Donny Doesn't Want to Sound Elitist, But 'Astounding How Ignorant People Are'

May 21st, 2015 9:10 AM

What would Donny Deutsch say if he did want to sound elitist?  Because for not wanting to sound elitist, Donny Deutsch came off an awful lot like the denizen of Manhattan and the Hamptons that he is.

On today's Morning Joe, reacting to comments from a focus group of Iowa Republicans who were less concerned about Jeb Bush's policy positions and more concerned about his last name, Deutsch declaimed "I don't mean to sound elitist but it's astounding how ignorant people are."

Has it ocurred to Donny that the oh-so-sophisticated and knowledgeable crowd in which he circulates was utterly bamboozled by hope-'n-change baloney in 2008 and supported the same guy in 2012 despite his failures? So who's ignorant now?

JOE SCARBOROUGH: That's what I found early on: people vote more for the general feeling about a candidate than the specific ideology, even in a place like Iowa.

MARK HALPERIN: And the problem for Jeb is, the activists do know about Common Core and do know about immigration, and they create a lot of noise. Here you've got a group of people, well-meaning people, concerned, really want a Republican president, see this giant field, and one of the main things they've seized on is they don't want another Bush. They don't think he can win a general election and they don't think that the name is helpful in any way. Even though they don't dislike his father, they don't dislike his brother. They just don't think the party should have another Bush.

DONNY DEUTSCH: Which is so ironic, because he's the most electable. It's funny: you talk about people vote for a candidate. Since 1960, actually since 1952, people have voted for the more likeable candidate. When you talk about issues and, Mark, you know this, it's astounding how--I don't mean to sound elitist--how ignorant people are when it comes to why --

SCARBOROUGH: Actually, it does sound very elitist.