Passing Gas with Joe Scarborough

By Dan McCarthy on Mon, Jan 7, 2008 1:43 pm

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I figured when I conned my way into the press bullpen at the Presidential Debates – an area that contains everyone from the ABC machine to obscure members of the Columbian press who moonlight as gunrunners on slow weeks - I’d be privy to all the perceived benefits of knuckling up with the mainstream elite. The reality was sobering. The pen, set up in St. Anselm’s gymnasium, was more ghetto than our hotel the Econo Lodge on Manchester’s west side.

The creaky folding table I worked from barely held up, while Rachel Sklar of the Huffington Post pissed and whined at the WiFi constantly crapping out while she liveblogged. The sound was a serious problem. With their antiquated audio system, it was hard to hear much of the debate, an issue made worse by fans bolted to the ceiling above. They squeaked and wrenched without a break. Before I fingered the source of this squealing I looked around half-expecting to catch Guiliani’s aides sacrificing a pig behind the sandwich table.

After the debates I hit up the Spin Room where representatives of the different candidates deal with all forms of damage control, official comment, how the candidate feels they did, so on. It’s a grim scene of flood lights, foundation and performance analysis.

I caught up with MSNBC host Joe Scarborough and pressed him on the few fireworks that crackled during the debates. The Republican debate could have been titled “Versus Romney,” given the comical beating inflicted on Mitt the Mormon from all quarters. Commenting on the McCain/Romney dustup, Scarborough noted:

“Everyone knows McCain and Romney hate each other. McCain’s reactions to Romney’s comments, his sour expressions while he spoke, and the direct attacks on him just demonstrated how personal this race is between the two of them. They have real contempt towards each other.”

This shouldn’t surprise anyone. McCain’s a grizzled ex-POW who was getting all his teeth ripped out while Romney was researching business schools. After Romney assured us that he could bring effective change to government, McCain smiled venomously and replied: “Gov. Romney and I disagree on many issues, but Governor, I can honestly say that we do agree on this one: You are certainly the candidate of change,” verbally bitch-slapping Romney on his flip-flopping record, and causing a strand of hair from that famous helmet to lose its place.

You could see it in Romney’s eyes: it was the hurt reaction of an otherwise powerful CEO up against a particularly eloquent flow of insubordination…McCain will take New Hampshire.