Appearing as a panel member on Tuesday's MTP Daily on MSNBC, right-leaning MSNBC political analyst Hugh Hewitt gave the latest example of the kind of analysis one expects to find coming from Republicans who typically appear on the liberal news network.
During a discussion of the likelihood that Alabama Justice Roy Moore would likely beat incumbent Senator Luther Strange for the Republican nomination for Senate, Hewitt suggested that Republicans would be better off to lose the special election to a Democrat rather than let Moore serve as a "terrible brand" for the party.
After beginning his analysis by predicting that "if he wins, he could be defeated in the general because Republicans don't want to be branded with that," the MSNBC Republican soon added:
I think it would be a very close race because there are a lot of strategic Republicans who think that Justice Moore could end up being a terrible brand for the Republicans to have to burden under for the next -- 51-49 being better than 52-48 if your 52nd vote is Judge Moore.
After fellow member Eliana Johnson of Politico -- not believing his prediction -- joked that "I would eat my hand" if a Democrat managed to win in Alabama, Hewitt further intoned: "A lot of Democrats would love to see Justice Moore become Senator Moore. They would love that."
A bit later, Hewitt predicted that journalists like MTP Daily host Chuck Todd would undermine Moore over the next couple of months:
In my Republican closet in my head up here, there is the name Sharron Angle -- there are a number of -- there's Todd Akin -- there are a number of Republican nominees who damaged the party long-term. ... They didn't get there. If Justice Moore does, it becomes an ongoing problem that will be every question. That's why I think the time -- what we have here is an election where people like Chuck (Todd) are going to be asking him --
Host Todd then jumped in to recall:
Way too much time between the runoff and the general. That is uncomfortable amount of time. By the way, I can't tell you how many Republicans from '94 loved winning without Oliver North.
Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Tuesday, September 26, MTP Daily on MSNBC:
5:25 p.m. ET
HUGH HEWITT, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: I believe that Judge Moore -- Justice Moore -- if he wins, could be defeated in the general because Republicans don't want to be branded with that. I asked Robert Costa -- our colleague -- about that this morning. He doesn't think it's that close of a race.
I think it would be a very close race because there are a lot of strategic Republicans who think that Justice Moore could end up being a terrible brand for the Republicans to have to burden under for the next -- 51-49 being better than 52-48 if your 52nd vote is Judge Moore. We'll see -- I think that could be what the story line coming up.
(...)
HEWITT: A lot of Democrats would love to see Justice Moore become Senator Moore. They would love that
ELIANA JOHNSON, POLITICO NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: There was a time when the Democrats were cheering the rise of Donald Trump. They pulled up an old Washington Post article that had that headline, and I was wondering: Are Democrats now going to cheer the rise of people like Roy Moore and, you know, Danny Tarkanian and all these other fringe candidates? Or have they been chastened in the way establishment Republicans capitulated?
(...)
HEWITT: In my Republican closet in my head up here, there is the name Sharron Angle -- there are a number of -- there's Todd Akin -- there are a number of Republican nominees who damaged the party long-term.
CHUCK TODD: They didn't even get into the Senate.
HEWITT: They didn't get there. If Justice Moore does, it becomes an ongoing problem that will be every question. That's why I think the time -- what we have here is an election where people like Chuck (Todd) are going to be asking him --
TODD: Way too much time between the runoff and the general. That is uncomfortable amount of time. By the way, I can't tell you how many Republicans from '94 loved winning without Oliver North.
