Scarborough: Bhutto Assassination Helps Rudy And Hillary

[NYCGirl]

Good analysis of this over at Talking Points Memo:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/12/joe_scarborough.php

As Atrios says, the logic is very tortured here indeed. But it's actually worse than that. This rank bit of punditry serves as yet another reminder of just how gullible the pundit corps in general has been about Rudy's candidacy, on two levels: First, the near wholesale acceptance of the idea that Rudy's mayoralty counts as counter-terrorism experience; and second, the presumption that he automatically has a political advantage on terrorism over his rivals.

The most recent polling on terrorism in the GOP primary that I can find suggests there's no reason to presume Rudy has an advantage on it:

-snipped-

It's also worth considering Scarborough's claim that the Bhutto assassination automatically benefits Hillary. Whatever you think of Hillary, he is obviously basing this diagnosis on the presumption that voters automatically look to presumed hawkish candidates in times of peril and confusion. According to this reading, voters will automatically conclude in such situations that they want the candidate who is imagined to be "more willing to use force," whatever that means. There's no chance that voters could be actually evaluating each candidate's foreign policy ideas.

But there's no earthly reason, as Ben Smith notes, to discount the possibility that the assassination could make people more receptive to Obama's argument that "the Clinton/Bush status quo has produced disaster after disaster, and it's time for a change."

[LibDemAlways]

1. 9/11 happened on Rudy and the chimp's watches. Rudy's

most memorable 9/11 moment was running uptown in a sea of confusion and then proclaiming that the loss of life was more than he could bear.

Rudy did nothing on 9/11 to keep anyone safe. Scarborough is an idiot.

[kentuck]

2. Tortured logic, indeed.

The people that have created the chaos and murder and war are the best ones to lead our nation because they have experience at this kind of shit? Vewry tortured logic. I heard Scarborough say that and wondered what kind of simple, moronic mind uses such logic?

[Cha]

3. Yeah cause the majority

are so goddamn dumb and the m$$$$$$$$$$m want the eternal fucking war machine to never stop and with candidates like hillary and the ghoul..well, they're tailor made.

[wryter2000]

4. Scarborough, you effing ghoul. eom

gag

[AlCzervik]

5. rigger hasn't even set in yet and Joe Dead intern is already politicizing it.

you stay classy Joe.

[Dangerman]

6. Why didn't MSNBC...

fired that bastard Scarborough already?

[flyarm]

7. i think it tells us exactly who "the octopus" wants to be our candidates!

choice? we get no choice..Rudy was dead in the water..now he is the second comming and hillary she was almost dead in the water in Iowa..now they will be our white knight and snow white.

please no one here really thought we would have a choice in our government did we?

the neo cons need one or the other to protect their asses ..its really rather simple..

look Mushariff has been in the eyesight of al queada..why would they kill the one chance they have to get rid of Mushariff? ...

this is total crap and these fucking pundits and their rudy hillary show is nothing but fear mongering and the Octopus telling us who will be our candidates!

it sucks! but people will fall for it..hook line and sinker!

fly

[OHdem10]

8. News of this nature, helps McCain, Guilliani, and HRC.

Toughness, Wisdom, knowledge and competence are the atrtributes
that come front and center in average American's mind.

[NYCGirl]

9. Well, that certainly leaves out Rudy Giuliani. NT