Last night, at 8:38 p.m. Eastern, Ted and Pat Oparowski -- who attended church with Mitt Romney in the late 1970s -- shared their heartwarming story of how Mitt Romney took time out of his busy schedule to visit their cancer-stricken son David and to help him settle his affair and write his will when it was apparent the cancer would take his life. Both CNN and Fox News Channel carried the moving account by the elderly couple. MSNBC, however, skipped the speech, instead devoting that time to discussing how Romney's religion will play on the campaign trail, if at all.
Fast forward to noon today. MSNBC's Now with Alex Wagner played a few soundbites of Pat Oparowski before showing host Alex Wagner and her panelists Chris Hayes and Karen Finney lamenting that most Americans didn't see it last night. [video update to follow]
"I found this stuff to be, actually, incredibly moving," Wagner offered, cynically adding that because it had to do with the Mormon church, it probably wouldn't find its way into television ads like it might if Romney were not a Mormon.
"The vast overwhelming majority of Americans did not see any of that, because it wasn't in the one hour that the network coverage was," Chris Hayes added in agreement, failing to note that MSNBC viewers couldn't have seen it last night since the cable network failed to show it.
Hayes went on to pour cold water on the Oparowski story by saying that "almost anyone who's not a total marauding sociopath," would be able to bring forth people to say kind words about good deeds they've done.
Wagner walked back from the left-wing ledge Hayes jumped off, saying that we must remember that Romney was incredibly busy with long work days and so his taking time out of incredibly busy work days to visit a cancer-stricken kid in the hospital is indeed commendable.
At this point, Finney chimed in with her lament that GOP convention schedulers should have put the Oparowskis in the 10 o'clock hour, rather than lead that hour off with Clint Eastwood.
