Joe Scarborough moves to the middle.

[Eric J in MN]

Joe Scarborough hosts MSNBC's "Scarborough Country" and is an MSNBC panelist on primary election nights and debate nights.

The former Congressman (R-FL) came to MSNBC after telling them they need a conservative host.

A few weeks ago, he was ridiculing John Kerry as "French-looking."

After Sunday's debate, however, Scarborough praised Kerry as "Presidential-looking." Tonight, he also pointed out that Kerry's voting record isn't consistently liberal.

Scarborough also defended John Edwards against the "amubulance chaser" label tonight, saying that while Edwards made a lot of money in court, those were tough cases against big companies, and Edwards could have made money more easily by representing big companies than by representing the little guy.

Scarborough also described himself as "down the middle" tonight.

Scarborough seems to want to be a centrist instead of a conservative these days.

I haven't watched "Scarborough Country" lately, and so I don't know what Scarborough is saying there these days, but at least when Scarborough is a post-debate or post-primary analyst, he wants to be a centrist instead of a conservative these days.

[lazarus]

1. Well

He liked the MoveOn.org "Child Pay" ad. And was actually quite nice to Symbolman last time he was on.

Go figure.

[Eric J in MN]

6. Scarborough is usually a fair interviewer.

Scarborough is usually a fair interviewer.

It's when he directly expresses his opinion (while not interviewing someone) on "Scarborough Country" that his bad side is exposed, at least up until a few weeks ago, when I last watched some of it.

[ngGale]

2. Scarborough is still a guy from the right but...

I do watch his show. After one primary Joe was accused of "I think Edwards may cause Joe to switch parties". He seemed really impressed by Edwards. He never fit in during the Clinton Impeachment hearings. Didn't see him staying in Congress.

[Syrinx]

3. he was the president of the sga at UA

(University of Alabama) I don't remember much about him from that, but he was the leader of "the Machine," a powerful, all-white coaltion of Greek organizations, that frequently indulges in extremely dirty tricks. Also, there are some indications he may have engaged in murder. Still, he's not as rotten as Hannity or O'Reilly. :)

[fearnobush]

4. When it comes to the right wing media, We ought to take any

defectors we can get. Three weeks ago, Imus said he was for Bush and has been for quite sometime. Now, he claims to be on the Kerry band wagon. He even accused Bush of stealing the election in 2000. But, Imus tends to bend with the wind too. If Kerry slips - wouldn't be surprised to see him go Chimp again.

[madrchsod]

5. maybe the ghost

of his intern visited him in the middle of the night and showed him the future....

[JasonDeter]

7. Scarborough is a republican, which automatically means he's a liar

until proven otherwise. He will talk up Edwards because he wants to weaken Kerry. The republicans know Kerry can kick bush*ies butt but Edwards is a toss up. I wouldn't trust Scarborough any more than I'd trust McCain.

[lucidmadman]

8. Like IMUS says...

Scarborough is the boy playing the banjo from DELIVERANCE all growed up. All the 'conservatives' are gonna be moving to the middle. They're all entertainers. It's all about audience. Let's just stop watching/listening. Media will get better if the audience gets better.

[Shopaholic]

9. Scarborough

I can't watch his show but he does fine as a panelist on the Hardball election coverage.

[The Political Eye]

10. They see the Tide Turning?

If you look at talk shows hosts, they follow the tide. Matthews is the most obvious example. Starts off in Tip O’Neil’s office and years later when he senses the conservatives are winning by attacking Clinton, he jumped in with both feet. Now he is being tough on Bush.


Scarborough sees the same dynamic and he dances in that direction.

Ditto O’Reilly

[lucidmadman]

11. Yep yep yep. My take exactely...

...you know, I took a degree in Mass Comm and worked in audience studies for almost 20 years. There was a decision made about whether TV was gonna be an information or an entertainment medium circa late '50s. Paley and Co. doomed us to stupidity...Don't expect anything from TV. "A vast wasteland..."

[SeveneightyWhoa]

12. If Scarboroug is "down the middle"..

..then I'm moving to the left as quickly as possible!

[BeachBuckeye]

13. He's just trying to get a larger audience

Joe will never be a middle of the road guy.