Morning Joe first went on the air in the latter part of 2007, broadcasting from a studio in Secaucus, New Jersey. We relocated soon after to the msnbc studios in 30 Rock, where we’ve been ever since. 2008 was a busy year, so let’s take a look back at some of our discussions from 2008 leading up to the election, on Election Day and the day following:
Fed cuts two key interest rates
On January 22nd, 2008 the Federal Reserve cut two key interest rates – the federal funds rate and the discount rate — by three-quarters of a percentage point, which was the biggest cut in almost 24 years.
Erin Burnett, then of CNBC, tells Mika Brzezinski: The Fed right now is trying to show it can do everything it can do…the credit markets continue to seize up, and that is a global issue. And this question about a U.S. recession and how deep it may be is the other big issue. That is why around the world you saw a plunge like we haven’t seen since September 11, 2001.
Christopher Hitchens shares his predictions for the election
November 3, 2008 was the last day of campaigning for both Barack Obama and John McCain. We asked Vanity Fair’s Christopher Hitchens to share with us his election predictions. (Morning Joe later paid tribute to Hitchens upon his death on December 15, 2011).
“I think it’s a zeitgeist change,” Hitchens told Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. “It’s not just a matter of polls tightening or expanding or any of the other things polls do. What one can feel is a general shift against the GOP. Everything in the atmosphere seems to portend it.”
Romney on John McCain
Also on November 3, 2008, Mitt Romney joined Morning Joe to discuss John McCain’s campaign. Joe Scarborough: “The national polls are showing your guy behind by double digits. Certainly this is shaping up to be a landslide that may be reminiscent of 1964. Can John McCain win?” Mitt Romney: “Well, he can win because you never know what’s going to happen in the polling booths…There’s a pathway to victory of John McCain, and obviously in these last days we’re pushing real hard to make sure that his record and his plan to create jobs connects with American voters.” Mike Murphy on the November 2008 polls Time’s Mike Murphy in November 2008: “We’re in a situation where most of the polling news is a lot better for Barack Obama than for John McCain…To the extent you believe in polling stuff and the empirical we have, which is not a lock on the future but a good indication, there’s more good news — unfortunately for me as a McCain guy – for Obama.
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