Joe Scarborough’s transformation, from hardcore conservative to partisan Democrat, is complete, if you didn’t notice.
Scarborough waxed nostalgic about the 1998 midterm elections. Rush Limbaugh was wrong to predict a Republican victory after the Year of Lewinsky. Instead, Democrats enjoyed what Scarborough called a “glorious evening.”
But was it? The Senate saw no net change, with Democrats adding just five seats to the House. Both houses are still controlled by Republicans.
Scarborough shared his fond memories in the context of the optimistic theme of today: Nobody knows what the outcome of the midterms might be.
It may be true, but that’s also the usual refrain from the party at the bottom in the polls. Keep an eye out for the classic line that people are about to lose: “The only poll that matters is the one on Election Day!”
Note: Scarborough made a shocking revelation in the same segment. Scarborough stated that Democrats can keep hope alive by pointing out that you don’t know how people will vote until they actually get to the polls.
I am sure I have been surprised by myself in the past when I thought I was going to vote in a certain way.
Then, you know what? I’ll just say it. I was angry at Bush in 2006 and the Republicans in 2006. I voted for a straight Democratic ticket. I was angry at the Democrats in Connecticut for destroying my state in 2014. I voted for a straight Republican ticket. That was all I knew until I got there.
Sometimes I have walked out of a polling booth saying, “That’s interesting!” That’s how most Americans get in. Sometimes they aren’t sure. We can’t forecast the economy. It’s a whole collection of things. . . This amazing thing called democracy is what makes us more surprised than we should be. Don’t we?
Wait, what? Scarborough voted a straight Democratic ticket 16 year ago. Because he was angry at George W. Bush? Isn’t W a Republican liberals today almost revere? Scarborough was furious with him.
Joe Scarborough, a Morning Joe host, waxed nostalgic about 1998’s midterms. In which Rush Limbaugh was wrong to predict a Republican victory and Democrats instead had “glorious nights”, was sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline (maker of Etsy, Voltaren, and Abbott, the maker of Rinvoq.
Here’s the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
11/8/22
6:36 am EDT
JOE SCARBOROUGH – I want to add one more thing about nobody knowing anything. I’m glad you brought up 1998. I was campaigning in my district while driving.
Rush Limbaugh was yelling, and he was laughing at these Democrats, these Democrats are already circling their wagons. They are already, because the newspapers were stuffed with op-eds claiming that we will lose badly in ’98, because we have allowed Bill Clinton to put a moral stain upon our party. We have changed. We are going to be wiped out by Congress. Because all polls indicated that Democrats would be wiped out.
And Republicans were delighted and said, “This is what you deserve.” Three days later, Newt Gingrich was expelled from town. Because 1998 was a wonderful year for Democrats. It’s impossible to predict what’s going on. You never know what’s going to happen, don’t you?
