Tom Brokaw: Obama's Resurgence 'Lazarus-like'

December 22nd, 2010 4:57 PM

The panel on Wednesday's "Morning Joe" on MSNBC gushed over President Obama's recent legislative success, and former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw likened Obama's resurgence to Lazarus rising from the dead.

"It looked like the day after the election that [Obama] was on his way back to Chicago. Now suddenly he has arisen, Lazarus-like, again," Brokaw attested.

The disastrous mid-term elections? They are simply a distant nightmare, the panel asserted. Co-host Joe Scarborough, as well as guest columnists Mike Barnicle and Charles Blow, stated that the election results are not news anymore. "No one's talking about that anymore," remarked Blow, a New York Times columnist, over the election.

Instead the media will be writing a different script, Scarborough suggested. "I guarantee you with all of the end-of-the-year reviews, the story is not going to be 'Obama loses 65 seats in the House,'" he predicted.

"It's going to be 'Wow, the comeback kid. Came back pretty darn quick.' Look, that's the narrative the press is going to be writing about at the end of the year," he said. Mike Barnicle added that the media has already started praising Obama. "They're already writing it, and deservedly so," he opined. "Who remembers the election at this point?

Joe Scarborough, meanwhile, thought Republican opposition to the START treaty signaled a jealous obstruction rather than sensible opposition. "I've just got to say...they really don't have a good substantive leg to stand on," he said of the GOP opposition. "Therefore you can only assume ...that they don't want Barack Obama to have all of these successes going into the new year."

A transcript of the segment, which aired on December 22 at 7:02 a.m. EDT, is as follows:

MSNBC MORNING JOE 12/22/10 7:02 a.m. EDT

JOE SCARBOROUGH: Well Tom, it is just fascinating times. The President had just a miserable eleven months, the first eleven months of 2010 could not have been worse politically for this man. And the last three weeks, though, are going to give him victories that he can ride into the New Year.

TOM BROKAW: For the 250 millionth time, I'll remind you of my favorite theory in American politics, the UFO theory – the unforseeable occurs. This is a perfect example of that. It looked like the day after the election that he was on his way back to Chicago. Now suddenly he has arisen, Lazarus-like, again. And the 9/11 bill will be another test of that.

(...)

JOE SCARBOROUGH: I've got to say, though, Charles, given the choice between going into the New Year with stories talking about how your party lost 63 seats in the House and were brutalized in senate and governors campaigns, this is preferable.

CHARLES BLOW: No one's talking about that anymore.

SCARBOROUGH: Yeah, no one's talking about it anymore.

BLOW: Nothing succeeds like success in America, and it is – the momentum of that success is what Barack Obama is experiencing right now, and you don't even have – Mitch McConnell said, what? The next two years or so, we're going to make you play by our rules. But the Presidential campaign starts next month.

SCARBOROUGH: Right.

BLOW: So the – he doesn't have to – enough success, enough momentum coming into that first part of the year – any successes that they deliver him, he can run on those. It's really hard for a body, for Congress to say "We did something." McConnell – as much as we may know him around this table, the people don't know him. And when the Republican nominees start to emerge, they become the face, not McConnell.

MSNBC MORNING JOE 12/22/10 8:09 a.m. EDT

JOE SCARBOROUGH: Well first of all, the Republicans would prefer this taking place in January or February, when they have more people in the Senate. But Republicans will tell you that a tax deal has nothing to do with national defense. But-but all that being said, I just – I've just got to say, as we go through these points exhaustively as we have, these three main points exhaustively, they really don't have a good substantive leg to stand on. Therefore you can only assume – and I understand this type of feeling – that they don't want Barack Obama to have all of these successes going into the new year.

MIKE BARNICLE: That's it.

SCARBOROUGH: Because he's been knocked back on his feet with the election, but I guarantee you with all of the end-of-the-year reviews, the story is not going to be "Obama loses 65 seats in the House." It's going to be "Wow, the comeback kid. Came back pretty darn quick." Look, that's the narrative the press is going to be writing about at the end of the year.

BARNICLE: They're already writing it, and deservedly so. Look at the storyline of the past four weeks, look what the special session of Congress has done. Don't Ask Don't Tell, the START Treaty appears to be on the verge of passing today, and you've got the tax bill.

SCARBOROUGH: The massive stimulus bill –

BARNICLE: Who remembers the election at this point?