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ByJuliePace The Associated Press WASHINGTON Republi- can leaders in Washington have spent years casting tea party allies and hardliners in Congress as merely a res- tive minority, a fringe ele- ment to be tolerated. Now, with Donald Trump and Ted Cruz rising to the top of the 2016 GOP presi- dential primary, those party leaders are confronting the possibility that they may be the outliers. One by one, Washing- ton's favored candidates have dropped out of the White House race. Those who are left — Marco Ru- bio and John Kasich — face long odds and sudden- death primaries in their home states next week. In private conversations and public newspaper editori- als, talk of a historic splin- tering of the GOP centers on the prospect of the es- tablishment, not the insur- gents, dissolving or break- ing away. "Something important is ending. It is hard to be- lieve what replaces it will be better," Peggy Noonan, a speechwriter for Ronald Reagan, wrote in a Wall Street Journal column. Republicans have long grappled with a divide be- tween party leaders and grass-roots supporters. Re- cent presidential elections papered over the fissures rather than resolved them, with Republicans sending centrist candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney into the general election even as the GOP electorate became more conservative. Leaders expected the 2016 election to follow the same pattern. Money flowed toward former Flor- ida Gov. Jeb Bush, the son and brother of presidents, who seemed to embody the spirit of inclusiveness GOP leaders called for af- ter Romney's staggering lack of success with mi- nority voters in 2012. Even when Trump shook up the race last summer, more tra- ditional Republicans confi- dently predicted his appeal would be short-lived. But Trump has main- tained his grip on the GOP field, with Cruz emerging as his strongest competitor. As establishment favorites like Bush have dropped out, Trump and Cruz's share of the vote has increased. In a diverse array of states, from Maine to Georgia to Ne- vada, they've carried more than 60 percent. "It's a weird election year," said Trent Lott, the former Mississippi senator who is backing Kasich. "De- pending on how this elec- tion turns out, the party may be different." To some Republicans, that would be welcome. "For the party to fix itself, you need to destroy the es- tablishment lane," said Mi- chael Needham, head of Heritage Action, a con- servative advocacy group that has pushed for ideo- logical purity among GOP elected officials. "The party that we'll see 10 years from now is going to share a lot of Trump's willingness to speak truth to power, to not be cowed by political correctness." Trump's rise in partic- ular has sparked discus- sions among Washington Republicans about block- ing the real estate mogul in a contested convention or perhaps rallying around a third-party candidate who could keep him from the White House. After flirting with an in- dependent run, New York City Mayor Michael Bloom- berg announced Monday that he would not take that step. He concluded that do- ing so could make it easier for Trump or Cruz to win the presidency. "That is not a risk I can take in good conscience," Bloomberg said in an on- line post. Rubio, of Florida, and Ka- sich, of Ohio, have one last chance to emerge as viable alternatives. Their home states vote on March 15 and offer winner-take-all caches of delegates that could re- vive sagging candidacies. Rubio does not plan to leave Florida until after next week's primary. Cam- paign officials concede it will be virtually impossible to stay in the race without a home-state win, but have expressed confidence vot- ers will move toward him as primary day draws closers. INSIDERS VS. OUTSIDERS GOP establishment fears loss of standing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs at a campaign rally in Concord, N.C., on Monday. GERRY BROOME — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS By Ken Thomas and David Eggert The Associated Press KALAMAZOO,MICH. Trying to make a stand in Michi- gan, Sen. Bernie Sanders said Monday that Hillary Clinton was being disingen- uous when she asserted that he opposed the auto bail- out that rescued carmakers General Motors and Chrys- ler from oblivion during the economic crisis. Sanders sought to defend his record ahead of Tues- day's crucial Michigan pri- mary and blunt the former secretary of state's momen- tum in the Democratic pres- idential contest. The bailout of the U.S. auto industry by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama remains popular in Michigan, the home of the U.S. auto indus- try, and has been credited with preserving the Mid- west's manufacturing base. "Secretary Clinton went out of her way to mischar- acterize my history as it re- lates to the 2008 auto in- dustry bailout," the Ver- mont senator said during a rally in Kalamazoo, Michi- gan. "Let me be as clear as I can: There was one vote in the United States Senate on whether or not to support the auto bailout and pro- tect jobs in Michigan and around this country. I voted for the auto bailout." Sanders was referring to a December 2008 vote in which Michigan's Demo- cratic