Last week’s voting produced more of a horse race than the A.W.I. has seen lately. Yes, Donald Trump finished first (35 percent)—breaking Pete Hegseth’s one-week winning streak—largely on the strength of his agitating for a Nobel Prize and lying about having, years ago, warned everyone about Osama bin Laden, if only the world had listened, etc. But not far behind was publicity-shy Kristi Noem (23.2 percent), who weighed in on Portland terrorists and on the kinds of football fans who should be attending the Super Bowl (“law-abiding Americans who love this country”). Solidly in third place was the surprise Paris Fashion Week attendee Meghan Markle (14.8 percent).
Ahead, new opportunities for spotlight-hogging. But first:
