Appearing on Tuesday's NBC Today, MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough made one hyperbolic doomsday declaration after another about Mitt Romney's campaign: "This is one of the worst weeks for any presidential candidate in a general election that any of us can remember....Unemployment is still 8% plus, the economy is still in tatters, and Mitt Romney is blowing this race." [Listen to the audio [1]]
Scarborough frantically asserted: "[Republicans] are so depressed this morning,
they just can't believe that Mitt Romney is blowing a race against a
president who they believe has mismanaged the economy terribly over the
past four years.....It is too much for many Republicans to handle." As
the segment concluded, the former GOP Congressman went so far as to tell
co-host Savannah Guthrie: "I'm going to go put a bag over my head now, so I will talk to you soon."
Scarborough was reacting to the supposedly controversial video of Mitt
Romney describing the portion of the electorate who will vote for
President Obama no matter what. Guthrie began the interview by wondering
if the newly-released video of Romney speaking to fundraisers in May
would be a "Category 5 crisis" or just a "blip" for the Republican.
After noting that a strong Romney debate performance could deflate the
controversy, Scarborough wrung his hands and decried perceived gaffes by
the campaign: "...we had Clint Eastwood and then we had the chair, and
then over this past week, it's been absolutely remarkable. You combined
Libya and the press conference, which is polling horribly for him, the
campaign shakeup yesterday that was in several publications, and then
this video, very, very bad news."
Guthrie followed up by claiming that the video was "dangerous" to
Romney because "he basically dismisses half the nation as deadbeats,"
which may "feed into the very narrative that the Obama campaign has been
trying to push on Romney all summer."
Scarborough eagerly agreed:
Feeds into what [political analyst] Jeff Greenfield called the 'Thurston Howell III candidate'.....white suburban moms in Philadelphia, in the I-4 corridor, are in swing districts that may look at Republicans as being too harsh and too uncaring. This is dangerous, not because he's going to lose that 47% of the vote, but because you're going to start seeing suburban voters, swing voters, storm away from the campaign as quickly as possible, unless he fixes it.
Guthrie then further pushed the theme of Romney losing by asking: "And
you mentioned some of the disarray that's been reported in the campaign,
an article in Politico saying that advisers were basically sniping at
each other in blind quotes....you don't usually see these kinds of
stories until late in a campaign when campaign advisers know they're
losing. Do you think that's what's happening here?"
Scarborough lambasted Romney for denying any such "disarray" in a recent interview:
[Romney] said he has a terrific campaign. Actually he doesn't. He says that the campaign workers are working well together, well, actually, no, they're not working well together, and that his campaign's going in the right direction. No, it's not. And this is not being said by liberals, who are gleeful about what's happened to Mitt Romney's campaign over the past couple of weeks, these are conservatives. These are GOP strategists.
On September 7 [2], the day after the Democratic National Convention concluded, Scarborough showed up on Today to proclaim that the Republican National Convention was no match for the liberal gathering: "...if we're going pound for pound, round for round, this wasn't Ali versus Frasier, this was Muhammed Ali versus Chuck Wepner...It was ugly..."
Here is a full transcript of Scarborough's September 18 appearance on the morning show:
7:07AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough hosts Morning Joe on MSNBC. Joe, good morning to you.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Good morning.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: A Fresh Start; Will New Strategy Work for the Romney Campaign?]
GUTHRIE: Let's start with this video, is this a Category 5 crisis for
the Romney campaign or is it a blip, a minor embarrassment, something
that will have no real impact?
SCARBOROUGH:
Well, that really depends on whether they turn the campaign around or
not. I mean, think about it Savannah, you've got about 50 days left.
Mitt Romney is going to be spending over $100 million in 30-second ads,
outside groups are going to be spending a lot of money. You've got three
presidential debates. There is no doubt if Mitt Romney clearly
out-performs Barack Obama in all three presidential debates, nobody's
going to be talking about this other than how it helped Mitt Romney
focus and turn things around.
