Joe Scarborough: There Aren't Enough Republicans in Mainstream Media to Properly Report GOP Issues
The folks at MSNBC as well as parent NBC should sit up and take notice of something Joe Scarborough said on Monday's "Morning Joe."
"There are not enough people that are either Republican in the mainstream media or talk to people on the telephone at least one a month...who actually understand what the Republican Party is" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
JOE SCARBOROUGH, CO-HOST: There is another point that I have brought up that a lot of times in the national media they will look at these fringe candidates and say, “Oh look what this is saying about the Republican Party of today.” And it happens every four years. And I will say humbly, there are not enough people that are either Republican in the mainstream media or talk to people on the telephone at least one a month in the mainstream media. The Vanderbilt voice, exactly, who actually understand what the Republican Party is.
And I will say it again. Michael Steele, I'll direct this to you. The Republican Party is like my dad always was. He was a Nixon guy. He was a Ford guy. He was -- you know, he wasn't even a Reagan guy in '76 as conservative as he was. He was a Ford guy. I asked, “What's wrong with you, dad?’ You know, in 2008, he was a McCain guy. Remember? Do you remember what my dad said to me when McCain was at 2 percent, Mika, and I was flying back from Florida up here, he wasn't feeling well and what were his words to me?
MIKA BRZEZINSKI, CO-HOST: Watch him. I forget.
SCARBOROUGH: You were supposed to remember because I've told this story a thousand times. You've got to be a better straight man than that.
BRZEZINSKI: Watch him!
SCARBOROUGH: But Michael Steele, what my dad said is he said, “You watch.” And I’ll tell you, John McCain remembers. My dad said, “You watch McCain, he's coming back.” Guys like my dad never went for the Bachmanns. They always saw through the Perrys. They got the solid guys that could run this country and they would hope that they would be conservative enough, that they wouldn’t raise their taxes, wouldn’t raise regulations, but they kept it in the middle of the road.
On point one, Scarborough was 100 percent right. The idea that there are so few Republicans/conservatives in the mainstream media severely limits the ability of the press to properly report GOP issues.
It's kind of like all of these news outlets having meteorologists covering sports or the economy. It just doesn't work.
But Scarborough's second point was foolish, for maybe his father always went for "the solid guys that could run this country and they would hope that they would be conservative enough," but that doesn't mean that's always the wise choice.
Ford lost to an absolutely unqualified disaster in 1976 as did McCain in 2008. How'd that work out for you and the country, Joe?
Fox News chairman Roger Ailes might point to this as an example of Scarborough tacking "to the center" and not acting "like a conservative."
I'd agree.
In 2008, the GOP tacked to the center with McCain and got its head handing to it. In 2010, thanks to the Tea Party, Republicans made a serious right turn resulting in their largest midterm election victory in decades.
If Scarborough can't see this obvious distinction, maybe he needs to talk to more real conservatives rather than those the mainstream media he's now a part of falsely present as such.
- Noel Sheppard's blog
- Login to post comments
Comments
Scarbaby is...
Submitted by GeneralAl on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 12:34pm.
Scarbaby is an example of "A little leavening spoiling the bread". He is the canary singing like the starling. With all due respect to his dad, we got Obamaed because of McShame in '08. It aint gonna happen '12!
"Old Soldiers never die, they just fade away"!
middle of the roaders
Submitted by kata on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 12:42pm.
don't generate the interest needed to "get out the vote" unless the alternative is horrifying.
Conservatives win elections.
Submitted by VanPastorMan on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 12:55pm.
I get sick and tired of the liberals and progressives telling conservatives they must move to the center. It's conservatives who win elections. GWB was seen as a conservative. His Dad was seen as a conservative because he was riding RWR's coat tails. Now these two men turned out not to be as conservative as we thought, but their perceived conservatism got them into the office. Johnny Mac was NOT seen as a conservative and therefore lost. Ford lost because he was not conservative enough. RWR was seen as conservative and won. Is anybody getting the picture? Our country is conservative. The media isn't, but the country is.
The Republicans Story Could BeTold By Solid Techhnical Reporting
Submitted by Avitar on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 1:37pm.
The unwillingness of the MSM to look square at the problems is the most destinctive feature of their bias. That is evenstronger within the media than it is within the Democrat Party. Focus on that for a few moments.
The Democrats report the Republican platform better than the media.
