Scarborough Out of the Closet: 'Vote Democratic'

Is Joe Scarborough finally coming out of the closet? Or, is he just a good weatherman who knows which way the political wind is blowing?

We ask because the former Pensacola congressman this week came awfully close to urging his followers to vote for Democrats this November. From his current essay at MSNBC:

"[T]he 2006 election is not shaping up to be about ideology. Instead, it seems destined to become a referendum on the Republican scandals.

"Jack Abramoff, Bob Ney, Tom DeLay, Duke Cunningham and Mark Foley have all been driven from power over the past year because of ethical and legal challenges. Only DeLay's arose from political battles. The others were busted in various sexual, financial and ethical scandals that will haunt all Republicans this fall.
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"... the quagmire in Iraq. * * * Shiite death squads killing Sunni... Sunni insurgents blowing up Shiite children... it is hard to find good guys in that war. It is also difficult to get a read on America's economic outlook. Gas prices are down, interest rates are steady but the deficit and debt are at all time highs.
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"A Republican congressman preyed on young boys. His leaders knew about inappropriate emails. They did next to nothing. And when it hit the fan a month before the election, Republican leaders spent the first days of the scandal pointing fingers at each other. One more scandal.

"One more indictment. One more reason to vote Democratic."

Say what? Joe Scarborough says vote Democratic?

We asked around. Some local folk claim that Joe's always had something of a populist streak buried deep beneath that crusty conservative exterior. They say personal ambition made him keep it out of public sight because of Northwest Florida's notoriously right-wing electoral climate.

Others remain dubious. They think that with Joe Scarborough, ambition always trumps intellectual honesty, even if he does now have a national audience. The only reason he might 'out' himself, they say, is if there's something in it for him; something like more votes or higher TV ratings.

Either way, it's more fun -- and a lot more decorous -- to speculate about what Joe Scarborough's been doing in the closet than what his former congressional colleagues are doing behind their closed doors.