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On the roster: Bernie in the barrel for South Carolina debate - Team Trump frets over the politics of contagion - Senate primary draws sharp divisions in Kansas GOP - Your passport to deliciousness



BERNIE IN THE BARREL FOR SOUTH CAROLINA DEBATE

AP: “Democratic rivals to Bernie Sanders are preparing to try to knock him off his front-runner perch in a debate Tuesday night before a critical South Carolina primary that could dramatically reshape the race. With mounting fear among the Democratic establishment that the self-described democratic socialist is on the verge of gaining a significant lead in the delegates needed to secure the nomination, several candidates are resorting to a last ditch effort to stop him. The day before Tuesday night’s debate in Charleston, they previewed their lines of attack in a series of digital or television advertisements. Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, highlighted Sanders’ call for a government-financed health care system as an example of his ‘polarization.’ Former Vice President Joe Biden accused Sanders of trying to undermine President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection. And former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg assailed Sanders’ record on gun control.”



Tries to get his math straight before showdown - Fox News: “Bernie Sanders unexpectedly released a fact-sheet Monday night explaining that he'd pay for his sweeping new government programs through new taxes and massive lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry, as well as by slashing spending on the military, among other methods. The move sought to head off complaints from Republicans and some rival Democrats that his plans were economically unrealistic, especially after a head-turning CBS News interview in which the frustrated Vermont senator said he couldn't ‘rattle off to you every nickel and every dime’ about his proposed expenditures.”



Doubles down on praise for Fidel Castro’s government - CNN: ‘Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday stood by his partial defense of Fidel Castro's Cuban revolution, stating bluntly: ‘The truth is the truth.’ The senator from Vermont has faced a wave of bipartisan criticism since his interview on CBS' ‘60 Minutes’ aired Sunday night in which he praised a ‘literacy program’ the Cuban government launched in its first years and asserted that ‘it's unfair to simply say everything is bad’ with the way Castro ruled the country. Speaking during CNN's presidential town hall in South Carolina Monday night, Sanders again talked up the ‘literacy program’ Cuba launched in its first years. ‘There were a lot of folks in Cuba at that point who were illiterate. He formed the literacy brigade,’ Sanders said. ‘(Castro) went out and they helped people learn to read and write. You know what, I think teaching people to read and write is a good thing.’”



Biden clings to narrow lead in Palmetto State - NBC News: “Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., are locked in a tight contest in South Carolina, according to a new NBC News/Marist poll ahead of the state's Democratic primary Saturday. Biden gets the support of 27 percent of likely Democratic primary voters in South Carolina, while Sanders gets 23 percent — well within the poll's margin of error of plus-minus 6 percentage points. They're followed by billionaire activist Tom Steyer at 15 percent, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 9 percent, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., at 8 percent and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., at 5 percent. No other candidate gets more than 3 percent in the poll. … Turning to the general election in November, 53 percent of all registered voters in the state approve of Trump's job, while 41 percent disapprove.”



LITTLE LOVE FOR BERNIE IN SUPER TUESDAY OKLAHOMA

KOTV-DT: “A week and a day away from Super Tuesday, and it appears Oklahoma Democrats and Independents are having a tough time deciding who to support for president. According to an exclusive News 9 / News On 6 poll, former Vice President Joe Biden holds a slight lead in the Sooner State over former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg. This poll, conducted between Feb. 17-21, was taken after last week's Nevada debates. It shows Biden with 21.2 percent support among those polled, followed closely behind by Bloomberg at 19.8 percent. Those who are unsure come in at 19.3 percent, followed by Bernie Sanders (12.8 percent), Pete Buttigieg (10.1 percent), Oklahoma City native Elizabeth Warren (8.7 percent) and Amy Klobuchar (6.5 percent).”



Buttigieg launches Super Tuesday ads -Politico: “Pete Buttigieg is going up with a TV and digital ad buy in a dozen Super Tuesday states — one of the last 2020 presidential candidate to do so ahead of next week's mega-primary day. Buttigieg's campaign will start airing TV spots on Tuesday and Wednesday in 12 of the 14 March 3 primary states, part of a seven-figure ad buy on cable and broadcast stations, shared first with POLITICO. The campaign will also go up with a second, seven-figure digital ad program in those states. Buttigieg's late start in TV advertising is another sign that he's feeling the financial pressure of his better-funded presidential rivals. Bernie Sanders, who raised $25 million in January, and Mike Bloomberg, who is self-funding his bid, have already poured millions into spending on TV ads in these states. Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren also started airing TV ads earlier this week. Joe Biden, notably, also hasn't started airing TV ads in Super Tuesday states.”



Sanders leads in Maryland - The Baltimore Sun: “U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders leads the Maryland Democratic primary race for president, a new poll from Goucher College shows. In a survey conducted Feb. 13-19, 24% of respondents said they plan to vote for Sanders in the state’s April 28 primary. Former Vice President Joe Biden was in second place with 18% support, followed by billionaire Michael Bloomberg with 16%.About 7% of respondents said they planned to vote for former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, while U.S. senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts each had 6% support. Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, is leading an average of national polls by double digits.”



