Mika Brzezinski and the Morning Joe crew continued their obsession with Hillary Clinton’s non-existent presidential campaign on Wednesday. Brzezinski gushed that the former secretary of state “transcends” the Bush-Clinton dynasty concerns raised by Barbara Bush, while guest Mark Halperin claimed Hillary was “head and shoulders above” the rest of the field.
The MSNBC panel invited Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) on the show to discuss her early endorsement of Clinton, which the morning program hyped Tuesday as “very, very, very big news.” As NewsBusters has documented, some liberal media outlets have eagerly noted McCaskill’s endorsement, investing it with significance that it likely doesn’t deserve.
McCaskill claimed Hillary was the “strongest, most capable, most qualified candidate for president,” before Brzezinski anxiously buzzed:
[Is there] no precursor to something you might know, about whether or not she'll run?
The Missouri senator, of course, shot down any idea that she might know of Secretary Clinton’s plans. But Brzezinski couldn’t seem to resist raving over a potential Hillary run:
Mark Halperin, I think Hillary Clinton, when you think about, for example, Jeb Bush's mother talking about we don't need another Bush or another Clinton or whatever. There is that issue. But Hillary Clinton, again, transcends that. Because there would be another reason, obviously, that everybody might be getting behind her, beyond her ideology and her record – but the fact that she would be the first woman president of the United States.
I doubt Brzezinski would say Jeb Bush “transcends” his mother’s family dynasty concerns. Halperin followed up with an even more dubious claim:
One might argue that there are many women, on both sides of the aisle, that could run for president in the next 10 years, much less the next 20. That includes Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) on the Democratic side, and Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Gov. Susana Martinez (R-N.M.), and Gov. Nikki Haley (R-S.C.) on the Republican side. Shaheen and Ayotte would arguably be shoo-ins for the crucial New Hampshire primary, and Govs. Haley and Martinez are members of ethnic minority groups, something that the media love to fixate on when the politician in question is a liberal Democrat.
But the liberal media may just have ‘Hillary tunnel vision’: like the Democratic Party, they see Secretary Clinton as the one and only option for the presidential ticket in 2016, and one who is almost owed the nomination after graciously serving in the Obama administration and waiting her turn following the 2008 nomination fight
The last time that happened, though, the Democrats had a bitter and divisive primary fight – and it could have ended much worse than it did. No doubt, we’ll continue to see the media rush to crown Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee for president in 2016. And, possibly, the president-elect.
See the relevant transcript below:
MSNBC
Morning Joe
June 20, 2013
8:33 a.m. Eastern
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Thirty-three past the hour. Here with us now from Capitol Hill, Democratic senator from Missouri, Senator Claire McCaskill. Claire, great to see you.
SEN. CLAIRE McCASKILL: Good morning.
BRZEZINSKI: Good morning. So apparently, you're ready for Hillary.
McCASKILL: Yeah. It was interesting how this kind of blew up the other day. It doesn't seem complicated to me. She is by far the strongest, most capable, most qualified candidate for president of the United States. And I am part of a lot of group of people. Big, huge group of people that really wants her to run. It seemed like coming out publicly and stating the obvious, that we all want her to run, was an important thing to do right now.
BRZEZINSKI: No precursor to something you might know, about whether or not she'll run?
McCASKILL: You know, no. She did call me after this all happened the other day. We had a great conversation. I'm not going to talk about what we said. But I think she's got a big decision to make and I think she's in the process of making it. I think the more people that are out there urging her to run, I think it will help grow the grassroots effort. We all know, we saw in 2008 and in 2012 what a difference it makes if people feel invested, in not just the big power brokers in Washington. Not senators and congressman. But everybody in this country feeling invested in who the future leader will be.
BRZEZINSKI: Mark Halperin, I think Hillary Clinton, when you think about, for example, Jeb Bush's mother talking about we don't need another Bush or another Clinton or whatever. There is that issue. But Hillary Clinton, again, transcends that. Because there would be another reason, obviously, that everybody might be getting behind her, beyond her ideology and her record – but the fact that she would be the first woman president of the United States.
MARK HALPERIN: There's no question. You find that all across the country, even among some Republicans who say – you look around the country right now, who in the next 20 years is a woman who’s in a position to do this? Secretary Clinton is head and shoulders above the others right now.
BRZEZINSKI: How do you pass that up, you know?
HALPERIN: Senator, you mentioned the grassroots. But let me ask you about big money. What you did the other day, basically, was endorse a Super PAC. Super PACs, for the most part so far – at least at the presidential level – have not been about grassroots, they've been about big money. Are you willing to and plan to help raise million dollar checks, hundred thousand dollar checks for this effort?
McCASKILL: Listen, I just came out of a vortex of pressure in terms of raising campaign cash and it is – it's terrible. And I'm not excited about spending a lot of my time just trying to get big donors. I don't think really what this effort – I don't think that's what this effort is about. If you look at what this group is doing, they're doing an awful lot of social media. They're really trying to build a strong database of volunteers. They have volunteers going out and showing support for Secretary Clinton wherever she goes in the country. This is really about building an effort from the ground up. They'll be plenty of time to raise serious campaign money. Both sides will do it. They'll both do it under the current laws. I'd like to see those laws changed. I'd like to see all the money identifiable and without this secret, behind closed doors cash being spent on campaigns. And I’ll continue to work for that and I think Secretary Clinton agrees with that also.
