I generally enjoy MSNBC's primetime lineup. Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow and Alex Wagner are informative and partisan while still being willing to criticize "their side." Which is all I'm really looking for in a cable TV news anchor.
But as I have written before, even in a cable TV news universe where former political consultants and disgraced politicians form the core of every network's commentariat, MSNBC leans heavy into conventional political wisdom. Nicole Wallace, Lawrence O'Donnell, Jen Psaki, Simone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele are just some of the former longtime political insiders who form the core of the network's primetime and weekend coverage. Both Psaki and Sanders Townsend are former Biden and Harris advisors or press secretaries and while that certainly brings some perspective, it also means their sources lean heavily in the direction of the administration.
And if there was one thing this election needed was some independent perspective that wasn't insider-based. Because if the insiders are wrong - if they have blind spots that might cost them the election - you're going to end having some of the same ones.
I watched a bit of MSNBC this afternoon and the first thing I heard was a complaint that Harris never had a chance because of the flood of misinformation. And if that's your takeaway from yesterday's election, you should be put in some cable TV news version of a time-out. Not provided time to complain about how the Biden and Harris camps got it wrong to someone who used to work in that world.
I've said this before, but the cable TV news networks desperately need a content makeover. And given my politics, I am hoping that MSNBC is the first to start. Bring in some fresh faces, people from outside the Beltway, people who have never worked in Washington or for a national campaign. I like Claire McCaskill, but maybe it's time to allow the 71-year-old former Senator to retire from her role as a paid political consultant moving forward. Townsend Sanders is fine and all, but at this point, I don't need to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the Harris Campaign or what Biden World might be thinking.
What I do need is to hear from people in the trenches. I want to hear from voices who have new ideas, reporters who cover the local and state stories we're missing. I don't need reporters who frame every issue as a horse race or who are constantly mentioning the texts they're receiving from insiders behind the scenes.
One thing is clear from yesterday's results. The Harris campaign misjudged the race and the dynamics that shaped it. Given that track record, I'm not sure that relying on anchors and reporters who lean heavily on those sources is the best way forward for any cable news network.
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