Morning Joe: If Cain Were a Democrat Media Would Be 'Swooning Over' Him Like They Did Obama
While their colleagues at MSNBC spend hours of airtime mercilessly bashing Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, the folks on Morning Joe took a different position Wednesday.
Much to the surprise of this author, Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist claimed that if Cain were a Democrat, the media would be "swooning over" him just like they did Barack Obama (video follows with transcript and commentary):
TINA BROWN, DAILY BEAST/NEWSWEEK: He does have a great deal of appeal. I could actually see a Romney-Cain ticket, actually. I think that they would, might be incredible as a ticket.
JOE SCARBOROUGH, CO-HOST: Cain has optimism down. He’s had this sort of cheery optimism.
WILLIE GEIST: You and I have talked about this. If Herman Cain were a Democrat…
SCARBOROUGH: Oh my God.
GEIST: …the pieces that would be written about his story the way they were written about Barack Obama’s story. He came from the segregated South.
SCARBOROUGH: Yep.
GEIST: His mother was a maid…
BROWN: Absolutely.
GEIST: …and his father a janitor…
BROWN: It’s very moving.
GEIST: …A driver for Coca Cola executive. The first to go to college. Worked for the United States Navy. Rose up, served on the board of the Kansas City Federal Reserve. Was a star executive at Pillsbury, with Burger King, ran Godfather’s Pizza. That is a great American story.
BROWN: It is.
SCARBOROUGH: Could you imagine the Vanity Fair spread on Democrat Herman Cain? I mean, could you imagine the book deals, the $4 million book deals on Herman Cain? It would have be, Manhattan would be swooning over Herman Cain much like they swooned over Barack Obama four years ago.
BROWN: I think he’s no less unlikely than a Barack Obama kind of figure.
Tina Brown agreeing was equally surprising: "I think he’s no less unlikely than a Barack Obama kind of figure."
When you think about it, this was quite a statement: great American success stories are only considered great by the media if the subject supports their political views.
To be sure, this is by no means surprising to conservatives, but to hear it so publicly acknowledged by a couple of liberals on the most left-leaning so-called news network in the nation was rather jarring.
Of course, turn on MSNBC at any other time today and you'll be treated to commentator after commentator aggressively attacking Cain.
Nevertheless, we can still appreciate the rare moment of sanity on an otherwise abomination of televised journalism.
- Noel Sheppard's blog
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Comments
Jeez, thats TWO correct
Submitted by killa37 on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 10:28am.
Jeez, thats TWO correct statements that Morning Joe has made in two consecutive days!!! But I'm sure he will 'get his head straight' soon enough.
Big difference between Cain and Boy Barry,however. Cain is a legit 'black' man with history and in the 'black' American experience who has defied the plantation mentality and become his own man...............Obama is a psuedo 'black' man and a poser with no history in the 'black' American experience,and he is still bound to the Democrat 'black' plantation mentality.
Don't be so critical.
Submitted by JLin on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 10:45am.
Barack Obama would make a perfectly fine game show host, or a chiclet-smile spokesmodel for an infomercial product.
game show host?
Submitted by OuttaMyWay on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 12:52pm.
really? if he tried to replace alex trebeck, his fans would see how lacking in speaking skills he is. (much like the quality of this syntex)
The difference I see
Submitted by BuffNBone on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 12:43pm.
The difference between the two is one got where he is largely because of affirmative action, gaming the system and the media failing to do its job. The other chose a different path.
I first heard Cain speak over 15 years ago at a business "persons" breakfast in Omaha. I was impressed then as I am now. Is he perfect? No man is -- but I see more pluses than minuses.
Wowzer!
Submitted by JLin on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 10:41am.
This is a serious departure from Plantation Left dogma. I'm sure reprimands will be forthcoming.
Et tu, Noel?
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 10:45am.
Scarborough and Geist: "a couple of liberals"?
Puh-leeze!
You're right about MSNBC...wrong about Scarborough. And Geist? Somewhere in the middle. There are too many counter-narrative instances such as this one to dismiss them as temporary departures from the norm. At some point, the exception becomes the rule.
Jer
agree about Scarborough
Submitted by Agnostic on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 10:50am.
