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"Morning Joe" Scarborough is lending his name and commentary to the launch of a new group dedicated to...what, exactly? Via Huffington Post:
Scarborough, a Republican, former Florida congressman and host of "Morning Joe" on MSNBC, will participate in the debut event of "No Labels" on December 13 at Columbia University in New York.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is also expected to take part, along with an array of other self-described centrists, including retiring Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Sen. Joe Lieberman, (I-Conn.), former Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn), Los Angeles's Democratic Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Sen. Deb Stabenow (D-Mich.), former Gov. Christie Todd Whitman (R-N.J.) and former Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.)
A look at the "About" page on NoLabels.org reveals a list of "Founding Leaders", including Dave Walker, David Frum, Mark McKinnon, and Clinton strategist Nancy Jacobson. By the way, that Dave Walker is the same David M. Walker who is head of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, that non-partisan group who helped write the Catfood Commission chairs' recommendations.
To give Frum, et al their due, they are not crazy like most Republicans. This is good. They should represent the conservative majority viewpoint, not the teabirchers and their birther buddies. With that said, this organization smells like a feel-good way to attract disaffected pieces of the electorate who don't really bother to learn enough to actually test what they believe in. It's more "no red state, no blue state" nonsense in an environment where bullies dominate the national conversation.
As for Morning Joe:
But he is teasingly vague about what he might consider doing on his own. He avoided a direct answer to the question earlier this month at Harvard, saying only: "There are so many issues where America is united... I think we're coming up on a very historic time. I'm very happy where I am right now, but you never know."
One thing Scarborough knows: he's outraged by Palin's attacks on the experience and bona fides of two Republican presidents, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He indignantly called her out in a Politico website column. "This is one Republican," he wrote acidly," who would prefer that the former half-governor promote her reality shows and hawk her books without demeaning the reputations of Presidents Reagan and Bush."
Color me shocked.
