While voicing support for Jon Hunstman, Jr. for President, Joe Scarborough said that candidates tend to get centrist very quickly and that Huntsman's experience in the Obama administration would end up being an asset. "What stronger position than to say, I like the guy? I worked with the guy in China. I just think he's dead wrong on foreign policy, on healthcare, on ‑‑ and take it out of the personal and go to the American people and say, this isn't ‑‑ this isn't a personal thing," Scarborough said.
Scarborough said that once primaries move to the Midwest, they lose the harsh partisanship and the candidates and the votes become more centrist, and he used John McCain as an example. "You know, with every talk show host in America trashing John McCain day in and day out, trying to kill him because they knew that if he lost on January 29th in Florida that McCain would be out and Romney would be the nominee. You had Hannity, you had Limbaugh, you had Beck, you had Laura Ingraham, you had Fox. You had everybody dedicated to the proposition that politically John McCain must die. And John McCain lost in Florida, waltzed through the Midwest, waltzed to victory."
" It is primal early, but it gets centrist down the road. And if you don't believe that, then just ask how people like John McCain or Gerald Ford or Bob Dole.
Only problem? McCain, Ford, and Dole all lost!
" Gerald Ford who lost to the worst presidential candidate in history. And Bob Dole, who lost to a scandal‑ridden president who was being impeached. All lost!" Pat said.
"Coming from MSNBC's perspective, what do you want other than another loser Republican?" Stu said. "They are employing one in the morning already."