I'm really starting to think that he is just lazy. It seems like when he spouts off it is based on what he is surrounded by - the liberal media and not by any real research or even coherent thought process. There seems to be a few conservative ideas and a handful of people he knows personally that he always defends and therefore provides for is Conservative credentials. Otherwise, it is lazy knee-jerk reactions to whatever just got spouted at the water cooler.
disclaimer - I only read what comes out from Morning Joe and do not watch the show. I read at both left and right sites but will admit to my biases, especially on fiscal issues.
Jer
Submitted by Noel Sheppard on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 10:53am.
Jer,
I said couple of liberals. There were THREE people involved in this discussion, right? Who were they and what are their political leanings? ns
Noel...
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 11:10am.
Scarborough definitely leans to the right, particularly as evidenced by his fiscal conservatism. That said, he is not the partisan ideologue which marked most of his congressional career. And he has demonstrated a willingness to criticize various conservative politicians and pundits on occasion which does not sit well with most NBers.
Willie Geist doesn't engage in a great deal of political commentary, but, based upon those times when he has done so--and with which I'm familiar--he strikes me as fairly middle of the road.
Tina Brown: liberal
Jer
Jer
Submitted by Noel Sheppard on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 11:27am.
Jer,
No, Willie is a liberal. That makes two. ns
Darn!
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 11:41am.
I was sure I had aced it.
I hate pop quizzes.
Jer
Jer
Submitted by Noel Sheppard on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 11:45am.
Jer,
Well, 50 is probably higher than most liberals typically get on tests. You realize the bell curve was created to make liberal students feel better about themselves! :-) ns
Willie struck me as the
Submitted by amyshulk on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 12:01pm.
Willie struck me as the rational one in many a convo on MJ in the past.
I wondered if he was agnostic and just liked to play devils advocate or what. Then he started showing his tilt to the left, and I realized he was attempting to disguise liberalism - to seem sane compared to the rest of the shows.
Joe is so open minded he allows the wishful thinking of the left to seep in and cloud his judgment.
Ronald Reagan
Thanks, Noel...
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 12:11pm.
Once again, you know just what to say to cheer a guy up.
Jer
A couple a few, some people....................
Submitted by Tomorama on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 12:24pm.
Noel, please don't encourage the "bell curve" thought.
Between that, NO keeping score at sports, NO posting of an Honor roll, everyone gets a trophy etc, etc we ended up with Generation E (entitled)
They are currently "occupying" and chewing up valuable resources that could be used for other things.
If Cain were a Democrat
Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 10:48am.
Mika would become Monica.
Poor, Poor Mika!!! Looks to
Submitted by burtonrobson on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 10:59am.
Poor, Poor Mika!!! Looks to be having some sort of gas attack., or just took a sour pill?
Flabbergasted
Submitted by Cactus Kurt on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 10:51pm.
Mika was so flabbergasted that she couldn't even muster her usual contribution of eyeroll and sigh. Yes, it looked as though she farted.
A clown car of a show
Submitted by Marsh on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 11:13am.
On Tuesday Joe says Cain doesn't even possess basic economic knowledge and today Willie makes note of his impressive credentials.
On any given day it's a Volkswagen Beetle stuffed with 10 Bozos.
if Cain were a Democrat
Submitted by Agnostic on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 11:14am.
Godfather's Pizza would have received a Government kick-back and a contract to provide pizza for school lunches once a week and any college wanting government $$$ would be required to allow Godfather's Pizza a location on campus to sell their goods.
actually see a Romney-Cain ticket,
Submitted by CarlosS on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 11:17am.
Translation, "We'll say or do anything to get the Romnycare RINO to run against the Obamacare DINO( since he's really a progressive socialist)"
Are we beginning to see the cracks in the wall.....?
Submitted by NeoKong on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 11:19am.
I thought it rather interesting how Willie Geist sort of exposed Scarborough for the left wing shill that he is when he said " You and I have talked about this. How if Herman Cain were a Democrat..." It showed that Scarborough treats Cain with disrespect and contempt on camera merely because he is a Republican but in private his opinion is quite different. It goes to show that his show has to take an official network opinion and Scarborough is just an actor pretending to be a journalist.
