In an interview with Gail Shister at TV Newser, former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw dismissed the scheduled GOP debate with moderator Donald Trump. He said Trump “is an utterly shameless self-promoter” and the media should stop enabling him. Earth to Tom: perhaps you should notify your patrons at NBC first.
But Brokaw said debates are useful...to dismiss Republican candidates. With Rick Perry, for example, viewers learned “he was not as much in command of the facts as he appeared to be when he got on stage.” With Herman Cain, well, “He had some real issues with personal behavior.” (Yes, this is the same Brokaw who staunchly refused to find a rape charge against Bill Clinton a "real issue.")
These Republicans were all utterly un-exciting:
For the Republicans, the campaign “is in the playground stage,” according to Brokaw, 71. The GOP “is having a hard time falling in love with somebody or picking a candidate who’s equipped to win.” (The two can be mutually exclusive, he adds.)
Voters share that feeling, Brokaw says. As he travels the country promoting his book, “I’m not finding excitement for anybody out there. There’s very little real excitement about Newt. The American people are laying back, taking it in.”
The Republicans were in a similar situation in ‘08, Brokaw says. “Rudy Giuliani was No. 1. Fred Thompson was still in the hunt. Now Rudy’s making speeches and Fred is selling reverse mortgages on TV.”
This is the same Tom Brokaw that insisted to Al Gore in 2008 that he was so exciting he should be on the Obama ticket. Guest-hosting Meet the Press, Brokaw urged Gore: "How can you, given the passion that you feel about this issue and the enormity of the dimensions that we're dealing with here, turn down the idea that you could be in the administration as a Vice President or as an energy czar or as both?"
