In near identical fashion to their treatment of abortion-activist Sandra Fluke, MSNBC has been running the unofficial political campaign for Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis. During her failed filibuster of new abortion laws in Texas, MSNBC helped propel Ms. Davis into the national spotlight, with host Chris Hayes going so far as to claim that her campaign is a “matter of life of death for many Texans.”
On the February 17 Morning Joe, the entire panel, sans conservative co-host Joe Scarborough, continued with the Wendy Davis love-fest before ultimately conceding that the liberal Democrat will likely not become the next governor of Texas.
The segment began after The New York Times ran what Mika Brzezinski admitted was “vintage New York Times slant” in a 5000 word puff piece by Robert Draper. Scarborough seemed to be the only panelist who was not enthralled by Davis’ political prospects and admitted that “I personally think all of that gunk that they are drudging up on Wendy I think is garbage. But the Hollywood, like the total Hollywood take on Wendy Davis in the race, I just don't think anybody would really bet any money that she could win.”
For her part, Brzezinski briefly admitted that The New York Times “would not have done that on their first piece on Sarah Palin” before fawning over Ms. Davis’ “decisions to be brave and for her children and it wasn't the time living in the trailer whenever that was.” The liberal MSNBC host even admitted to tearing up after reading the Draper profile of Ms. Davis because:
She made a decision what can I do that is best for my kids. And my instinct is she sent them home to be with her mother and her husband because they would be cared for better than her as she was getting her Harvard degree which would be for them in the long run because it would build them up and open the doors for them. That’s a hard decision.
The Wendy Davis obsession continued with Al Sharpton gloating how “the skies are bluer when Wendy Davis was city council woman.” Amidst all of the glowing commentary over Ms. Davis, Scarborough managed to mock how “the part of the profile that I found amazing was as a city council woman she was responsible for the Berlin Wall coming down. I thought that was more of a Reagan thing.”
As the segment ended, Chuck Todd, exposed MSNBC’s bias surrounding Ms. Davis when he called her story the “American dream” before ultimately admitting that the Texas Democrat is a “candidate that is not ready… I don’t see what her path forward is.” The latest polling shows that Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott has on average of a 9.7 percent lead over Ms. Davis. Even the liberal Public Policy Polling has Mr. Abbott leading by 15 points.
As a so-called news network, MSNBC shouldn’t be in the business of promoting the candidacy of Ms. Davis, yet they continue to do so. Despite the networks’ admission that her chances of winning in November are bleak, its hosts and guests have continued to promote her candidacy and dismiss those who object to the star treatment she has received from the liberal media.
See relevant transcript below.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
February 17, 2014
7:14 a.m. Eastern
JOE SCARBOROUGH: I want to bring up Wendy Davis. We read the article, we both saw the article. And so Mika and I called each other said do we want to do a segment on this yesterday? And I go, oh! I go, did you see what happened? I personally think all of that gunk that they are drudging up on Wendy I think is garbage. But the Hollywood, like the total Hollywood take on Wendy Davis in the race, I just don't think anybody would really bet any money that she could win. As a conservative, just made my head explode because it was such a puff piece. You read it and you actually were really moved by that piece.
BRZEZINSKI: Well, I read it to the end which is a difference. Because the first five paragraphs, I agree with you completely. And then as you go dig deeper into the story.
SCARBOROUGH: Oh, you're saying I didn't read it? I just look at the pictures and the captions!
BRZEZINSKI: You went back after we talked and read it to the end.
SCARBOROUGH: What’s your point?
BRZEZINSKI: In the beginning, it really was -- I was like was she a mayor or a governor? Like they acted as if she was -- it was really—
SCARBOROUGH: The skies over Dallas and Ft. Worth were bluer because she was a counsel woman.
BRZEZINSKI: It was vintage New York Times slant. They would not have done that on their first piece on Sarah Palin.
SCARBOROUGH: Oh, my god. And what if Sarah Palin had been caught playing with her bio? Oh, sweet Jesus!
BRZEZINSKI: Totally agree with you.
SCARBOROUGH: Save her and the entire extended Palin family because they would all be put on a rack and stretched. And here, again, this isn’t about Wendy Davis. An inspiring story but
my God the puff piece was unbelievable.BRZEZINSKI: I related to the parts of the story that I don’t think others would have. And I think actually, oh a Parenting expert is coming up. A lot of parents would have issues with the decisions she made and I find her decisions to be brave and for her children and it wasn't the time living in the trailer whenever that was.