MSNBC is love-killing Romney but...
Submitted by Annie Ashe Fields on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 11:59am.
...will they screw up in reverse? Follow my logic train:
1. Obama/MSNBC believe they can beat presumptive nominee Romney in the general by fomenting civil unrest against Wall Street types like him (What they think, not me.)
BUT...
2. They have SORELY underestimated the peaceful ballot-holding 'revolutionaries' busting their ass every day paying the taxes that pay for the police & mess OWS is making that is supposed to be helping this little scenario along...
BUT...
3. What they appear to be doing, as evidenced by Cain's lead among LIKELY voters in SC & FL (LIKELY VOTERS are the only polls that count among those who read polls for a living) is loving Romney TO DEATH in the PRIMARY race, therefore making the way clear for Cain to be the nominee to run against the FRAUD Obama - CAIN who is a REAL American dream. CAIN who really WILL 'foment' a POST-RACIAL AMERICA. CAIN who doesn't give a sh*t if he's a one-term president as long as he saves the Republic he loves so much...
Look... I've NEVER advocated so hard & publicly & GIVEN MONEY to a candidate before because I have never wanted to be a teenage girl in love like Democrats are with all their candidates, because I subscribe to the maxim that people will ALWAYS let you down but PRINCIPLES or CAUSES won't so until now, I've NEVER thrown my $upport behind anyone, and despite the Gitmo gaffe, there's NOTHING Herman Cain can't learn from a briefing book AS LONG AS his PRINCIPLES are SOUND and he could be a true, citizen public servant, like the founders intended...
Does this make sense? I'm a little punchy!
LAST THOUGHT: Do you know that Herman Cain was literally a rocket scientist? When he worked for the Navy part of what he did was use advanced mathematics to work trajectories, etc... I mean... Hello???? He can literally stare down Obama in a debate and say, "This isn't rocket-science, Barack. You want me to walk you through it?"
Could it be?
Submitted by Expert Expat on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 11:49am.
Could we be building up to a Cain versus Obama contest? The charges of "racist" would fly from both sides! The media would be spinning in their graves, defending the left for actually doing what they are accusing the right of! Might actually be interesting. ("Our candidate is blacker than yours ... and more deserving, and more downtrodden, and more bigoted against!")
Noel, did you read what Joey Scarborough said yesterday?
Submitted by Conservator on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 1:02pm.
Scarborough Lashes Out at Cain and Bachmann: They Don't Understand 'Basic Policy - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2011/10/18/scarborough-lashe...
"According to MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann" don't even understand basic policy, basic economics, basic foreign policy." The Morning Joe anchor on Tuesday expounded on a Politico op-ed in which he denounced a number of the GOP presidential candidates as "clownish characters."
When MSNBC executives deny their network is dominated solely by liberals, they often reference Scarborough. However, the former Republican Congressman has been aggressively negative towards the GOP field. On Tuesday's show, he mournfully wondered, "What's wrong with a political party that Michele Bachmann takes the lead and Herman Cain takes the lead...?"
That's the real Joey and he doesn't deserve any expression of approval for his comments today.
Bewildered.
Submitted by Karma on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 1:27pm.
I was expecting to see a blog here yesterday about Joe's "clownish characters" statement. Nothing.
Noel, did you read/see what Joey Scarborough said today?
Submitted by Conservator on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 1:49pm.
Here's another article published at NewsBusters:
Steele: Perry Got 'Owned' When He Opened 'Whup---' - Wednesday, October 19, 2011
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2011/10/19/steele-perry-go...
A lively GOP debate dissection on today's Morning Joe. Mika Brzezinski really liked Romney's performance, saying among other things that he was "fabulous." She also had surprising praise for Michelle Bachmann.
There was consensus that 9-9-9 was "deboned" and that Herman Cain hurt himself badly with his pre-debate answer on releasing terrorists from Gitmo. Meanwhile, Michael Steele had a striking way of saying that Perry's aggressiveness backfired. Video and more after the jump.
