There's nothing like a good scandal to liven up a dull week

USA Votes 2016
US election campaign: There's nothing like a good scandal to liven up an otherwise dull week
By Roscoe Whalan in our Washington bureau

No primaries, no action? Think again.

Just when we thought it was going to be a quiet week on the campaign trail, there was another thing coming. But that's the thing with this election campaign — nothing is "normal" anymore.

Scandal continues to follow Donald Trump's campaign around like a shadow, but so too do the cameras.

First it was comments about other candidates' wives, then, there was the suggestion that women who have abortions should be punished — not to mention charges against his campaign manager for allegedly manhandling a reporter (more on that later), so again, guess who dominated the news cycle?

For any other candidate, it'd be the week from hell. But as I said, nothing's predictable.

Victors

Ted Cruz

From one of the most hated Senators to the GOP's preferred choice — it's been a quick ascent for the Texan.

Former presidential hopeful and Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker endorsed Mr Cruz earlier this week. Walker is the fifth former candidate to endorse him, joining Carly Fiorina, Jeb Bush, Lindsey Graham and Rick Perry.

Also worth noting, Marquette University released its most recent poll ahead of Tuesday's primary, which says Cruz has the edge in Wisconsin.

Bernie Sanders

The Vermont Sander will not lie down after picking up three more big wins over the weekend in Alaska, Hawaii and Washington.

That's seven in a row for the Sanders campaign, who are now trying to woo super delegates to their side before the convention despite the mathematical improbability of Bernie securing the nomination.

Vanquished?

Corey Lewandowski

Donald Trump's right-hand man was making headlines for the all the wrong reasons this week after he was charged with battery after a situation with a reporter.

Here's the timeline of what you need to know:
  • The incident occurred on March 9.
  • The reporter in question, Michelle Fields, detailed the incident and tweeted a picture of her bruises.
  • Mr Lewandowski responded on Twitter the following day calling her "delusional".
  • Two days later, Fields and three other colleagues quit over their employer's lack of support in the matter.
  • Fast forward a few weeks and it's Tuesday: Mr Lewandowski was charged with misdemeanour battery and turned himself in.
  • The Trump campaign was quick to release a statement saying that Lewandowski is "absolutely innocent of this charge".
  • When Mr Trump decided that wasn't enough, he tweeted: "Wow, Corey Lewandowski, my campaign manager and a very decent man, was just charged with assaulting a reporter. Look at tapes-nothing there!"
  • Fields then replied: "Because my story never changed. Seriously, just stop lying."
  • Trump kept tweeting and threatened to press charges of his own.
Deep breath. You made it. That is the Lewandowski scandal. Nothing to see here.

He Has Risen

Donald Trump's campaign refuses to die but that hasn't stopped one anonymous New Yorker from preparing his plot in Central Park.

The tombstone apparently appeared in the park over the weekend with the words, "Made America Hate Again" beneath. It was removed by the parks service by Monday morning.

Say it again

After this long on the campaign trail, we've gotten used to the same old stump speeches from the candidates, whether it's "Making America Great Again" from Mr Trump, or income inequality from Bernie Sanders, but Milo Beckman from FiveThirtyEight has used data from The Washington Post to make this table showing the most-repeated phrases from Democratic rivals Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

I won't spoil it but, let me say this, you won't be surprised.

But you said...

Hillary Clinton's campaign has played this campaign pretty safe so far and dealt with a plucky rival in Bernie Sanders, but apparently she's had enough of debating — at least until Senator Sanders changes his tone.

The comments came after the Clinton campaign initially refused to debate Senator Sanders in New York ahead of the Primary on April 19.

However, a video dredged up from the 2008 campaign runs counter to that line of thinking, where Mrs Clinton said she'd be willing to debate anytime, anywhere.

Cheers to that

The anti-Trump movement has certainly been rising in recent weeks, but now a resourceful Philadelphia brewery is using that to turn a profit.

Dock Street Brewing released a "Short Fingered Stout" this week and if you're still not convinced you should read the label: "A bitter and delusional stout with an airy, light-haired head atop a so-so body. Don't worry, its bark is worse than its bite. This big bay comes in a somewhat conservative 4.5 per cent." Mmmm ...

The Left-Wing Birdie Sanders

Bernie Sanders' political revolution has ruffled some feathers, but this moment was too good.

At a rally in Portland last Friday, a small bird stole the stage. When Senator Sanders started talking to the bird after it perched itself atop the lectern from which he was speaking.

It didn't take long for #feelthebird to start trending and the late night circuit was in full flight. OK, I'll leave the jokes to them.

Eating it Up

Donald Trump dislikes breakfast, loves McDonald's and doesn't mind cherry vanilla ice cream either, according to an investigation by The Washington Post.

If you judge a man by the food he eats, this is the article for you.

By The Numbers

172 — That's the number of delegates Marco Rubio ended up with and now is trying to keep despite suspending his campaign.

Why? To stop Mr Trump, of course. USA Today explains that Rubio is trying to get states to let him keep the delegates he won to stop Trump scooping those up before the Convention in July.

Egging On

Once a week, it's nice to check in on the guy who's actually President right now, Barack Obama.

In his final year of office, Mr Obama is making the most of his time. This week POTUS took some time out on Monday for the annual Easter egg roll before reading Where the Wild Things are to some kids.

It was his last Easter as President and it looks like he had a lot of fun.

Where to from here?

All things are pointing to Wisconsin, which is an important state in terms of both number of delegates and momentum moving forward.

That's next Tuesday and from there we head to New York and beyond!

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