MSNBC on Wednesday hyped the possibility of a Bernie Sanders boom. Alex Seitz-Wald, a network reporter who had previously swooned over Hillary Clinton's "Scooby Van," enthused, "This is definitely quite a crowd, Chris. They are chanting, 'feel the Bern' behind me."
Seitz-Wald was responding to a Sanders rally in Wisconsin that drew almost 10,000. The enthusiasum seemed infectious as the journalist touted, "This is something that is totally grassroots, uncontrolled, people just coming together."
He even compared Sanders's role in 2016 to Obama's in 2008, allowing that Clinton could be defeated again:
ALEX SEITZ-WALD: Yes. This is definitely quite a crowd, Chris. They are chanting, "feel the Bern" behind me here. This is the venue that you expect for a major party nominee in October of a general election. Not in June or July of the year before an election, and certainly not for a candidate who is a self-described socialist running against the strongest nominee in any party's history that's not an incumbent, not a vice president. So, there's something happening here. I mean, people are very fired up. They say Bernie is the only guy who's talking -- the only one talking about their issues. And the name that I'm reading a couple of times, Barack Obama -- saying that maybe, just maybe Bernie Sanders can do the same thing that Obama did to Hillary Clinton in 2008.
It was back in April that Seitz-Wald excitedly chased Hillary Clinton, heralding, "We see the Scooby van, the famous Scooby van is coming down the road right now towards our set up now!... There she goes!"
Apparently, liberal affection can be fleeting at MSNBC.
A transcript of the July 1 segment is below:
8:02
CHRIS HAYES: But people are starting to ask whether Bernie Sanders represents a quite serious challenge to Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary. Joining me now from the Sanders rally in Madison is MSNBC political reporter Alex Seitz-Wald. And, Alex, it looks like -- it looks like quite a crowd.
ALEX SEITZ-WALD: Yes. This is definitely quite a crowd, Chris. They are chanting, "feel the Bern" behind me. This is the venue that you expect for a major party nominee in October of a general election. Not in June or July of the year before an election, and certainly not for a candidate who is a self-described socialist running against the strongest nominee in any party's history that's not an incumbent, not a vice president. So, there's something happening here. I mean, people are very fired up. They say Bernie is the only guy who's talking -- the only one talking about their issues. And the name that I'm reading a couple of times, Barack Obama -- saying that maybe, just maybe Bernie Sanders can do the same thing that Obama did to Hillary Clinton in 2008.
HAYES: Yes, one of the early indicators of Barack Obama's potential in that nominating contest was that he was drawing massive crowds. I remember covering his announcement in a freezing cold day in Springfield, Illinois, which drew thousands. There were thousands who came out. I remember one event specifically in Austin, which again, it wasn't on the campaign trail per se at that point. It wasn't on people's radar screen. But when 8,000 or 10,000 people showed up, it got the political world thinking, something is going on. The reason we're looking at back to back 8,000 plus rallies for Bernie Sanders, there is -- we don't know how big it is. We don't know whether they show up, there's a long way. But there is some base that is very, very committed to this candidate. It is still very early.
SEITZ-WALD: Yes, that's right. And Hillary Clinton has yet to prove that she can generate this kind of massive grassroots support. She had about 5,500 people at her kickoff rally on Roosevelt Island in New York, her home town, her home state. The crowd was fired up. I was there. They were very excited. But this is a little bit different. This is something that is totally grassroots, uncontrolled, people just coming together. This event was coming together. We're seeing it across the country. He did it in Burlington with his kickoff rally, 5,000 there at the lake. In Denver, another 5,000 there, 3,000 in Minneapolis, 1,000 people stood outside. They couldn't even get in. And on Monday, he's got an event in Portland, Maine. They just yesterday announced they had to move it because there were too many RSVPs. They're moving to a bigger arena. So, there's definitely a lot of enthusiasm out here. I think none of us would have expect this a few months ago. I mean, the fact we are here in a giant venue for Bernie Sanders running for president speaks to the level of interest there is, an enthusiasm to an alternative to Hillary Clinton in the grassroots of the Democratic base.
