Pushing the narrative of Mitt Romney losing the presidential election on Monday's NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie seized on an article in Politico that "details squabbling among Romney advisers, a lot of blind quotes, anonymous quotes." She turned to political director Chuck Todd and wondered: "Is this a fairly ominous sign for the campaign, that they're already blaming each other anonymously in print?" [Listen to the audio [1] or watch the video after the jump]
Todd proclaimed: "Well, this certainly doesn't happen in winning campaigns, right, Savannah? This is the type of thing you read about losing campaigns. It reads like a pre-bituary,
if you will, as if people are looking to see who's going to get the
blame for blowing the Republican Party's best chance at knocking off an
incumbent president in nearly 30 years."
However, Todd did downplay the report to some degree: "That said, this
feels like over-panic, if you will. 50 days, we still have a ways to
go."
Earlier in the discussion, Guthrie asked about the political impact of
the crisis in the Middle East: "Romney is obviously trying to seize the
moment, but I guess the question is, is he smart to go with foreign
policy, to the extent that distracts him from the economy, which is his
calling card for the election?"
Todd suggested more Republican infighting: "There's an internal dispute
in the campaign about which direction to go....I think that's sort of
the dispute internally in the campaign....the Romney folks don't want to
look like they're off message....and the public may turn around and
say, 'Hey, wait a minute, what about the economy?'"
Here is a full transcript of the September 17 exchange:
7:09AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: How are these attacks and protests abroad impacting
the presidential race? Chuck Todd is NBC's political director, chief
White House correspondent. Chuck, good morning to you.
CHUCK TODD: Good morning, Savannah.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Politics & Protests; How Are Obama & Romney Reacting to Embassy Attacks?]
GUTHRIE: Of course, these events don't take place in a vacuum, they
take place in the middle of a presidential campaign, and all along the
President's advisers have said they worried about an outside event,
something beyond their control that could impact the campaign. Does – do
these protests in the Middle East have the potential to have that kind
of impact to the extent they expose weakness in the President's
policies?
TODD: Look, they do. By the way, I'm reminded, listening to [Al Arabiya
Washington Bureau chief] Hisham [Melhem], all politics is local, even
overseas, and when you hear some of his descriptions of what's going on.
But, yes, this qualifies as one of those events. And it plays into this
narrative of, okay, are things better? You know, the President made
promises about an outreach to the Muslim world. Are things better? Matt
brought up the speech in Cairo. I remember being at that speech. I think
you and I were both traveling with the President at that time, and to
think that this is what we're seeing almost four years later, where
America is being protested as if it didn't matter who was president
again. So I think when it calls into question some of those promises,
yes, this is the type of unexpected event that could end up, looking
back, it could be one of those things that derails the reelection.
GUTHRIE: And meantime, Mitt Romney is obviously trying to seize the
moment, but I guess the question is, is he smart to go with foreign
policy, to the extent that distracts him from the economy, which is his
calling card for the election?
TODD: Savannah, there's an internal dispute in the campaign about which
direction to go, because on the one hand you could make the argument
this plays into status quo versus change. Are you better off? Are you
better off in the relationship in the Middle East? Are things better off
here at home? On the other hand, at the same time, is the economic
message working? You know, that's what he had been focused on for seven
months, and it hadn't made progress, it sort of hit a ceiling. So I
think that's sort of the dispute internally in the campaign. On one
hand, the Romney folks don't want to look like they're off message. You
know, foreign policy crisis, as fast as they come, arise, they sometimes
dissipate just as quickly and the public may turn around and say, "Hey,
wait a minute, what about the economy?"
GUTHRIE:
And real quickly, I want to ask you about an article in Politico which
details squabbling among Romney advisers, a lot of blind quotes,
anonymous quotes. Is this a fairly ominous sign for the campaign, that
they're already blaming each other anonymously in print?
TODD: Well, this certainly doesn't happen in winning campaigns, right,
Savannah? This is the type of thing you read about losing campaigns. It
reads like a pre-bituary, if you will, as if people are looking to see
who's going to get the blame for blowing the Republican Party's best
chance at knocking off an incumbent president in nearly 30 years.
That said, this feels like over-panic, if you will. 50 days, we still
have a ways to go. Those first debates are still coming up, and I've got
to tell you, both campaigns are so concerned about the first debates,
they both have taken a lot more time out of their schedules to do debate
prep than maybe people realize.
GUTHRIE: Alright, Chuck Todd in our Washington newsroom, thank you.