On the October 1 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, discussing the upcoming vice presidential debate, co-host Mika Brzezinski said of Gov. Sarah Palin: "[I]t would be great if she could hit it out of the ballpark tomorrow night and that people may really like what they're hearing. They just -- we just haven't heard anything more than the fact that she's very likable and very technically competent. Am I being fair?" Earlier in the segment, Brzezinski also said of Palin: “The big issue, though, as [NBC News political director] Chuck [Todd] was talking about earlier, is whether or not she's even gotten to the acceptability bar. And I'm just going to just say, as a woman and a working mother, I would love to see her do well. I'm just not seeing anything in these interviews that are leading me to believe that she's got a deep world view. I'm just -- I'm asking, but I really want to hear more, and I want to be surprised at this point.”
From the October 1 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:
JOE SCARBOROUGH (co-host): So, Willie, we've got a big debate tomorrow.
WILLIE GEIST (MSNBC correspondent): The debate -- you saw it there with the magic graphic. It is tomorrow night in St. Louis, 9 o'clock.
BRZEZINSKI: This is going to be something.
GEIST: Sarah Palin --
SCARBOROUGH: It's going to be exciting.
GEIST: A lot of people are looking forward to this.
SCARBOROUGH: Oh, yeah.
GEIST: And part of the fuel to that fire has been these Katie Couric interviews for Sarah Palin. They want to see how she's going to stand up in a debate based on what she did with Katie Couric. We've been showing you some clips over the course of the morning. Here's another one now where she sort of goes after Joe Biden's age and then explains it away as her admiration for his experience. Mike, watch this.
MIKE BARNICLE (MSNBC commentator): OK.
[begin video clip]
PALIN [video clip]: I've been hearing about his Senate speeches since I was in, like, second grade.
COURIC: When you have a 72-year-old running mate, is that a kind of a risky thing to say, insinuating that Joe Biden's been around awhile?
PALIN: Oh no, it's nothing negative at all. He's got a lot of experience and just stating the fact there that we've been hearing his speeches for all these years. So, he's got a tremendous amount of experience and, you know, I'm the new energy, the new face, the new ideas, and he's got the experience.
[end video clip]
GEIST: It's about experience, guys.
BRZEZINSKI: Umm --
BARNICLE: Listen, I like --
BRZEZINSKI: -- yeah.
GEIST: She looks up to him.
BARNICLE: I like Governor Palin very, very much, but nobody --
BRZEZINSKI: I do, too.
BARNICLE: -- and I mean, nobody makes fun of Joe Biden as long as I'm around.
SCARBOROUGH: No, this is a no-attack zone.
BARNICLE: Right.
SCARBOROUGH: Apparently --
BRZEZINSKI: Well --
SCARBOROUGH: -- the Pony Express didn't get that message up to Alaska.
BARNICLE: Exactly right. Exactly right.
BRZEZINSKI: -- the big issue, though, as Chuck was talking about earlier, is whether or not she's even gotten to the acceptability bar. And I'm just going to just say, as a woman and a working mother, I would love to see her do well.
SCARBOROUGH: Yeah.
BRZEZINSKI: I'm just not seeing anything in these interviews that are leading me to believe that she's got a deep world view. I'm just -- I'm asking, but I really want to hear more, and I want to be surprised at this point.
BARNICLE: Well, I mean, that's why, obviously, Thursday is going to be huge for Sarah Palin, because I think many people are now looking at the clips that we play, reading what's been written, and they're saying, you know, “Please” --
BRZEZINSKI: Yeah.
BARNICLE: -- “just leave her alone.”
BRZEZINSKI: Or is it the -- that the --
BARNICLE: “Leave her alone.” But as Chucky T. pointed out to us, more people than not are now focusing on, you know, “Is she credible?”
SCARBOROUGH: Well, experience --
BRZEZINSKI: Looks like we've got an economy in crisis.
BARNICLE: Yeah.
SCARBOROUGH: At the same time, by a large number -- it's almost 2 to 1 -- people think the media's been unfair. And maybe, Willie, it's that Joe Six-pack vote. You know, I like -- I go around calling myself Joe Six-pack.
GEIST: Yeah.
SCARBOROUGH: Joe Biden's --
GEIST: Joe Biden --
SCARBOROUGH: -- a Joe Six-pack.
GEIST: a Joe Six-pack. We've got another Joe Six-pack.
SCARBOROUGH: Really?
BRZEZINSKI: What? Oh, OK.
GEIST: Her name is --
SCARBOROUGH: Who?
BRZEZINSKI: Joe Scarborough.
GEIST: -- Joe Sarah Palin.
SCARBOROUGH and BRZEZINSKI: What?
GEIST: Here's what she said on the radio yesterday.
BARNICLE: What?
[begin audio clip]
HEWITT: Governor, your candidacy has ignited extreme hostility, even some hatred on the left and in some parts of the media. Are you surprised? And what do you attribute this reaction to?
PALIN: Oh, I think they're just not used to someone coming in from the outside, saying, “You know what? It's time that normal Joe Six-pack American is finally represented in the position of vice presidency,” and I think that that's kind of taken some people off guard, and they're out of sorts, and they're ticked off about it. But, you know, it's motivation for John McCain and I to work that much harder to make sure that our ticket is victorious and we put government back on the side of the people of Joe Six-pack like me.
[end audio clip]
BRZEZINSKI: OK. So she's folksy. And I know -- look, the two of you are moaning here, thinking, “ouch, ouch, ouch,” but let me tell you something -- that it would be great if she could hit it out of the ballpark --
SCARBOROUGH: Oh, yeah.
BRZEZINSKI: -- tomorrow night and that people may really like what they're hearing. They just -- we just haven't heard anything more than the fact that she's very likable and very technically competent. Am I being fair?