Joe Scarborough insists he’s not running for president. He says he’s perfectly happy as MSNBC’s morning host, where, he argues, he has more influence than your average senator. But there’s a “studio apartment industry of conservatives” who think Scarborough is the man Republicans will need in 2016, writes Marc Ambinder of the Atlantic. The rumblings started when Christopher Buckley, after reading the host’s new book, declared that “Joe Scarborough can save the GOP.” Now Ambinder’s throwing more wood on the fire.
Assuming Barack Obama wins re-election, the younger conservatives of 2015 will be hungry for a candidate who can win, he predicts. Culture warriors and neocons will be out of vogue. So who better than Morning Joe, a smooth broadcaster, a self-proclaimed libertarian-leaning conservative, and a “legitimate hero of the ’94 Republican Revolution”? Plus, the Florida-native has suddenly become a Red Sox fan—which “conveniently endears him to New Hampshire.” (More Joe Scarborough stories.)