Mishkin: Dems divide may be generational, not political - Fox News: “Many political analysts like to break the Democratic race into lanes, such as ‘strongly liberal,’ which includes voters who support Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass; and moderates, which includes voters who support former Vice President Joe Biden, former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and others. … However, the real divide that is emerging is based on age. Young people are strongly embracing Sanders, while older voters are more divided. Sanders is struggling to gain traction with that group. … What is it about the 78-year-old member of the silent generation (like Biden and Bloomberg, Sanders was born too early to be called a ‘boomer’) that creates such appeal, even in a field with the first serious millennial candidate for president? Ironically enough, it may be his embrace of an ideology, socialism, that is seen as an anathema to many so-called boomers.”



THE RULEBOOK: LET IT MARINATE

“‘[It] is time only that can mature and perfect so compound a system, can liquidate the meaning of all the parts, and can adjust them to each other in a harmonious and consistent WHOLE.” – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 82



TIME OUT: MARTIAN MURMUR

NatGeo: “Under its frigid, dusty surface, Mars is humming. The quiet, constant drone periodically pulses with the beat of quakes rippling around the planet, but the source of this alien music remains unknown. This Martian hum is just one in a slew of fresh mysteries and discoveries detected by NASA’s InSight lander. … InSight touched down on Mars in November 2018, following a harrowing descent to a flat, featureless expanse near the planet's equator. Since then, the craft has been using an extremely sensitive seismometer and an array of additional instruments to take readings that are helping scientists untangle Mars’s geologic activity and internal structure. … In addition to the strange hum, the latest batch of data from InSight describes the first active fault zone discovered on Mars, patterns and pulses in the modern magnetic fields, and hints to the planet’s magnetic past. Taken together, the information gleaned from Mars is vital to figuring out how all rocky planets form and evolve over time.”



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SCOREBOARD

ESTIMATED DELEGATES FOR DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION

Sanders: 45

Buttigieg: 25

Biden: 15

Warren: 8

Klobuchar: 7

[Ed. note: 1,991 delegates needed to win]



TRUMP JOB PERFORMANCE

Average approval: 46 percent

Average disapproval: 50.4 percent

Net Score: -4.4 percent

Change from one week ago: ↑ 3 points

[Average includes: Gallup: 49% approve - 48% disapprove; ABC News/WaPo: 46% approve - 52% disapprove; NBC News/WSJ: 47% approve - 50% disapprove; NPR/PBS/Marist: 44% approve - 51% disapprove; Monmouth University: 44% approve - 51% disapprove.]



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TEAM TRUMP FRETS OVER THE POLITICS OF CONTAGION

Politico: “Stock markets tumbled around the world. The number of coronavirus cases mushroomed in advanced nations like Italy, Japan and South Korea. And travel bans expanded as leaders confronted the nightmarish prospect of a spreading virus swallowing their nations. President Donald Trump’s top aides faced an increasingly urgent threat Monday with potentially monumental implications: a global outbreak knocking down the U.S. economy and walloping markets in an election year, all against accusations about whether the Trump administration had mismanaged and underfunded a critical response with American lives on the line. …Trump allies and advisers have grown increasingly worried that a botched coronavirus response will hit the U.S. economy. Even Donald Trump Jr. has mused to associates he hopes the White House does not screw up the response and put the president’s best reelection message at risk, said two individuals with knowledge of his comments.”



CDC: Americans should prepare for ‘significant disruption’ - NYT: “Americans should brace for the likelihood that the coronavirus will spread to communities in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday. ‘It’s not so much of a question of if this will happen in this country any more but a question of when this will happen,’ said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. She said that public health officials have no idea whether the spread of the disease to the United States would be mild or severe, but that Americans should be ready for a significant disruption to their daily lives. ‘We are asking the American public to prepare for the expectation that this might be bad,’ Dr. Messonnier said.”



Trump asks Congress for $2.5 billion coronavirus budget - Politico: “The Trump administration sent to Capitol Hill on Monday night its $2.5 billion supplemental budget request for additional money to fight the coronavirus, but House Democrats immediately labeled it as insufficient, indicating a battle ahead in Congress over the emergency aid. The administration’s request would require enhanced authority to move around federal funds — a non-starter with Democrats, who are already livid over White House moves to reshuffle existing federal funds toward the border wall. The package proposes using untouched money, including hundreds of millions of dollars in fiscal 2020 cash to fight Ebola. In total, the administration is seeking just $1.25 billion in new funding, relying on extra flexibility to unlock the rest.”



Leaves India without a trade deal - NYT: “President Trump said on Tuesday that he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India had made progress toward what he hopes will be a landmark trade agreement between the two economic giants. But there was no breakthrough to announce after formal talks on the second and final day of the president’s visit, as Mr. Trump complained about steep Indian tariffs. A joint public appearance by the two leaders was long on florid language about the strength of their relationship and short on concrete results. While Mr. Trump had said before departing the United States that ‘we may make a tremendous deal there,’ the two sides appeared far apart on major points of a trade pact. … Speaking at a news conference a few hours later, he diverged from the sunny rhetoric that had characterized his appearances with Mr. Modi over the past two days, saying that India maintained unfairly high tariffs on American goods, including Harley Davidson motorcycles.”