Why
Submitted by grammajane on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 1:45pm.
does he have the most radical libs on his show daily if he is "concerned" conservatives don't get enough coverage? He is full of it.
"Cain Versus Not Able."
Submitted by upcountrywater on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 1:49pm.
New bumper sticker...h/t Dennis Miller....
You Didn't Build That.
Where can we get them?
Submitted by Redrowan2000 on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 8:30pm.
Talk about hitting the nail on the head. Cain makes sense, his 999 might be a little too simplistic but I can't find a flaw in it. By the way kudos to Newt for keeping the group focused on unseating "Not Able"
"Don't let the bastards grind you down."
Not enough Republicans.
Submitted by CobraMan on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 1:50pm.
"There are not enough people that are either Republican in the mainstream media or talk to people on the telephone at least one a month...who actually understand what the Republican Party is"
Yea, including Joe himself.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Joe, you've been in the
Submitted by amyshulk on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 2:01pm.
Joe, you've been in the liberal swamp so long you've altered your reality to align with what they {libs} want, not what you knew was true when you were a pol.
Every decade or so, we lose our collective minds and elect a D for pres. because we allow them to convince us they aren't extreme, then they rule "ahead of their time" in a sense, by acting on what the tiniest group wants.
Pushing a minority view on the majority when they are not ready for it just causes future strife - does anyone think we'd still have slavery/racism/etc. as issues if we'd done it State by State instead, with people voting with their feet?
Ronald Reagan
It's the economy, stupid
Submitted by Iron Zerg on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 3:01pm.
It was in 2008, 2010 and 2012. If the economy sucks, the voters are going to punish the party in charge.
I know 2008 is ancient history, but McCain was actually polling a head of Obama post-nomination and moving foward, until Lehman Brothers collapsed and we went into economic armaggedon. Had that not happened, McCain would have beaten Obama.
Furthermore, you can't compare a mid-term election to a presidental election. You're not going to win in a presidential election cycle with a candidate that's hard right or hard left. The story in 2012 is going to be the independent vote, and if Republicans don't have something to offer those people, as far as practical, common-sense solutions, without the baggage or appearance of being driven by the religous right, Obama is going to limp into a second term.
Yes, people are mad as hell right now, and yes, people are demanding change. We've seen what happens when the country makes a sharp turn to the left. I hardly doubt we're going to over-compensate by pulling a hard turn to the right. People on the far right might talk about the founding fathers and thump their pocket Constitutions, but we know their idea of a smaller, less intrusive government that serves to protect the freedoms of the indiviudal only extends as far as their ideology.
Don't believe me? Try to reconcile the Santorum's or Bachman's stance on homosexuality with the Consitution.
In no hard right candidate
Submitted by Free Stinker on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 3:10pm.
In no hard right candidate can win, how do you explain Ronald Reagan?
/// Sarah Palin Fan since July 11, 2007 /// خال
Joe Scarborough really does
Submitted by marpel on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 3:13pm.
Joe Scarborough really does not listen to what he's saying. He's been indoctrinated by the crazy liberals at MSNBC, and has totally lost sight of what really matters to conservatives. He needs to keep his fat mouth shut.
"Deep within my heart lies a memory. A song of ol' San Antone..."
joe
Submitted by D'saredumbpeople on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 3:35pm.
who is that stupid "eye rolling blond" next to you...
good old Joe
Submitted by east tennessee john on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 3:51pm.
Sure Joe, you can put David Brooks(love that pant crease) or David Frum on or inside the beltway consultants, that'll do us alot of good, moron. We're better off just doing what we do interms of sprading the word. At least we're accurate.
Didn't Joe claim to be a republican at one time?
Submitted by ohio granny on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 4:00pm.
Didn't Joe claim to be a republican at one time? Wasn't he actually a representitive from Florida? So what happened to him. Oh, I bet I know what happened. He has been around libs for so long he has forgotten how to think. Poor Joe. Another one bites the dust.
One Fact You Missed Joe...
Submitted by Utherpend on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 4:43pm.
McCain LOST. His middle of the road wishy washy stances is WHY he LOST the election. NO ONE on the Republican side wanted him to be the candidate, only the King Makers on the RNC knew it was his turn. They are the ones to be blamed for picking that worthless moderate RINO.
Fair and Square
Submitted by Chris Norman on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 9:21pm.