SCARBOROUGH: You were inspired though by her decisions when she went to Harvard?
BRZEZINSKI: She went to Harvard and everybody was like oh it was bankrolled by her husband. Actually she brought the kids to Harvard with her and tried really hard to do both. Harvard Law School where she graduated with highest honors. Harvard Law School. I couldn’t even take the LSAT.
SCARBOROUGH: When I was reading it, I was going to say, I had one child at the University of Florida, Joey was a newborn in my first semester and even that was pretty mind boggling. I have no idea how she did it.
BRZEZINSKI: So she’s got two kids and she is at Harvard Law School. And after about a year, and I remember this happening when I was working overnights when I went to the doctor and the doctor is like, I need to take your blood pressure. She had this situation where the doctor took her by her hands and said what is going on at home?
SCARBOROUGH: You started tearing up you told me when you read that.
BRZEZINSKI: I did. Because she made a decision what can I do that is best for my kids. And my instinct is she sent them home to be with her mother and her husband because they would be cared for better than her as she was getting her Harvard degree which would be for them in the long run because it would build them up and open the doors for them. That’s a hard decision. A father can make that decision.
AL SHARPTON: It was very touching. It showed a real kind of strength and good judgment on her part. And I thought that showed me something. And Joe the skies are bluer when Wendy Davis was city council woman.
BRZEZINSKI: Reverend Al, people wouldn’t call that good judgment.
SCARBOROUGH: I got to say Chuck the part of the profile that I found amazing was as a city council woman she was responsible for the Berlin Wall coming down. I thought that was more of a Reagan thing—
BRZEZINSKI: She saved a coffee shop.
SCARBOROUGH: Seriously, it was right outside going to a Cowboys game and said Mr. Gorbachev, let's tear down that wall, y'all.
CHUCK TODD: Look, I read that. I felt like if you read it all the way to the end, I thought Draper, Robert Draper, who did the piece, I hear you at the beginning was very puff, but I thought he painted an interesting portrait. I came away with very empathetic to the decision she had to make as young mother who had these opportunities put in front of her and, by the way, any male politician in the same—
BRZEZINSKI: Exactly.
TODD: Who decided to send their kids, okay, no there’s no doubt the double standard there.
But he also painted a picture of a candidate that is not ready. There were also so many examples in this profile that I took away that said, wow, this is -- she's not ready -- they are not ready for the big spotlight that was going to come on to them and they have not figured out how they are going to run for governor. They know that they have struck lightning in a bottle on a couple of big moments. They have got national fund-raising ability. In many ways, her campaign is all about national groups being able to use her to raise money for themselves and for her, but I thought that Draper very shrewdly painted a picture of somebody who just isn't quite figuring out how she is going to go about this campaign and what she is going to run on.BRZEZINSKI: I'm sure though when she entered the college that she went to -- sorry, Joe, I'm sorry to interrupt you but I'm sure when she entered the college in Texas that she didn't think she was ready for Harvard Law School and for the LSAT but somehow got there. I don't know. I find—
SCARBOROUGH: I will say her biography, we’re all focusing Chuck on trailers at 19 or 21. Her biography of going to Harvard Law School with two kids and after keeping them up there.
TODD: After community college. I mean it's the American dream.It’s exactly what everybody says they want for their kids.
SCARBOROUGH: It's actually breathtaking and it shows just how smart she is, she graduated with honors. So that said, I don't think she has a path forward statewide in Texas right now. Maybe five, ten years from now. I could see if she were in a swing state, if she were in Michigan, or heck, even Kentucky, we’d be talking about her on the short list the next five years being a leader in the Republican Party. What do you see as her path forward in Texas?
TODD: I don't see it. She is coming out in a red state. The one issue that gave her national and statewide brand is abortion, that's not something to run statewide on in the state of Texas. I thought Draper did a very good job of showing that they are struggling with figuring out, well, they already got rid of one pollster because that pollster gave too much advice saying that they should run a more negative campaign. So I don’t see what her path forward is. I feel like she was rushed into this, pushed. She certainly strikes me she was pushed into this race. Perhaps it was by national groups who themselves are raising a ton of money off of her because she has got this national following now. But you wonder would she have been better off sort of taking one step at a time preparing for a statewide run maybe in 2016? If there is a U.S. Senate seat that is open, something like that.