SENATE PRIMARY DRAWS SHARP DIVISIONS IN KANSAS GOP

The Topeka Capital-Journal: “Kansas Congressman Roger Marshall landed Monday a second significant endorsement in his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat to be vacated by retiring Republican Pat Roberts. Former Gov. Jeff Colyer, a Republican, said during a Topeka news conference that Marshall was a leader who can unify Kansas and help reinforce the state's conservative policy foundation. Marshall represents the 1st District of Kansas, which stretches from the Colorado border to Emporia and also includes cities of Hays, Garden City, Hutchinson, Manhattan and Salina. … Marshall is competing for the Republican nomination against Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle, former Secretary of State Kris Kobach and former Kansas City Chiefs player Dave Lindstrom.”



Upton announces run for an 18th term - The Detroit News: “U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, a St. Joseph Republican who's increasingly become a Democratic target, will run for an 18th term in the U.S House, he said Monday night. The decision by Upton, who said he had ‘unfinished business,’ ensures that Republicans will have a well-funded incumbent to run in what could be a competitive southwest Michigan district. In 2018, a year when Democrats flipped two other U.S. House seats in the state, voters re-elected Upton by 4.5 percentage points. … Upton represents the 6th District, which includes Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, Berrien, Cass and Van Buren counties and most of Allegan County.”



PLAY-BY-PLAY

Hillary signals she’d back Bernie if he’s nominated - Fox News



Arizona House candidate drops out after heroin overdose - AZ Central



Trump’s doctor hits road bumps in congressional run - NYT



AUDIBLE: RAWR

“It’s about putting yourself aside and letting people interact with the symbol.” – Adrian Ramos, a temporary contractor hired by AARP to dress as “Rx T. Rex”, quoted in a piece by the WaPo on the history of costumed campaign workers.



FROM THE BLEACHERS

“Thank you for the flashback. I remember watching the riots outside the [1968 Democratic National Convention] on the news and thinking ‘What are we coming to?’ I’m thinking the same thing now. As a moderate independent, I don’t seem to fit in. All I see are two guys who speak incessantly but don’t say much. It’s very disheartening.” – Dani Marquardt, Carol Stream, Ill.



[Ed. note: Maybe I’m too much sunny-side up, but when I think about the political travails of 50 years ago or of the 1930s I take a great deal of encouragement. First there’s the fact that we’re not where the country was in the days of George Wallace or Huey Long, and if we ever do get there, I see encouragement that we will endure, and emerge better than when we began the troubles.]



“Your statement that ‘the two parties are on a path toward increasing extremism,’ caught my eye. If you are referencing Senator Sanders and President Trump, I think it’s fairly clear that many of the positions held by Sanders would be classified as ‘extreme’ by most Americans and even many Democrats and liberal talking heads. On the other hand, Trump’s positions, generally, would hardly seem to fall into the ‘extreme’ category. His statements at rallies and on Twitter are often tasteless, tacky, vulgar – pick a synonym – but they normally aren’t descriptive of his political positions.” – Pat Conroy, West Lake Hills, Texas



[Ed. note: I betcha a Sanders supporter would say that there was nothing extreme about providing health insurance to desperate Americans or about saving the planet. The same Sanders backer would probably go on to say that Trump’s tax cuts for billionaires, immigration policies and rollback of environmental regulations were all out of the mainstream. We are quite good at rationalizing about the people with whom we agree. I would encourage you to take one step back and look not at which side is worse or more at fault, but at the overall tone and mode of politics today. Extremism in policy, attitude and affect are common in both parties. This isn’t about the two leading contenders for president, it’s about the ways in which intense pluralities in both parties are holding the process captive.]



Share your color commentary: Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM and please make sure to include your name and hometown.



YOUR PASSPORT TO DELICIOUSNESS

UPI: “A group of New York state students craving Chick-fil-A concocted a scheme that involved buying an airline ticket without boarding a plane. Vincent Putrino, a senior at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, said he and his cross country/track and field teammates had a week off from competitions and decided they wanted to buy some Chick-fil-A for a team lunch. The group discovered the nearest Chick-fil-A was an hour and a half away from the school, but they then discovered the fast food eatery had a location inside Albany International Airport. The team members each chipped in about $5.50 to buy Putrino a $98 one-way airline ticket to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which was the cheapest ticket they could find that departs from Albany. Putrino used the ticket to go through airport security and get to the Chick-fil-A, where he ordered $227.28 worth of food, including 15 sandwiches, 15 large fries, 13 orders of 12-piece nuggets, a bag of cookies and a lemonade. Putrino then left the airport and served lunch to his teammates.”



AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…

“The study of cloning can give the world deep insights into such puzzles as spinal cords, heart muscle and brain tissue that won't regenerate after injury, or cancer cells that revert to embryonic stage and multiply uncontrollably.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing in Time magazine on June 24, 2001.



Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.