Despite the fact that Joe Scarborough has left the Republican Party and is cheerleading for any Democrat to win in 2020, he still occasionally pretends that his advice is to help his former party, not just ensure an endless Democratic majority. Scarborough on Tuesday talked to former Barack Obama senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer and promoted his new book.
Although Scarborough insisted he is “usually hands off” and “[I] usually say the Constitution will work things out,” the Morning Joe host wondered, “Are there any structural changes that we need to undertake or is it more of a basic civics course that we need to teach American students?”
Pfeiffer insisted that “absolutely” the country needs structural changes. His list? “I think we should get rid of the filibuster. I think the first thing that a Democratic president and Democratic Senate should do is make D.C. a state and if Puerto Rico would like to be a state, we should be open to that. I think that we have to begin steps to undo the electoral college to fix our courts.”
What would two more Democratic senators in the overwhelmingly liberal Washington D.C. mean? Possibly two more Democrats in Puerto Rico? (That's possibly an extra four.) Ending the filibuster and “undoing” the electoral college, as well as the courts? This is obviously about creating a permanent Democratic majority where Republicans don't win.
By the way, it seems that Democrats AND Republicans agree that this is the coming agenda for the Democratic Party. In the latest edition of his podcast Verdict, Senator Ted Cruz predicted the plans for 2021, should the Democrats take power. It matches what Pfeiffer neatly, right down to the discussion of “structural changes.”
Here's Cruz in the February 11 episode:
I think the very first priority Democrats will have is stay in power forever. I think they will look at structural changes. How do they structurally make it so they can never lose?... We wake up January 2021. Bernie Sanders is president. Chuck Schumer is Majority Leader. Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House. I think one of the first things that happens is they end the filibuster.... I think high on their list?
Get more Democratic senators.... They can make the District of Columbia a state. Washington D.C. And by the way, Washington D.C. is like an 85 percent Democratic city. You want a state guaranteed to elect Democrats for all eternity?... Puerto Rico becoming a state. Now, it’s interesting. There’s some debate, you get debate if Puerto Rico is a state, would they elect Republicans? Would they elect Democrats? I don’t know the answer to that. But I can tell you, the Democrats think they would elect Democrats.
Instead of pointing any of that out, Scarborough pretended to give advice to the party he left:
And as I try to warn my former Republican colleagues, and my Republican friends, we don't know who that next authoritarian president may be. Maybe it is a conservative. Maybe it is a liberal that figures out how to play on other hostilities, like Trump.
Of course, last year Scarborough himself seemed to endorse ending the electoral college as “not a system... that really can continue effectively much longer.” Scarborough also predicted this past December that “We may look back at 2020 as a last competitive election against the Republican and the Democratic Party.” But remember, the MSNBC host just wants to give helpful advice to Republicans and conservatives.
A partial transcript is below. Click “expand” to read more.
Morning Joe
2/18/2020
7:17 AM ET
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Dan Pfeiffer, less talk about your book and how do we deTrump America?DAN PFEIFFER: Well, it certainly begins with winning this election in 2020. So my book is about two things. How do we win in 2020, but then what do Democrats do after 2020 to fix our politics and reform our democracy and make sure that we never have anyone like trump again. Too many Democrats think that trump is the result of a broken democracy when in fact I think that we have trump because our democracy is broken.
SCARBOROUGH: And so let's talk about — any major structural changes that you see that we need to — I'm usually hands off, usually say the Constitution will work things out, it has worked for over 240 years. But even before Barr came in, I started wondering about the Attorney General and whether that should be a ten year appointment, that two thirds of the Senate approved. Are there any structural changes that we need to undertake or is it more of a basic civics course that we need to teach American students?
PFEIFFER: No, I think that it is absolutely structural because we're currently on a path -- we saw this during impeachment. Where a shrinking mostly white conservative majority will govern for decades a growing, progressive, diverse majority. And so that begins with fixing the Senate. I think we should get rid of the filibuster. I think the first thing that a Democratic president and Democratic Senate should do is make D.C. a state and if Puerto Rico would like to be a state, we should be open to that. I think that we have to begin steps to undo the electoral college to fix our courts.
...
SCARBOROUGH: And as I try to warn my former Republican colleagues, and my Republican friends, we don't know who that next authoritarian president may be. Maybe it is a conservative. Maybe it is a liberal that figures out how to play on other hostilities, like Trump. Here we are how many months out from the election, and I'm curious, do you think Democrats are whining a bit too much about this election already being gone? Because I talk to so many Democrats who throw their arms up in the air and say, “Well, we've lost. Donald Trump will get reelected.” Everybody knows it. I remind them there is nine months to go, first of all, but secondly, I say this guy still is a 43 percent president.
