Dem Consultant Shuster to Obama: Get Rougher With Republicans

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David Shuster: not just an MSNBC "correspondent" anymore -- now a Dem campaign consultant too! In the opening segment of today's Morning Joe, Shuster offered a kernel of consulting wisdom to the Obama campaign, and the message was clear: Barack needs to get rougher with those mean-spirited Republicans.

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: We did get some comments from Barack Obama yesterday about Mitt Romney dropping out.

WILLIE GEIST: I thought that was very interesting. Obama was responding to the comments we just heard earlier where Mitt Romney said Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will "surrender to terror." Here was Obama's response.

Cut to clip of Obama speaking to reporters on a campaign plane.

BARACK OBAMA: My reaction to Mitt Romney's comment: that's the kind of poorly thought-through statement that led him to have to drop out. It's a classic attempt to appeal to people's fears that will not work in this campaign, and I think that's part of the reason why he was such an ineffective candidate.

Mika was impressed, exclaiming "Wow! OK, then!"

But Shuster called for more red meat.

DAVID SHUSTER: It's a very intellectual, cerebral comeback. But you know, at a certain point, the Democrats are going to hear this argument again, I think, if not from John McCain then from his supporters, and I think the Democrats are going to need to be sharper and a little more aggressive in the counter-punch and say "wait a second: the Democrats do notsupport surrendering to terror. The Democrats are the ones who wanted to focus on Afghanistan and not Iraq. Afghanistan the place that launched these attacks on us on 9-11." So yeah, it's a fine cerebral argument now, but, I think that a lot of Democrats wish that Barack Obama, and I think maybe even Hillary Clinton for that matter, would ratchet up the counterpunch."

Got it, Barack? Hear that, David Axelrod? Start working it into the shtick.

A bit later, Shuster offered up another analytical gem, reacting to poll results that showed Obama leading in a head-to-head matchup with McCain while Hillary was only tied.

SHUSTER: I think it's still too early. The head-to-head polls are interesting now, but I think Hillary Clinton still has an opportunity if she gets the nomination to use a lot of the money that will be spent in the general election on reintroducing her to a lot of people, who, I mean, right now it's just Democrats who are sort of paying attention, and even only in half the states. Once the Clintons have an opportunity to reintroduce her to the entire nation in a general election campaign, I think her numbers go up.

Hillary Clinton? Never hoid of her. What's that? She's for the children and free everything? Sign me up!