After the Labor Day weekend, Joe Scarborough sat on the set of “Morning Joe” and told the Democrats that to succeed in the midterms, it was essential that they somehow repeal “40 years of Reaganism” by passing a massive expansion of government disguised as an “infrastructure” package.
“I remember hearing Biden’s speech back in April and was shocked by how sweeping it was for this supposed moderate guy from Delaware,” Scarborough proclaimed. “This will reverse 40 years of Reaganism, just like Ronald Reagan reversed 45 years of Roosevelt’s New Deal.”Now, believers in Reaganism would look at the last five years of big spending hikes and suggest Reaganism has not exactly dominated in recent federal budgets. But that’s the framing for anyone now opposing a “historic” expansion of the state.
Scarborough insisted Democrats have to agree to pass something enormous. “(C)ompromise has to be found. They have no other choice. They have to make history or, of course, there will be no justification for them to run for re-election.”
This Scarborough segment was not unusual for TV “news” punditry. There is a tone when Democrats are in the White House and hold a majority in Congress, however narrow. Anchors, pundits, and correspondents have a tendency to talk about how Democrats succeed. It’s not unlike, say, the local sports channels on a Washington football team show: How does our team win? What do they need to improve on? In this case, how can they pass some “landmark” legislation and look “historic”? They fawn over Democrats, favor them, coach them and only fault them when the polls falter.
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