CNN's own national poll has Obama and Romney tied, but that didn't stop anchor Brooke Baldwin from asking Monday if Republicans are already giving up on the election.
"Do you hear any of the Republicans giving up the fight?" she foolishly asked Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) after Republican Haley Barbour said that Hurricane Sandy "broke Romney's momentum." [Video below the break. Audio here.]
"The hurricane is what broke Romney's momentum," stated Barbour on Sunday's State of the Union. Baldwin blew that up to be, as "some folks" said, "a bit like an early post-mortem" from Republicans.
Baldwin didn't mention what Barbour said next. "Any day that the news media is not talking about jobs and the economy, taxes and spending, deficits and debt, ObamaCare and energy, is a good day for Barack Obama," he added, clarifying that "whether it will be good enough remains to be seen." That's no "post-mortem."
Black threw poll numbers back at Baldwin. "No, actually I think that there is even more enthusiasm right now because we're hearing about those battleground states such as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania where, obviously, the President won by double digits and we see now that we're within the margin of error."
A transcript of the segment, which aired on November 5 on CNN Newsroom at 3:41 p.m. EST, is as follows:
(Video Clip)
HALEY BARBOUR, (R) former Mississippi governor: The hurricane is what broke Romney's momentum.
CANDY CROWLEY, host, CNN's State of the Union: You think that, as well?
BARBOUR: I don't think there is any question about it. Any day that the news media is not talking about jobs and the economy, taxes and spending, deficits and debt, ObamaCare and energy, is a good day for Barack Obama.
(End Video Clip)
BALDWIN: Broke Romney's momentum, the hurricane. Congresswoman Black, Haley Barbour, he's saying, you know, Romney had the momentum going. The storm obviously took it away. Do you also believe that to be the case?
BLACK: Well, Brooke, first of all, I want to say that we all are sending our hearts out to those who have been devastated by the storm. We still see on television that they're dealing with some really tough situations and it's only appropriate that we should turn and make sure that our fellow Americans are taken care of during these really tough times.
But, listen, this momentum is definitely on Governor Romney's side. We see that we're up by 7 percent in the enthusiastic factor. We also see we're up by 7 percent in those who are undecided. So, there's no doubt in my mind that we have got that momentum going. We're within the margin of error. I have been in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. I've seen it myself.
BALDWIN: But Congresswoman Black, you know, to some folks what Haley Barbour is saying sounds a bit like an early post-mortem coming from the ranks of the Republicans of your own party. Do you hear any Republicans – you mentioned all these states you've been through, traveling here. Do you hear any of the Republicans giving up the fight?
BLACK: No, actually I think that there is even more enthusiasm right now because we're hearing about those battleground states such as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania where, obviously, the President won by double digits and we see now that we're within the margin of error. And it is definitely an enthusiasm up there and a momentum that I believe that we're going to be victorious tomorrow evening.
