its way into the 2016 conversation. CNN puzzled over how his death might impact the 2016 race. http://goo.gl/NYJn6U (Blast note: not at all). JOHN KASICH found time to praise his music. http://goo.gl/b97Xvl And BuzzFeed unearthed something amazing and weird, a connection between the man in purple and, who else, DONALD TRUMP. It turns out, Prince wrote a song called “Donald Trump (Black version)” for a group called Time. The song basically positioned Trump as an ideal, of sorts, and had lyrics like this: “Donald Trump (black version), maybe that’s what you need. A man that fulfills your every wish, your every dream.” You can listen here: http://goo.gl/2jQtQ7

TRAIL MIX: Elsewhere on the campaign trail, TED CRUZ’s staunch opposition to avocados haunts him. BERNIE SANDERS bashes Rahm Emanuel and hits Philly. A billionaire backs DONALD TRUMP. And Evan Bayh stops by.

HE’S TOAST: A super PAC backing HILLARY CLINTON is running an ad attacking TED CRUZ because he hates avocados. http://goo.gl/ex51az

BLAST NOTE: Nearly disqualifying, if true — but still better than eating pizza with a fork.

HAMM(ER) TIME: Billionaire oil man Harold Hamm endorsed DONALD TRUMP. http://goo.gl/K2zwjc

STILL BERNING: Fresh of a hiatus, BERNIE SANDERS hit Philadelphia today hammering his message about income inequality. (CBS Philadelphia) http://goo.gl/PocNul

RAHM BOW: BERNIE SANDERS also found time to rip Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel for his ouster of a Chicago Public School principal who had criticized him. (Chicagoist) http://goo.gl/O1hoZP

BAYH BY: Former Indiana senator, and perennial VP shortlister Evan Bayh campaigned for HILLARY CLINTON in his home state. (WishTV) http://goo.gl/YjFWLg

LOOKING AHEAD: Candidates are still focused on the group of eastern states voting on Tuesday. HILLARY CLINTON is in Connecticut, BERNIE SANDERS is in Delaware. DONALD TRUMP also announced a big foreign policy speech for next week — he’ll address the Council on Foreign Relations on Tuesday.

THEY SAID IT: “Unity makes the impossible, possible.” — RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, trying to fire up Republicans in Florida.

MAGIC NUMBER: 168. That’s the number of members of the Republican National Committee, who have been meeting this week in Florida. http://goo.gl/O6lulq

HARRY REID BETS BIG TO PRESERVE HIS LEGACY While Harry Reid might not be on the Nevada ballot in 2016, his presence looms as large as ever over his state's elections. The latest installment of POLITICO Magazine's "What Works" series explores how the retiring U.S. Senate Minority Leader is working hard to preserve his own legacy by running the table of key races in Nevada possibly helping Democrats to recapture the Senate majority. http://politi.co/1NE0PVM

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