The latest midterm polls show that the red wave is building again, and Democrats are becoming gloomy. Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post columnist, tried to argue that the 11 remaining days in the midterm campaign were like “eternity” on Friday’s PBS NewsHour.
It is reminiscent of a conversation Michael Dukakis gave Ted Koppel in 1988, when there were only two weeks to go in the campaign. Koppel was surprised to hear that he assured Koppel that there was still plenty of time.
David Brooks, a columnist for the New York Times, predicted doom for Democrats on Friday on PBS. He suggested that Democrats were losing support among Latino voters and the economy, as well as crime and the economy. Capehart couldn’t agree.
Jonathan Capehart, PBS, refuses to see an “inexorable shift to the GOP.” “But in this hypernews cycle that we are in now, 11 days seems like a very long period. Every day is an eternity. I believe we will see swings over time. (Like Dukakis’s at the end ’88!) pic.twitter.com/pHgu8qF19V
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) October 29, 2022
JUDYWOODRUFF: Do you see that it is moving inexorably towards the Republican direction, and for all the reasons David outlined?
Jonathan Capehart: I’m not sure what to say, but inexorably is the word I will be arguing with. Yes, it looks like the momentum is shifting back to the Republicans, according to polls. 11 days is a long time in this hyper-news cycle we are in right now. Every day is an eternity. So I believe we will see swings back-and-forth over time.
Capehart later stated that John Fetterman’s poor debate performance was not going to be a major issue in Pennsylvania.
Then came the PBS journalist-roundtable show Washington Week, and the biggest topic was the violent hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, inside their home in San Francisco.
Scott McFarlane, CBS reporter, made sure to link this to the January 6th riot — as that’s what almost all her CBS reports are about. Ashley Parker, a Washington Post reporter, sounded like an opposition researcher for the DNC. She listed where Republicans had upset Democrats by being “snarky.”
Ashley Parker, a WashPost reporter, made a list on the @PBS program “Washington Week” of Republicans who wished Paul Pelosi a good night after he was attacked in his home with a hammer. However, he then made snarky remarks. pic.twitter.com/3dV3jh8G24
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) October 30, 2022
YAMICHE ALCONDO: I also want you to note something Glenn Youngkin, the governor of Virginia, said. He was out campaigning today, and I want him to quote directly. He stated that Speaker Pelosi’s husband broke into his house last night and was assaulted. But! He said that he would send her home with him to California. That’s what they’re going to do.” We’ve covered all kinds of attacks and charged rhetoric. But I wonder what you think of the governor’s statements and the political climate we’re experiencing right now.
ASHLEY PARKER: It’s not just Virginia’s governor, and that “but” is crucial. Because it was a key line in many, not all, but a variety of Republican statements and tweets. It was a sort of “violence cannot be accepted, but!”
A local Ohio representative said that he hoped Paul Pelosi recovers fully, violence is never acceptable. Then, he mocked the calls of liberal lawmakers to defund police. He then tweeted, “You know, but I sure hope San Francisco sends their best social worker to respond” to the attack on the Pelosi household.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, who accused Nancy Pelosi before she ran for Congress, suggested that she was treasonous.
should be executed as treason — she sent out a tweet later today, saying, again, you can’t excuse violence, it’s unacceptable but let’s not forget all the times I’ve been attacked.
This violence on either side is not acceptable. This is not unacceptable. Snarky comments about her husband, snarky comments about liberal policies, snarky both sidesism. That is the one thing I noticed in many of the Republican responses to today’s election.
Parker had nothing to share about how tweeting liberals were accusing Trump and his followers of the Pelosi attack. Twitchy also pointed out that liberals were still snarky about how Sen. Rand Paul was brutally attacked in 2017 by his neighbor, which resulted in broken ribs.
