Joe Scarborough: Obama Might Not Run For Re-Election (VIDEO)

Joe Scarborough said he thinks it is possible that President Obama could choose not to run for re-election.

Obama has already officially kicked off his re-election campaign, and, though he surely faces a fierce 2012 fight, there have been no signs that he is thinking of stepping away from his bid. Nevertheless, Scarborough said that the idea was not so far-fetched.

The impetus for the conversation was the comments Bill Clinton and Dick Cheney made about the idea of Hillary Clinton running for the presidency in 2012. Speaking on CBS News, Clinton dismissed the idea. On Monday's "Morning Joe," Mika Brzezinski similarly scoffed at the notion. Scarborough was not so ready to scoff, however.

"There are a lot of Democrats that would love his wife to be on the ticket," he said. Brzezinski practically did a spit-take, rolling her eyes, murmuring and generally making it clear she disagreed with Scarborough.

"Easy to say," she said.

"You always get collective rolling of the eyes when you talk about this, but it is a possibility," Scarborough said. "Nobody on September 19, 1967, ever dreamed in a million years that six months later, Lyndon Johnson would announce...that he was not running for re-election...if these numbers keep going down, is there any possibility that this president decides to step down?"

None of the other panelists on the show thought it was remotely possible that Obama would step down. Scarborough continued his line of thinking, though, saying that it seems to him as though Obama feels "he's doing America a favor and that he hears at the end of the day that America is not worthy of him." He said he thought it was possibly "at some point...that somebody like Hillary could step in."

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Comments

[maat]

07:14 PM on 09/20/2011

Worst line in the article - "Scarborough continued his line of thinking." Much too generous to use Scarborough and "thinking" in the same sentence.

[Squirdlock]

07:07 PM on 09/20/2011

it would be startling if joe scarborough ever had a thought

[gonealreb]

06:29 PM on 09/20/2011

This is why I don't watch cable news anymore. After the courts ruled that the truth was not required to maintain an FCC license, every cable news channel decided they were 'entertainers' which gave them the right to say anything, true or not.

[Ariel Finn]

05:41 PM on 09/20/2011

Brilliant, Joe! We can only wish for President Obama not to run and let Hillary and Bill lead the country!

[SeaShell226]

05:36 PM on 09/20/2011

THey must pay Mika an awful lot - to sit there day in and day out with someone who clearly has no respect for her and her opinion. He will let every male and the guest females, at least half way , finish a thought before cutting them off.
.
She only gets to grunt or roll her eyes because if a sound starts to come out, he will speak up or raise his voice so she cannot be heard.
.
The money has got to be good to endure him every day...

[KidShalleen]

04:24 PM on 09/20/2011

Scabborough is nothing but a Rethuglikan mole, on MSNBC.

[Andrew FingerlickingGree]

08:52 PM on 09/20/2011

Da ding!!!!.... Fanned!!!

[hatrickpenry]

03:29 PM on 09/20/2011

I've been saying this for over a year, but doubt it will be Hillary Clinton that Soros & crew pick.

0bie is toast and he knows it. Notice how he has been careful not to allow anything on tape, referring to "My second term as President",.. or "After my re-election". It will be far less embarrassing when he makes the announcement.

He's doing nothing more than raising $$ for the DNC coffers and desperately trying to salvage some sort of legacy. The donations are way off the intended target, so expect the announcement before Feb. when the SCOTUS slaps down 0biecare.

[Tim Moore]

08:44 PM on 09/20/2011

Wow.. where can I get some of those drugs?

[hatrickpenry]

10:23 PM on 09/20/2011

You're going to need more than drugs when the hammer comes down.
Might I suggest a sturdy pillow and start collecting some prevention Hot-Line numbers.

[dwi55]

02:12 PM on 09/20/2011

Wishful thinking, perhaps.

[OnTopicOffTopic]

01:53 PM on 09/20/2011

I do not want another Clinton in the Whitehouse.

