MSNBC's Joe Scarborough shifted into psychic mode on Wednesday, flat-out declaring, "Of course, [Rick Perry] can't get elected in the general election. He can't." The Morning Joe host derided the GOP presidential candidate, even predicting what states Perry would lose and by how much.
Scarborough totally dismissed the Texas governor's chances, ripping, "He can get elected in the Republican primary, but he can't get elected in the general election. The ex-Congressman turned cable host was very specific: "...He can't carry Ohio. He can't carry Pennsylvania."
[See video below. MP3 audio here.]
Despite Perry not even having won the nomination and the general election being 15 months out, Scarborough insisted that the Republican "can't carry Iowa."
The MSNBC anchor even went so far as to prognosticate by just how much Perry would lose the above state by: "He'll lose by 12, 13 points in Iowa in the general election."
It should be pointed out that, according to Gallup, Barack Obama's job approval is at a record low of 38 percent. Real Clear Politics gives the President a mere three point edge over Perry.
A transcript of the August 31 exchange follows:
6:47am EDT
DONNY DEUTSCH: Let's say Rick Perry does get the nomination and he's- Can he carry Florida and Ohio? Can a guy like that carry Florida, Pennsylvania, those states?
JOE SCARBOROUGH: He can carry Florida. He can carry Florida, possibly.
DEUTSCH: Even with the ponzi scheme? Social Security?
SCARBOROUGH: He can possibly carry Florida, but he can't carry Ohio. He can't carry Pennsylvania.
DEUTSCH: Well, then he can't get elected.
SCARBOROUGH: Of course, he can't get elected in the general election. He can't. He can get elected in the Republican primary, but he can't get elected in the general election.
MIKE BARNICLE: He is, potentially, a gift for President Obama.
DEUTSCH: Let's play it out for a second though. Because, I didn't think he'd- He can carry Florida. He can carry North Carolina, definitely.
SCARBOROUGH: Yep. And he can carry Virginia.
DEUTSCH: Okay. And Iowa.
SCARBOROUGH: No. He can't carry Iowa.
DEUTSCH: No.
SCARBOROUGH: He'll lose by 12, 13 points in Iowa in the general election.
DEUTSCH: Okay. Okay. Because this election, let's say it is him and Obama is more clearly defined as, where, basically, the swing states even get narrower and narrower. So, if you do the electoral math-
SCARBOROUGH: The numbers don't add up.
DEUTSCH: Florida, North Carolina, what else does he-
SCARBOROUGH: Listen, the bottom line is, it comes down to the Midwest states, Florida and then New Mexico and Arizona, Nevada have come into play. I don't know. I have got a blind spot on Rick Perry in the southwest. I don't know how he would do there, his neighbor in Texas. I do know in the Midwest battle states, you go from Michigan to Ohio. He may win Indiana, which Obama carried last time. But, he'll get absolutely savaged in the suburb of Philadelphia and Bucks County.
...
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: And the Republican field is just pathetic.
