Hello and welcome to Background Briefing available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org.

I'm Ian Masters, and today we'll look into a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with Trump's expected victory in South Carolina after his keynote speech on

Friday at CPAC, in which he referred to himself as a proud dissident and a total genius.

We'll discuss how this year's gathering of right-wing activists was lackluster compared to earlier conclaves,

signaling Trump's flagging appeal in the general election as he makes strides in the primaries with the Maga Faithful.

Joining us is Tom Lobienko, a national political reporter for 24th site, covering Trump's third run for the White House.

He's the author of the biography of Vice President Mike Pence, Piety and Power, Mike Pence

and the Taking of the White House, and his writing has appeared in Vanity Fares the Hive,

The Washington Post, Yahoo News, Politico magazine and more.

He previously covered the Trump-Russia investigation and the White

House for the Associated Press and the 2016 campaign and Congress for CNN, and we will assess

the chances of the vice presidential hopefuls auditioning to be Trump's running mate in spite of

Trump having tried to have his previous vice president

killed. Then we'll examine the rural urban divide and get an analysis of why the Democrats aren't

making inroads into red state America while the Republicans get 69% of the rural vote

without doing anything to help rural folk, instead doing a lot to harm them.

Joining us is Paul Waldman, a journalist and opinion writer who is a former columnist at the

Washington Post and the author or co-author of four previous books on media and politics,

including Being Right is Not Enough, What Progressives must learn from conservative success and the

press effect, politicians, journalists and the stories that shape the political world.

His latest book co-authored with Tom Schaller is White Rural Rage, The Threat to American

...