While our economy was strong during Bills reign that is because many of the policies enacted (most written by Republicans but supported by Clinton and his advisors) were just more quick fixes similar
to what reagan did with no long term forsight used or possibly just ignored.
These quick fixes are part and parcel of why we have lost so much of our manufacturing base
and had so many jobs go overseas. Why the financial markets have not only too little regulations governing them but also part of the reason the regulations that exist are largely ignored and not enforced until it is too late.

If Obama does not run (which is OK with me) then how about we don't substitute him for someone
who is even more big business / corporation orientated in their thinking as well as a military
hawk.

How about someone that would be genuine change as opposed to the same ol - same ol.

This is not England where we have the same families continue to rule.

[factsalive]

12:52 PM on 09/20/2011

Scarborough's biggest fib is that President Obama's numbers are somehow "still" going down.

Latest polling shows Barack Obama leading by substantial margins ALL Republican contenders.

The Reuters-IPSOS poll (very reliable) shows Obama leading the top two contenders by DOUBLE DIGITS
.
The poll of All Adults shows:

Obama 59
Romney 39

Obama 51
Perry 39

Among Registered Voters, the poll shows:

Obama 49
Romney 43

Obama 50
Perry 42

President Obama’s approval rating is at 47; his disapproval rating at 48. But get this: A total of 77 percent of Democrats approve; 42 percent of Independents; and only 13 percent of Republicans. Thus you can see that the President’s approval ratings are skewed to the low side by the REPUBLICAN response. In short, Democrats like him, Independents appear split and Republicans don’t like him at all.

An obvious conclusion from the polling is that while President Obama’s approval rating is no great shakes, a big majority of the electorate still PREFER HIM to the candidates Republicans are fielding.

The Reuters-IPSOS poll was conducted September 8 – 12.

http://www.ipsos-na.com/download/pr.aspx?id=10985

[Mohammed Noori]

12:23 PM on 09/20/2011

I don't really quite understand the comments on this board. When Joe (rightfully) said that Obama's policy on doubling-down in Afghanistan is a mirror of Cheney-Bush doctrine, he got shot down. Then he makes the suggestion that he might not run and people go ballistic. It's embarrassing.

Just accept the fact that there are people in this world that don't have the same world view as you, and the possibility that they may be right, and you'll live a much happier life.

[tpk]

01:44 PM on 09/20/2011

Well, when a president starts a re-election campaign and somebody says that he thinks that the president doesn't want to be elected for the second term it doesn't make sense.

[hatrickpenry]

03:35 PM on 09/20/2011

Have you ever heard 0bie utter the word 're-election' himself?

He makes comments like "we need your help",.. and he's drumming up what donations he can, but has avoided the 'R' word like the plague.

[margoharris]

01:46 PM on 09/20/2011

Joe is never right.

[Mohammed Noori]

05:16 PM on 09/20/2011

Uh, so he wasn't right when he said that Obama's policy in Afghanistan was a mirror of Bush's in Iraq, qhich called for extra troops, resources and essentially, "bunkering down" even though all civilian experts cautioned against it?

[scottymac11]

12:10 PM on 09/20/2011

Java Joe is a Joke! He supposes that no one understands his misunderstanding of our president's psychology is based upon his deepest fantasies. Let me see if I understand why our president might want to win the on coming election. He correctly understands that his work resurrecting this country's stagnant economy and our productive zeal is not completed yet. No one else can fight that battle and likely win . Joe is just making things up as usual.
Joe loves the sound of his own voice so much he babbles when he clearly has nothing relevant to say.

[kritteracres]

03:23 PM on 09/21/2011

That's why they put him on early mornings when most people don't have their t.v. on.

[Terry DR]

11:17 AM on 09/20/2011

http://surftofind.com/scandal Tell the truth Joe.

[Terry DR]

11:15 AM on 09/20/2011

Joe maybe instead of trying to figure out what Obama is doing you should tell the truth why your assistant k*lled herself in your office and you left shortly after.

[Matt12]

11:03 AM on 09/20/2011

It's becoming more difficult to watch this loud mouth idiot!