In a Washington Post column promoted heavily on today's Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough has penned what amounts to a political eulogy for Joe Biden. It's headlined "No matter how it ends, I'm proud of Joe Biden." He ostentatiously placed himself at the "top of the list" of people proud of Biden.
Scarborough declined to officially declare Biden's candidacy dead. But he questioned "whether his campaign can survive the body blows of Iowa and New Hampshire."
It sounds like a polite way of saying it's over. Adopting an elegiac tone, Scarborough's piece focused on the loss and tribulation that Biden has suffered over his lifetime, and highlighted what a fine, loving father he has been. Uber-supportive spouse Mika Brzezinski promised "I'm going to read a lot of it. Worth it."
It seems a bit egotistical of Scarborough to put himself "at the top of the list" of people proud of Biden. So which viable Democrat is our malleable Morning Joe going to praise to the skies next? Bernie or Bloomie?
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
2/13/20
7:38 am ETMIKA BRZEZINSKI: Joe’s out with a new piece for the Washington Post which is really beautiful. It’s entitled “No matter how this race ends I’m proud of Joe Biden.” By the way, the race isn’t over, but listen to this. We had a hard time picking just a short portion to read. So I’m going to read a lot of it. Worth it.
"In February of 1988, Biden would suffer a brain aneurysm and find himself at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where his doctor told the senator that his chance of survival was less than half. Fifteen years after losing their mother and sister in a shattering car accident, Biden’s sons, Beau and Hunter, were called to their father’s bedside after a priest delivered last rites.
. . .
"Friends and longtime aides feared that the former vice president wasn’t up to the challenge of running yet again for president. That the pain and hardship Biden endured over his adult life left him too weary to absorb the hits that would surely come his way. But Jill Biden, whom Joe credited with helping him dream again after his first wife’s death, supported his decision and helped him pick up the pieces of his life once more.
"That faith initially seemed to pay off with Biden racing to the top of most Democratic national polls throughout 2019. His losses in the first contests of 2020, held in overwhelmingly white states, discounted his support among black voters and has put his candidacy at risk. Whether his campaign can survive the body blows delivered by Iowa and New Hampshire remains to be seen, but Joe Biden has endured worse. Like that gravely ill father accompanying his sons so many years ago, millions of Americans do not need to see how this political race ends to know they are already proud of Joe Biden. And you can put me at the top of that list."Great piece by Joe.
