At a Hollywood Reporter event honoring the most powerful media figures in New York on Wednesday, it became clear the Wisconsin primary is shaking up the conventional wisdom about this election. CBS This Morning co-host Norah O’Donnell projected “it might witness the breakup of the two political parties.”
Her CBS co-host colleague Charlie Rose weirdly offered overt praise for Hillary Clinton’s skills as a politician. “Hillary Clinton – very, very good politician – looks at a very competitive Bernie Sanders.”
Earth to Rose: if she was “very, very good,” why has she just lost seven of the last eight? It’s a bit like praising the worst-shooting team in the NBA. (But then, Charlie is sounding like a Team Hillary member on CBS.)
Otherwise, Rose mumbled about the surprise of how well Trump and Sanders have done: "It shows you where there are all kinds of conflicting issues and analyses of America. It speaks something to a recognition of people's hopes and aspirations and disappointments. It's been the most unpredictable political year."
"This election is interesting because it might witness the breakup of the two political parties," said O'Donnell. "This is bigger than Donald Trump, this is bigger than Hillary Clinton, this is bigger than the contests that they're waging. There's a real fight going on for the heart and soul of the Republican party, for the heart and soul of the Democratic party. I've seen over time as I've covered politics that fewer and fewer people identify themselves as Democrats and Republicans. They're independents. Nobody wants to live by a label anymore, right? Nobody wants to be labeled, and I think that's happening now in politics and I think there's a real breaking point for the political parties."
NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt stayed very general: "Nothing has gone as the pundits thought it would at the beginning of this cycle. The only constant is surprise in this election."
