On Wednesday afternoon, hours before the vice presidential debate was set to begin, MSNBC was already set to declare left-wing California Senator Kamala Harris the winner, proclaiming that Vice President Mike Pence had a “steep climb” ahead of him with “rocks basically rolling downhill” at him. Predictions were made that it would be almost impossible for Pence to be “on offense” during the match-up.
“Ali Vitali, it seems as if Mike Pence’s to-do list has only gotten longer when it comes to trying to fix what is wrong right now with the Trump messaging and the Trump campaign,” MTP Daily host Chuck Todd announced to the NBC News national political reporter in the 1:00 p.m. ET hour. He then tried to preemptively dismiss any criticism that would be directed at Harris: “I know their goal was to try to create – make Kamala Harris the story. I don’t know how this debate isn’t about Trump and COVID.”
Vitali was eager to agree with her hackish colleague, parroting similar Biden campaign talking points and predicting doom for Pence: “Yeah, I mean, Chuck, it’s a steep climb for Mike Pence even before this, but now he’s got rocks basically rolling downhill just over the course of the last few days.” She decided: “...for Mike Pence, it’s going to be a little harder for him to get on offense tonight.”
At one point, Vitali even touted how that narrative “really is summed up well” by “Harris advisers” she talked to earlier in the day: “...one of them said that as much as Harris is on the stage with Mike Pence tonight, this is basically a proxy battle of prosecuting the case against the Trump administration and Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic.” Apparently the Biden campaign is writing MSNBC scripts now.
During a brief (failed) attempt to frame the Trump campaign’s case against Harris and Biden, Vitali rejected the argument as quickly as she raised it:
But for Mike Pence, if he does get the chance to go on offense, you read the tea leaves of what Republicans have been trying to do in recent months, but also over the last few years, trying to tag Democrats with these labels of “radical” or “socialist.” It doesn’t work against Joe Biden. He’s got this really baked-in moderate policy brand. Trump tried it on the debate stage, you remember, and Biden really neutralized it. For Harris, though, she was a presidential candidate in her own right, she’s gonna have to, I imagine, get on that debate stage, and if Mike Pence brings up Medicare for All, not just defend her stance of it, but also bring it back a little bit to what Biden’s overall message is there.
So according to MSNBC, Harris may have to defend Biden’s alleged “baked-in moderate policy brand,” but it’s okay because he’s already “neutralized” all criticism of being too far left.
Vitali wrapped up the exchange by reassuring liberal viewers that Pence probably wouldn’t even get the chance call out Harris: “But again, I mean, for a guy who’s trying to argue for four more years, he has a really crisis-filled last few days to defend as he gets on that debate stage.”
If any rocks are tumbling toward the Trump campaign, it’s the leftist media hurling the boulders.
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Here is a transcript of the October 7 discussion:
1:09 PM ET
(...)
CHUCK TODD: So let’s talk a little bit about tonight. Ali Vitali, it seems as if Mike Pence’s to-do list has only gotten longer when it comes to trying to fix what is wrong right now with the Trump messaging and the Trump campaign, whether it’s on the virus, whether it’s on stimulus talks. I know their goal was to try to create – make Kamala Harris the story. I don’t know how this debate isn’t about Trump and COVID.
ALI VITALI: Yeah, I mean, Chuck, it’s a steep climb for Mike Pence even before this, but now he’s got rocks basically rolling downhill just over the course of the last few days. Whether it was the President flouting masks and saying that the coronavirus shouldn’t dominate your life – even though for so many Americans, it’s dominating their life whether he says it shouldn’t or not. And so for Mike Pence, it’s going to be a little harder for him to get on offense tonight.
I think it really is summed up well – we were on a call earlier with some Harris advisers – one of them said that as much as Harris is on the stage with Mike Pence tonight, this is basically a proxy battle of prosecuting the case against the Trump administration and Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic. That has been such a central messaging pitch for Biden and Harris, both on the campaign trail, but now Harris is going to be able to be face-to-face with the person who is the head of the Coronavirus Task Force for the White House. And so clearly that’s her offensive stance on the stage and it’s going to be the central messaging pitch that I imagine she continues trying to circle back to.
But for Mike Pence, if he does get the chance to go on offense, you read the tea leaves of what Republicans have been trying to do in recent months, but also over the last few years, trying to tag Democrats with these labels of “radical” or “socialist.” It doesn’t work against Joe Biden. He’s got this really baked-in moderate policy brand. Trump tried it on the debate stage, you remember, and Biden really neutralized it. For Harris, though, she was a presidential candidate in her own right, she’s gonna have to, I imagine, get on that debate stage, and if Mike Pence brings up Medicare for All, not just defend her stance of it, but also bring it back a little bit to what Biden’s overall message is there. So I think if Pence gets the chance to go on offense, that might be the way that he tries to take it. But again, I mean, for a guy who’s trying to argue for four more years, he has a really crisis-filled last few days to defend as he gets on that debate stage.
(...)