While McCain was not my choice to be the GOP nominee, he did win the primaries. That had to mean that there were more than GOP "King Makers" voting for him. I don't where the idea evolved that the presidential nominee magically appears on stage at the convention from nowhere.
Conservatives understand
Submitted by deerjerkydave on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 5:32pm.
Conservatives understand liberalism much better than liberals understand conservatism. Last week Chris Matthews was wondering aloud why so many middle class Americans vote for Republicans. Clearly he doesn't get it.
------------------------
"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the Federal Government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State Governments are numerous and indefinite. -James MadisonFacts are Facts: Mainstream Republicans lose elections
Submitted by djwolf12 on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 8:58pm.
I can't stand it when schmucks like Morning Shmoe just ignore the fact that Conservatives WIN BIG. I can't stand people like this that cater to the Olympia Snowes and the Susan Collins's of the Republican party. They say that the mainstream is the future of the Republicans and the candidates have to come to the center to win elections and capture the Independent Vote. Do these clowns say the same thing about Barack Insane Nobama, nyuk nyuk nyuk?????? I don't think so. Nobama is going so far to the left he is actually IN FRONT of the setting sun in the west.
The "center" is not in the
Submitted by amyshulk on Tue, 09/27/2011 - 2:24pm.
The "center" is not in the center. We've been pulled left over decades and the R's willingly went along, so what *used* to be the center is now considered "hard right/extreme".
That's how we get a left of left Pres. who is seen as "moderate" by the extremes in his party.
Funny how the left whines he isn't left enough, yet cringe in horror at people wanting to get back to the center.
The more they paint R's as extreme, the more idiotic and hypocritical they look - this time out, common sense WILL win the day, rather than an amorphous "Yes we can" which is 180 out.
Ronald Reagan
amy, I've seen more than one
Submitted by motherbelt on Tue, 09/27/2011 - 2:48pm.
amy, I've seen more than one article that claims America is a "center-right" country, but I find that hard to believe.
If so, there must be a disconnect between the way people lead their own lives and what they vote for in public policy and elected representatives.
motherbelt
Submitted by amyshulk on Wed, 09/28/2011 - 1:06am.
It's apathy IMO. People who vote are a tiny percentage of who are *eligible* to vote, and I think some think of it as a duty, that they MUST vote, but they don't go further than what's "narrow-casted" at them because who has time, right?
So the pols tell people what they want to hear, people take the path of least resistance {party} and do their duty. This is stupid to me, and why I didn't vote until last year - and I'm *really* kicking myself for not voting in 2008, but I saw what was coming and figured 1 vote wouldn't matter.
Stupid people like me is how we got Pres. Obama, along with the "duty" voters, and the "surface voters" who thought they were making history.
As to the disconnect? I think most of us are pragmatic, and understand we will *never* get a perfect candidate, so we vote for the one that's not as awful/scary as the other one.
But, there is a difference this time - those people who voted in 2008 who were 1st timers *probably* are not going to vote in 2012, after realizing how badly they were taken last time.
And those I's that swung D? Either they only vote every 4 years, or they feel taken in too. They will either swing to R's {the ones who feel culpable} or they'll sit it out too.
Granted, this is NOW. But unless these people are *really* forgiving, I just can't see them sticking with the D's.
Ronald Reagan
That is why there is so much of a "PUSH"
Submitted by djwolf12 on Wed, 09/28/2011 - 7:35pm.
to get the young people out to vote for Obama. I truly think that the "Obama Youth" of 2008 are truly finding out that they were duped. When they got out of college, they enter the work force with no jobs and no hope. They see their parents losing their jobs. They see more despair than hope.
Mainstream Media Republicans
Submitted by HardRightTurn on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 11:42pm.
The few who are are RINOs. So it's even worse than that.
No matter, all we need to do is buy them all up and dump the lefties.
To more fully comprehend the Left, one must read “Leftism As Psychopathy” by John Ray, M.A., Ph.D. Caution, it might scare you a little bit.
http://jonjayray.tripod.com/psycho.html
Scarborough's dad sounds even
Submitted by Jack Bauer on Tue, 09/27/2011 - 2:27pm.
Scarborough's dad sounds even more clueless than his son.
It's kinda pathetic. But it explains a lot.
All of the above Mr Obama? --- How about ALL OF THE BELOW, instead.