Matt Lauer and Rachel Maddow Fret Over Obama ‘Losing the Left’
On Wednesday's NBC “Today,” co-host Matt Lauer brought on left-wing MSNBC host Rachel Maddow to address concerns of President Obama being “in danger of losing support from his liberal base.” The headline on screen throughout the segment read: “Losing the Left; Can President Obama Win Back His Base?” Maddow downplayed Obama's slipping support in the polls: “I think mostly what is happening is that the President's approval ratings are softening overall and that includes among his strongest supporters. I don't think that the White House believes they have a particular problem with the base.” Lauer added: “But the fact of the matter is, you lose support among the base, what does that really mean in an election year? They have nowhere else to go.” Moments later, Lauer wondered: “Are they perhaps sending a message?…Are they simply asking him to change his methods a little bit?” Maddow reiterated: “Again, I don't think that the base, in particular, is abandoning Obama.” However, she did argue: …the things that he's proposing right now in terms of his jobs plan are not narrowly targeted to please the base. I mean, 86% of moderates say they like what the President's proposing in terms of his policies, a mix of spending cuts and tax hikes on the wealthiest people in America. 86% of moderates like that. Only in America would the pundit class respond to that by saying, 'Oh, he's trying to alienate moderates.'
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on September 21, 2011. Filed under