Tom Brokaw is the man that our Brent Bozell recently described as having "used NBC and [his] anchor chair as a platform to promote Democratic agendas and delight in Republican setbacks for more than 20 years." But every once in awhile, perhaps out of Greatest Generation nostalgia, Brokaw has something kind to say about a Republican.
As was the case on Morning Joe today, when, after reciting a list of the 41st president's accomplishments, Brokaw called George H.W. Bush "the most underrated modern president of our time." Video after the jump.
Brokaw offered his praise in the context of putting the current presidential race in perspective. While Obama is currently doing well in the polls, Brokaw pointed out that H.W., despite all his accomplishments and astronomical poll ratings after Desert Storm, ultimately lost "to a guy who has a girlfriend who appears in the middle of that summer, talking about her long-time affair with the Governor of Arkansas."
Watch a rare point of light from Brokaw.
Note: don't miss the end of the clip. Mika Brzezinski has had more than enough of the praise for a Republican, and is eager to move on.
TOM BROKAW: Jim Baker and President Bush 41 put together a game plan and won that [1988] election. Now, think about what happened four years later, because that's also applicable to where we are now. George Bush 41 presides over the winning war and Iraq I, he puts together the most impressive alliance we have seen in the last 40 or 50 years to do that. His numbers go to 75, almost 80% in terms of approval.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: The Soviet Union collapses, Christmas Day of '91.
BROKAW: The Berlin Wall comes down, he manages it so well that Helmut Kohl later got tears in his eyes as he, on a public stage, thanked George Bush for how he managed the Berlin Wall collapse and the reunification of Germany. That's how he goes into his re-election campaign and he loses to a guy who has a girlfriend who appears in the middle of that summer, talking about her long-time affair with the Governor of Arkansas. So, got to keep all this stuff in mind . . . He was the most, I think most underrated modern president of our time.
As the recitation of H.W.'s accomplishments continues, Mika Brzezinski has had enough and makes the conversation move on.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: No, I've got it. Looking at how things broke down last night [in the Super Tuesday primaries] , I'm just . . .