Video - http://www.mrctv.org/videos/steele-perry-got-owned-when-he-tried-open-whup
Joey Scarborough and friends did a nice 'hit job' on Mr. Cain, yet Noel you keep touting this GOP Turncoat - why?
If they were SWOONING over Obama
Submitted by hbnolikeee on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 3:47pm.
you would expect that they would explode with someone that has some credentials and shown leadership skills.
I wish I could say I'm surprised...
Submitted by Tom1969ca on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 5:01pm.
...but I think the saddest part of all this is that none of these so-called journalists piped up and said, "So, um, why aren't we covering Cain the same way we covered Obama?" (I meant that as a rhetorical question; obviously they're not asking themselves that because they don't want to publicly admit to the answer...)
Cain sounds more like a liberal Democrat everyday
Submitted by lrgon on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 6:32pm.
That 999 plan is so full of taxes that even Michelle Bachmann said it was nothing but another revenue stream for the Federal Government.
Don't forget, Cain was up to his 9's when he ran a branch of the Federal unReserve in Kansas. His background is pretty cheesy even when he claims he is not Wall Street. Where does he think Wall Street gets their cash from! His Fed credentials makes this Pizza pie man guy a loser and his 999 plan as smelly as an anchovy laden Pizza pie that has been left out on the sidewalks of Wall Street for a couple of days. P.....hew!!!!
Irgon
Submitted by Radical1979 on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 6:49pm.
Do you work for MSNBC or something? Because your statements sound like the kind of complete lies they invent over there. "Full of taxes"? Yes, three, straightforward easy to understand and pay, versus the web of taxes and loopholes we now have designed to give politicians breaks to their corporate donors. GE (We bring good things to Obama) perhaps?
Honestly, talk about smelly. You have the undisguised odor of the bowels of a bridge reeking from you.
Cain's qualifications and plans are scaring you eh? Well that's a good sign.
Irgon is a disciple of Ron Paul
Submitted by kata on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 6:59pm.
.
Only because John Birch is dead, Kata.
Submitted by UpNorth on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 8:20pm.
Irgon would throw Birch out of the John Birch Society, for not being conservative enough, for him.
What part of REPLACE do you NOT get?
Submitted by upcountrywater on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 7:16pm.
10 million words now make up the IRS tax code.
Cain wants to scrap that. It's not a 9% 9% 9%(by ARTHUR B. LAFFER) ADDITION to the EXISTING federal tax Code.
Keep playing dumb, GO AHEAD try and stick in states taxes as well like 1/2 the Republican gang was doing on stage last night. APPLES and ORANGES....
You Didn't Build That.
P.....aulBot....hew!!!!
Submitted by SickofLibs on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 7:02pm.
BTW, pizza is not a proper noun, clown.
The media is the joke*
Submitted by cajun2 on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 7:37pm.
The liberal media cannot figure out Herman Cain. Who ever heard of a successful businessman who is a black Conservative?
Øbama’s Record since taking office:
Submitted by jmigyanka@msn.com on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 6:41pm.
• Poverty Rate: 14.3% ↑ 8.3%,
• Unemployment Rate: 9.1% (16.2%) ↑ 16.7%,
• Average Weeks Unemployed: 40.3 ↑ 102.5%,
• Median Income: $49,445 ↓ 5%,
• Health Insurance Premiums: $15,073 ↑ 18.9%,
• Number of Jobs: 139,627,000 ↓ 1.8%,
• Inflation Rate: 3.77% ↑ 12,466.7%,
• Food Stamp Usage: 45.2 Million ↑ 41.7%,
• Average Price of a Gallon of Gas: $3.66 ↑ 101.1%,
• Average Home Value: $171,900 ↓ 4.7%,
• National Debt: $14.7 Trillion ↑ 38.7%,
• Deficit: $1.28 Trillion ↑ 192.2%.
NO MORE TERMS for a COMMUNITY AGITATOR - EVER AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hat Tip: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnnyshop/6196456311/sizes/o/in/photostream
If Cain were a Liberal.....
Submitted by bikeromany on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 6:54pm.
If Cain were a Liberal, he would never have done the things he's done. Instead he would have worked in government jobs or as a community organizer. The fact that Cain earned his money is why the liberal media ignores him, and why he's a conservative.