This is the Nov. 7 edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox every Monday through Friday.
Happy Friday.
What a week! Don’t tell your cranky MAGA Uncle Burt, but democracy is alive and well — and so, too, is the Democratic Party.
White House operatives and right-wing talk show hosts might try to make this past week all about one race, but Tuesday night showed a renewed Democratic Party with two strong wings.
The left flank saw a historic victory by a gifted democratic socialist who earned the biggest winning vote total since John Lindsay’s legendary New York City mayoral race in 1969.
The Democratic center had an equally electrifying night when a former CIA officer and a retired Navy helicopter pilot crushed their respective Republican opponents in Virginia and New Jersey.
While Abigail Spanberger’s victory as the first woman to ascend to the governor’s mansion in Richmond was historic, the Democratic tidal wave across the commonwealth of Virginia was equally devastating for Republicans.
MAGA leader Steve Bannon said it would take years for the GOP to recover from the crushing defeats it was dealt in the two states on Tuesday night.
About 300 miles from Spanberger’s victory party, straight up I-95, Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill stunned Democratic operatives and the political world by crushing her Republican opponent by a dozen or so points. Proving once again the Hollywood adage that “nobody knows nothing,” Sherrill brushed aside critics within her own party who complained about her lackluster campaign style to secure a landslide victory — making Democrats the first political party to win the Jersey governor’s mansion three consecutive times in 60 years.
Governor-elect Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, prepared for duty at Whiting Field near Milton, Fla. — the same base where my grandfather trained before World War II. Her grandfather‘s experience fighting in the Second World War inspired her own service in the U.S. military. Now she will take the helm in Trenton as the leader of a new Democratic Party with two strong wings focused more on kitchen table issues and affordability.
All in all, a remarkable political week for Democrats from Brooklyn to Sacramento.
What’s Brewing for the Week Ahead
With ballots counted and the Great Pumpkin tucked away, Christmas music — and shopping (ugh!) — is just around the corner.
In Manhattan, that means it’s time for the Rockettes to kick off the holiday season. You can get your kicks this weekend with seven performances of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular on the schedule.
For those still holding out hope that the Great Pumpkin will soon rise out of the pumpkin patch for all good boys and girls, you can head up north to the Hudson Valley for dazzling jack-o’-lantern displays and a spooky Headless Horseman experience.
Film lovers can take in the final days of the Rehoboth Beach International Film Festival in Delaware — with 19 different movies on the program.
And if you have a hankering for some real Southwestern fare, bring a Texas-size appetite to the Dallas Food Fest, running for eight hours on Saturday.
We’re still two weeks away from the opening of “Wicked: For Good,” but while you wait for that premiere — how about a visit to Oz this weekend with The Wizard of Oz at Sphere in Las Vegas?
And if you happen to find yourself in sleepy London Town this weekend, you can take a step back in time with The Lord Mayor’s Show in London. For Francophiles, lace up your kicks at the Paris Sneaker Festival, featuring the rarest and most coveted sneakers in the world (not that I wear anything other than my Stan Smiths!).
Thanks for reading the Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe this week, and as Casey Kasem would say, now on with the countdown! Let’s look through our mailbag and see what the geese have left me to read.
MAILBAG
I am very worried about our upcoming midterm elections! What can Americans do to secure free & fair elections going forward? Any particular strategies you can suggest? — Katherine C., Stratford, Conn.
Katherine, thank you so much for your letter and for reading The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe! Mika shares many of your concerns and believes governors and local officials should do everything they can to guarantee fair and free elections in next year’s midterm races.
Millions were heartened by what they saw this past week — as Madisonian democracy proved itself to be vibrant and very much alive.
Katherine, we live in a big country with countless checks and balances that curb the worst instincts of would-be authoritarians.
On Tuesday, the whole world watched as working-class Americans, teachers, firefighters, entrepreneurs, cops and students flooded into polling places from California to New York to take part in our democratic experiment.
They strongly pronounced on Tuesday what marchers had declared the month before — that America has no kings. Just a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Those people are the steel backbone of a constitutional republic that has held our country together through good times and bad.
Tuesday showed that even when we face setbacks along the way, the American people are determined to keep moving their country toward a more perfect union.
Freedom requires eternal vigilance — so feel free to sign up to be a campaign volunteer or poll watcher!
