Joe Scarborough

Joe Scarborough (1963-) is now co-host of the MSNBC political political opinion broadcasting talk show "Morning Joe", with Mika Brzezinski, a liberal. He was a Republican Congressman from 1994 to 2001, who became part of a conservative group objecting to aspects of the Contract with America platform led by Newt Gingrich. His 2009 book, The Last Best Hope: Restoring Conservatism and America's Progress, deals with both the restructuring of the U.S. political right, and the tensions between Republican electoral goals and conservative ideology, and his concerns for what he terms the "Obama Revolution". He wrote that Republicans usually lose elections not because they are too conservative, but that they compromise conservative ideals he associates with William F. Buckley Jr. ...I believe our conservative approach needs to be modified and enlarged...I start this book where I began 15 years ago in Congress: I am a conservative of libertarian tilt, and I want the Federal government out of our pocketbooks and out of our bedrooms...we conservatives can no longer champion federalism in one area and dismiss it or not...we cannot claim the constitutional high ground in our efforts to fight the nationalization of health care and finance while demanding that Washington become entangled in gay marriage debates and ob-gyn issues.

He has been mentioned as a candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential race. CNBC’s Donny Deutsche, who is a frequent guest on the "Morning Joe" show, said “I think he does have aspirations. That is half of it: You got to want it. In this day and age, it would almost make sense for [a presidential candidate] to come from media.” Mika Brzezinski said she hears calls for him to run but believes he is committed to broadcasting.

In a May 2009 editorial, the New York Times called him a "member of the Republican attack squad." Brzezinski defended him in letter-to-the-editor response, saying he had criticized both parties, mentioning that he was among the first reporters to criticize George W. Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina emergency response, and that the Republican majority would collapse over economic policies.