Bill Maher: A Republican Can Beat Obama In 2012 Because ‘The Magic Is Gone’
Bill Maher left the confines of his HBO studio for MSNBC today, where he joined fill-in host Michael Eric Dyson on The Ed Show for an assessment of this week’s debt deal and the 2012 field. He had nothing but grim words about the President, however, stating with certainty that the President could lose reelection, especially with a bad economy: “the magic is gone.”
Dyson opened the talk by asking whether rhetoric claiming Republicans were taking the economy “hostage” was appropriate. Maher saw something controversial in that, though he did see a twist to the analogy that the word “hostage” didn’t quite properly convey: a message that “‘if we shoot the hostage, it’s not really that bad for the hostage’– thats the idea on the debt ceiling.” Dyson followed up by asking whether Republicans “playing the victim” about debt ceiling name-calling was appropriate, and, surprisingly, Maher had nothing good to say about Sarah Palin, Rep. Michele Bachmann, and others who cried foul.
“It’s par for the course,” Maher argued. “It’s always the Alamo… I think what threatens them the most is winning, which they just did– big time.” In fact, with the President in charge, he didn’t see a scenario where they could lose organically. “They should let Obama win one once in a while,” he joked, “otherwise it’s boring.” He added that he did not see the 2012 primary being a contest between Palin and Rep. Bachmann, however, but a “mano a mano between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney,” in which the latter’s religion would come into play. “Mormonism is closer to Islam, because in Islam Jesus is also a revered figure… but he isn’t the lead act,” arguing that once Republicans began to perceive Mormons as being something other than Christians, he would face an uphill battle. Maher did not face questions or follow up himself on how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints revered Jesus Christ less than other figures.
The two finally got around to discussing the President’s reelection chances, with Dyson declaring dramatically that “if Reagan was the teflon president, Obama is the titanium man.” Maher didn’t really seem to agree. “The magic is gone,” he lamented, noting that the President was “parroting [Republican] talking points on the economy” while the economy showed no signs of improvement.
The segment via MSNBC below:
