Odd bit of role reversal on today's Morning Joe . . .
There was Mika Brzezinski, ripping Charlie Crist as unprincipled for his mid-campaign ditching of the Republican party. Joe Scarborough, the quondam GOP congressman from the Sunshine State, was in a much more forgiving mood, going so far as to predict that, following in Crist's footsteps, many others would successfully go the independent route.
Mika and Joe's exchange was triggered by the news that Crist's own Lieutenant Governor, Jeff Kottkamp, has endorsed Marco Rubio for Senate.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: The party switch, I'm telling you, it has consequences. People may still fall for it, but --
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Why are you so cynical? Just because Charlie Crist loves America, doesn't mean you have to kick sand in his face.
BRZEZINSKI: Charlie Crist is one of several politicians that we've seen in our careers who didn't win in his party, and who thought: I still want to win, so now I'm going to switch parties even though I have no convictions, I'm just going to switch, I'm just going to change this coat.
SCARBOROUGH: The Republican party left Charlie Crist: that's what he'd tell you.
BRZEZINSKI: Really? Why did he run with the Republican party half-way through the election process?
SCARBOROUGH: They changed, right after the election.
BRZEZINSKI: It was a dipsy-doodle.
SCARBOROUGH: You know what? I will guarantee you, more and more people are going to go independent, and they're going to win elections, because of it.
In much of his commentary, Scarborough was surely being facetious. But the bottom line was that while Mika was condemning Crist for his unprincipled flip, Joe saw Charlie's cynical move as a model for others.
