Posted on 06/11/2014 10:48:29 PM PDT by chessplayer
And while tea party groups and talk radio hosts are celebrating the downfall of a Republican member of Congress who came to symbolize the “establishment,” there are indications that this enthusiasm is misplaced.
In the wake of his victory, Brat joined MSNBC host Chuck Todd on Wednesday where he received a gentle grilling and was asked for his position on a variety of policy matters. Brat seemed entirely unprepared to have to speak on issues of substance. In fact, he suggested – perhaps (hopefully) jokingly – that he thought Todd invited him on the program merely to celebrate his victory.
“Where are you on the minimum wage?” Todd began, starting off with a question right in this economics expert’s wheelhouse.
Brat railed against unspecific distorting effects on the market before he was prompted to say whether or not he thought a minimum wage should even exist? “I don’t have a well-crafted response on that one,” Brat replied.
…Okay. So, how about foreign policy?
“Would you be in favor of arming the Syrian rebels?” Todd asked.
“Hey, Chuck, I thought we were just going to chat today about the celebratory aspect,” Brat replied. “I’d love to go through all this, but my mind is just, uh, I didn’t get much sleep.”
“I love the policy questions, I’m happy to do more, but I just wanted to talk about the victory here,” he continued.
Sure, sleep deprivation will dull anyone’s wit. But any competent Republican campaigner should be able to endure the rendition tactics depicted in Zero Dark Thirty and emerge aware of the fact that MSNBC is not the place insurgent tea partiers go for softballs.
Maybe Brat was, as he said, merely exhausted from a long night following his primary victory. However, as The Washington Examiner’s Ashe Schow noted, “he’s going to have to get it together real quick now that he’s been thrust into the national spotlight.”
“Not off to a good start”
Defeating Cantor is not only a good start, but a great start. What did you expect, a fast talking politician?
Come on. I’ll give Brat a break. He isn’t a Beltway Boy or a GOB.
How the hell do you go on MSNBC expecting them to celebrate your victory with you?
chessplayer, don’t take the liberal bait and be a shill for the MSM.
We didn’t want a typical politician. We’ll see how the next few months unfolds for Brat.
Those weren’t complex questions and he didn’t have a clue how to answer them.
He’ll get it together
no kidding
MSNBC question to a Dem: Why are you so awesome?
MSNBC question to a Rep: Why do you hate Black people?
Brat’s being disingenuous. And that’s a good thing. Reagan avoided questions all the time. Not taking the bait is part of message discipline. He is there to use the media to communicate his message, not have them set his agenda.
should not these sort of questions be asked while the candidate is running? And a different sort after election?
Also, MSNBC will give lib and “play along GOP” candidates a list of questions beforehand.
No, today is a good day for the republic....a CITIZEN got elected over a Big Government establishment Big spender.
The framers of the constitution are smiling somewhere.
welcome to the big leagues Dave. Don’t let them pick your battles.
Your guy lost. Brat won. Deal with it.
Sorry, buddy, but you can rain on your own parade.
Brat’s not a seasoned politician or public figure at that level. What may seem like easy questions to you isn’t exactly the issue. It’s not so much about the questions at this moment. It’s about what Brat has been working toward for the last few months leading up to this victory, the significance of that win, sleep deprivation coupled with public and media appearances.
In my view, it’s not difficult to see how that could happen.
“Not off to a good start.”
********************************************************************
Oh, puhleeezz...ask Cantor if the person who ejected him from the House is off to a good start. Brat is VERY smart to recognize and sidestep the traps the mainstream media attempts to lay for him. There will be a whole series of these and Brat doesn’t have to step on a single landmine-—he’ll be voting correctly in January 2015 and onward, and THAT is what counts.
“No, today is a good day for the republic....a CITIZEN got elected over a Big Government establishment Big spender.
The framers of the constitution are smiling somewhere.”
Well said.
Ultimately, in the age of Youtube, what is said cannot be unsaid, and if more GOP candidates acted like Brat, they’d be full-time pols instead of has-beens or never-wuzzers.
On the good side, how many MSNBC viewers are there left, and how many would actually vote for him under any circumstances? I’d say not many on both counts. He didn’t lose votes.
MSNBC.com Deceptively Edits Dave Brat to Suggest He Was ‘Dodging’ Questions
By Ken Shepherd | June 11, 2014 | 18:52
Editors at MSNBC.com trimmed down Republican congressional nominee Dave Brat’s June 11 phone interview with MSNBC’s Chuck Todd in order to paint him as dodging questions from the Daily Rundown host.
But a review of the full interview [listen to the mp3 audio here] shows that Brat had already and seemingly quite gladly answered a few policy questions on such hot issues as the minimum wage, immigration reform, and his stance on Wall Street’s influence on the business wing of the GOP.
“Brat dodges Chuck Todd’s questions,” blared a teaser headline. “Brat: I just wanted to talk about the victory,” reads the headline at the video link. “Virginia primary winner and Tea-Party member Dave Brat joins Chuck Todd to discuss his primary win – and it appears that’s all he wanted to talk about,” was how MSNBC.com summarized the clip.
Readers of the MSNBC.com website who hadn’t the benefit of watching the interview earlier in the morning would have come away with a wildly different perspective than someone who watched the full interview.
Below is the full segment’s transcript. The portion underlined is the portion that MSNBC.com isolated:
He was very smart not to say anything substantive.
Laura Ingraham will get rid of him if he supports Al Qaeda’s air force.
That’s what has been left out by the liberals attacking Ingraham. She has been talking about foreign policy and Boehner and Cantor wanting to start a war.
Why are these RINOs like Condi Rice and Dick Lugar(Democrat darling) so noble in wanting to bomb Syria?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.