The sky is falling, Mitch McConnell warns.
Correction: the sky is falling, Mitch McConnell warns, according to Rachel Maddow. Big difference. (video after page break)
On her MSNBC show last night, Maddow went beyond spin and into the mire of deceit while interpreting remarks by McConnell. Here's what she said after citing stories at Politico and Slate suggesting Republicans are likely to retain control of the House --
Despite the Democrats' enthusiasm right now, most observers say it's going to be basically impossible for Democrats to win back the House. Most outside observers say that. Not everyone, though. You know Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate? Mitch McConnell gave an interview over the weekend to his hometown newspaper, the Louisville Courier-Journal, and he said to his newspaper something that may have been a little too revealing.
Look at this, he's discussing what he tells donors about supporting Republican Senate candidates -- "Our view is, (Obama) has done a very poor job," the senator said. "Virtually everything he did that was wrong was when he had overwhelming (Democratic) support in Congress during the first two years of his presidency. ... It's appropriate to ask now: how did that work out? ... I'm pretty confident the American people are not going to go back to 2009 and 2010 and let the other side have total control of the government."
Total control of the government? Think about that for a second (Maddow struggling to contain her mirth). Mitch McConnell there is talking about Democrats controlling the Senate and Democrats controlling the White House and Democrats controlling the House. I mean, few people (Maddow waves arms as she often does to bolster shaky premise) other than Nancy Pelosi and other House Democrats are talking about the Democrats conceivably taking control of the House. But Mitch McConnell seems to think that's a possibility.
As the Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell is of course most concerned with Senate seats and that is what he is backstopping here (yes -- "backstopping") and when he's recounting his pitch to donors. But the pitch he is making to Republican donors is amazing. He's pitching that Republicans need to work hard and collect your hard-earned money in order to hold onto seats in the Senate because the Republicans are going to lose the House. And, incidentally, he's saying that Mitt Romney's going to lose his race for the White House too.
It's almost like it goes without saying for these guys now. And this is the guy who's more in charge of the Republican Senate message than anybody else in the country and part of his pitch is, effectively, listen, Mitt Romney's going to lose. You need us so Republicans don't control everything.
That's where she's incoherent. She's dishonest in taking this remark by McConnell -- "I'm pretty confident the American people are not going to go back to 2009 and 2010 and let the other side have total control of the government." Which Maddow twists into McConnell saying "Republicans are going to lose the House," along with Romney going down in flames.
But even if McConnell's remarks could be interpreted to suggest that Democrats might hold the White House and Senate, he is also, ahem, "pretty confident" they won't run the board. Does Maddow actually read her copy before going on the air or is she merely mouthing someone else's words?
