Time To Chuck Chuck

Chuck Todd of MSNBC has made a career out of second-guessing Democratic aspirations.  I sometimes wonder how much his words affect the outcome of critical elections.  When Republican U.S. Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina looked vulnerable in his 2010 re-election bid, Todd focused on the debates between Democratic Senate candidates Elaine Marshall and Cal Cunningham in their bid for the nomination to oppose Burr that November.  Todd noted their disagreements over Afghanistan and then intimated that Burr would probably win in the fall anyway.  He did.  When, as noted before on this blog,  he interviewed Democratic U.S. Representative Steve Israel of New York in June 2011, and Israel explained his focus on retaking the House for his party in his role as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Todd said, point-blank, "Not too many people think you can do that."  While gerrymandering was probably the reason Todd said that - he never explained his reason for that statement - Israel came pretty close the following year, and Democratic House candidates did collectively get more votes than their Republican counterparts.  But how much of the Democrats' failure to take back the House in 2012 was due to gerrymandering, and how much was due to "analysts" like Todd trying to conform to an overall news "narrative?"

Also, as noted here, Todd insisted that, having seen the first Reagan-Mondale presidential debate of 1984 held in Louisville (in which Reagan stank), he concluded that President Obama did far worse in his first 2012 presidential debate with Romney in Denver than Reagan had done in his first 1984 debate with Mondale.  When did Todd see the 1984 debate? Live, in 1984, when Todd was twelve years old and when Reagan looked like he'd blown the election?  Or on tape, in 2012, when Todd already knew the outcome of the 1984 election and Reagan's bad performance from that Louisville slugging was irrelevant?

Well, Obama's Denver disaster is irrelevant, too, because he was re-elected, but having shown himself to be very critical of Democratic objectives, Todd has proven to be far less critical of Republican lies about health care reform or anything else.  When former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell said to Todd that the media ought to hold the GOP accountable for its lies, Todd replied that that's not his job.

What?  He's a reporter!  Isn't telling the truth part of the job?

NBC and MSNBC should report less spin and more facts.  It can start by firing Todd.

Gee, and I thought I stopped watching his show "The Daily Rundown" because Savannah Guthrie left.  It turns out I couldn't stand Todd or his goatee.