senators, Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, pleaded with fellow law- makers to provide a $14 billion lifeline to GM and Chrysler, which were tee- tering on the brink of bank- ruptcy at the time. Sanders and Clinton both voted in favor of the bill but it failed to clear the Sen- ate, prompting Bush to an- nounce about a week later that the federal government would step in with $17.4 bil- lion in federal aid to help the carmakers survive and re- structure. The bailout pro- vided $13.4 billion at the end of the Bush administra- tion with the last $4 billion contingent on the release of thesecondinstallmentofthe Wall Street bailout funds. In Sunday night's debate, Clinton declared that Sand- ers "was against the auto bailout. In January of 2009, President-electObamaasked everybody in the Congress to vote for the bailout. The money was there, and had to be released in order to save theAmericanautoindustry." She added: "I voted to save the auto industry. He voted against the money that ended up saving the auto industry. I think that is a pretty big difference." Clinton's campaign began airing a radio ad in Michi- gan on Monday with a sim- ilar message. Clinton was referring to a Jan. 15, 2009, vote in which the Senate consid- ered a motion to block the release of the second half of the $700 billion financial rescue package. Both Bush and Obama, then the pres- ident-elect, had urged Con- gress to release the second $350 billion of the Trou- bled Asset Relief Program funds. The effort to block the funds was led by Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, a Repub- lican, and the measure was defeated by 45 Democrats, including Clinton, and a handful of Republicans. Sanders, who opposed the Wall Street bailout, voted with Vitter's side to block the money. "What I did not vote for — and make no apologies — is to bail out the crooks on Wall Street whose illegal behavior and greed brought this economy into the worst downturn since the 1930s," Sanders said in Kalamazoo. DEMOCRATIC RACE Sanders: Clinton mischaracterized stance on automaker bailout in debate CHARLIE NEIBERGALL — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a campaign rally on Monday in Dearborn, Mich. By Jessica Gresko The Associated Press WASHINGTON A federal judge sided Monday with the District of Columbia in an ongoing dispute over the city's strict gun law, agreeing that the city can continue to en- force it while a lawsuit proceeds. Judge Colleen Kollar- Kotelly denied a motion by opponents for a prelim- inary injunction halting enforcement of portions of the law. Opponents imme- diately said in a court fil- ing that they are appealing the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Opponents of the law include city residents and the Bellevue, Washington- based Second Amendment Foundation. They object to portions of the law that re- quire a person who wants to carry a concealed hand- gun outside their home to show he or she has a "good reason to fear injury to his or her person or property" or another "proper reason" for carrying the weapon. Reasons might include a personal threat, or a job that requires a person to carry or protect cash or valuables. Kollar-Kotelly said in her 31-page ruling that opponents had not shown that their lawsuit was likely to be success- ful, leading her to deny the request for a prelimi- nary injunction. She also noted that appeals courts in other parts of the coun- try had approved of laws in New York, New Jersey and Maryland that are similar to the District of Colum- bia's. Kollar-Kotelly's ruling follows a lengthy legal back-and-forth in the case already. Opponents were initially granted a prelimi- nary injunction by another judge in May 2015. That ruling was appealed, and the appeals court ruled late last year that the judge didn't have the authority to decide the case. Kollar- Kotelly was then assigned to the case. Alan Gottlieb, the founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, said in a telephone inter- view that the ruling was what they had expected from Kollar-Kotelly but that he appreciated that she made a quick ruling so that it could be appealed. Gottlieb said opponents look forward to ultimately winning their case. District of Columbia At- torney General Karl A. Ra- cine, whose office has been defending the city's gun law, said in a statement that his office was pleased with the ruling "because it means the District will be able to continue enforc- ing its law requiring appli- cants for permits to carry concealed guns in public to state a 'good reason' for do- ing so." ONGOING DISPUTE Judge sides with DC in lawsuit over gun law Alloffersforalimitedtime.Notallbuyerswillqualifyforindividualprograms.SeeRedBluffChrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Ramforcompletedetailsandvehiclequalificationsforallcurrentlyrunningprograms.0%and1.9%APRfinancingarenotapplica-bleonthesenewselectedmodels.AllrebatesinlieuofspecialAPRsofferedby Chrysler. All prices plus government fees and taxes, any finance charge, any dealer document, preparation charge, and any emission charge. �Subject to prior sales & credit approval. Some vehicle images in this ad are for illustration purposes only and may vary from actual vehicle. 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