But here's the problem. This is an absolutely critical time for this
campaign. And go back to the convention, start with that video, the high
point of Mitt Romney's campaign was his RNC video, which was so moving
and made you think, you know what? I kind of – I think I can relate to
this guy, and then we had Clint Eastwood and then we had the chair, and
then over this past week, it's been absolutely remarkable. You combined
Libya and the press conference, which is polling horribly for him, the
campaign shakeup yesterday that was in several publications, and then
this video, very, very bad news. This is one of the worst weeks for any
presidential candidate in a general election that any of us can remember
around this table.
GUTHRIE: And how dangerous potentially are these remarks? At one point
he basically dismisses half the nation as deadbeats, saying, "I'll never
convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care
for their lives." Does this feed into the very narrative that the Obama
campaign has been trying to push on Romney all summer?
SCARBOROUGH: Feeds into what Jeff Greenfield called the "Thurston
Howell III candidate" six months ago, David Brooks is talking about it
this morning. And listen, this is what's important, okay? 47% of these –
these, quote, "victims," that Mitt Romney talked about, were not going
to vote for Mitt Romney anyway, but Jeb Bush and George W. Bush, when
they campaigned, they would always start their campaigns in inner
cities. They would always go talk to the truly disadvantaged, not
because they believed they would get those votes, but because they
believed they would get swing voters, white suburban moms in
Philadelphia, in the I-4 corridor, are in swing districts that may look
at Republicans as being too harsh and too uncaring.
Maybe Republicans are the candidates that are going to take care of
their tax dollars better, going to run government more wisely, but the
hard edge scared them. George W. Bush, Karl Rove, Jeb Bush, they figured
that out. This is dangerous, not because he's going to lose that 47% of
the vote, but because you're going to start seeing suburban voters,
swing voters, storm away from the campaign as quickly as possible,
unless he fixes it.
GUTHRIE: And you mentioned some of the disarray that's been reported in
the campaign, an article in Politico saying that advisers were
basically sniping at each other in blind quotes. Here's what Romney said
on Telemundo about that story.
MITT ROMNEY: I've got a terrific campaign. My senior campaign people
work extraordinarily well together. I work well with them. Our campaign
is doing well.
JOSE DIAZ-BALART: So no changes in your campaign?
ROMNEY: No, I've got a good team.
GUTHRIE: You know, Joe, you don't usually see these kinds of stories
until late in a campaign when campaign advisers know they're losing. Do
you think that's what's happening here?
SCARBOROUGH: Well, I – just a few points of view that are a little
different than what Mitt Romney said. He said he has a terrific
campaign. Actually he doesn't. He says that the campaign workers are
working well together, well, actually, no, they're not working well
together, and that his campaign's going in the right direction. No, it's
not. And this is not being said by liberals, who are gleeful about
what's happened to Mitt Romney's campaign over the past couple of weeks,
these are conservatives.
These are GOP strategists. These are people that have invested in the
Reagan revolution, invested in the Gingrich revolution of '94, invested
in George W. Bush's campaign. They are so depressed this morning they
just can't believe that Mitt Romney is blowing a race against a
president who they believe has mismanaged the economy terribly over the
past four years, has spent us $5 trillion deeper into debt, has run
trillion-dollar deficits per year, has had the largest stimulus spending
bill ever, has had the largest health care plan ever, and it's not
working. Unemployment is still 8% plus, the economy is still in tatters,
and Mitt Romney is blowing this race. It is too much for many
Republicans to handle.
GUTHRIE: Well, former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough, thank you for your perspective this morning.
SCARBOROUGH: Savannah, I'm going to go put a bag over my head now, so I will talk to you soon.
[LAUGHTER]
GUTHRIE: Alright, we'll see you soon.
SCARBOROUGH: Where's that bag?
GUTHRIE: Joe, thanks.