Long-time “Morning Joe” viewer. Even before, going back to “Scarborough Country.” My question is I miss when “Morning Joe” used to be on the road for elections. Any plans to take the show back out for the 2026 midterms or 2028? — Jason, San Antonio, Texas
Jason, some of Mika’s and my most wonderful memories of “Morning Joe” come from our days on the road. I remember being at Java Joe’s in Des Moines during the 2008 caucuses that Barack Obama won.
Because “Morning Joe” had only been on the air a few months, there wasn’t a spot for us in the Des Moines convention center. We were shipped off instead to a small coffee shop down the street.
Within hours of going on the air that first day in Iowa, governors, senators and presidential candidates began showing up at Java Joe’s. They wanted to get on the show. An hour or so into our first broadcast, the front door opened, and along with a swirl of snow circling behind him, a smiling Tim Russert bounded through the door and asked, “Hey, you guys mind if I come on the show?“
The rest is, as they say, history.
While Tim is no longer with us, those memories remain — and his example continues to be the North Star for our team every morning.
How do each of you seem to stay centered with all the bizarre and ruthless daily events in this Trump Dynasty? — Jim Yatman, Olympia, Wash.
Mika and I have two different approaches to this challenge.
She stays very engaged with cable news and social media throughout the day. I find that churns up too much ground noise and often places the day’s news out of its proper context.
Over the past few years, I have focused on hobbies for the first time in years to keep the craziness of this moment in perspective.
Even though my mother got me started on piano lessons when I was 5 years old, I never sat down and practiced songs and scales. These days, I’m sitting down and playing more for myself than I have in decades.
Sports is another good way to clear my head. Having a 17-year-old son who loves sports has also provided a great outlet. I get to watch Red Sox baseball, Alabama football, Falcons football and just about everything else under the sun together with him. It’s a wonderful opportunity for us to spend time together — and I don’t think about any of the craziness that is swirling around in Washington.
When it is time to read into the show, I get a more focused view of the day’s events and the impact they will have on how Washington works over the next week, month and year. I continue to read history, because it often provides the greatest perspective on what is happening today.
I should know this answer because I’m a huge MJ fan too! (I have a fleece and a coffee mug my sister bought me because she knows how much I love your show.) Why the Red Sox? Being from the South, I thought maybe Rays or Braves. — Cindy, Boston
I was born in Atlanta, so I became a Braves fan from my earliest memories. Hank Aaron remains my favorite sports hero of all time.
My older brother and I would play Wiffle ball in the front yard of our home after we moved to upstate New York in the mid-’70s. Each Wiffle ball game started with us fighting over who got to be the Braves.
By the middle of the 1975 season, the Boston Red Sox were starting two rookies named Jim Rice and Fred Lynn. They electrified the league, and Boston made a run at the playoffs that fall.
They made it to the World Series — and I was all in as a Red Sox fan. When Game 6 of that October Classic went into extra innings, my mother kept coming into my bedroom to tell me to turn off the TV. Once she got safely back to my parents’ room, the TV would come back on.
By the time Carlton Fisk’s home run sailed across the Boston skyline at 12:34 a.m. in the 12th inning, I was a Red Sox fan for life.
My brother and I never again fought over who got to be the Braves. I had become a diehard Red Sox fan — just in time to watch them lose Game 7 in ’75 to the Cincinnati Reds, and suffer the slings and arrows of Bucky Dent, Bill Buckner and Aaron Boone.
Ahh. But 2004 made everything worthwhile.
Joe’s hairstyle is so unique. Who does his hair every morning? — Julie P., Columbus, Ohio
Joe: I do my hair three minutes before going on air. Here is the complex styling process.
- I stick my head under water.
- I run my hands through my hair.
And that’s that. You can shape it anyway you want — like Edward Scissorhands trimming shrubs.
If it ever looks uneven on the air, there is a good reason: I often cut my own hair.
Anand Giridharadas: They gotta pay you more, Joe — this affordability crisis is hitting everybody.
Symone Sanders: Justice for Joe! Even Joe Scarborough is taking his scissors into his own hands.
Joe (laughing): I just get the dog clippers and go to it. Because it’s so thick, I can usually hide my mistakes!
That’s all the time we have, folks!
Thanks so much for your questions and for reading The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe!
Have a great weekend!
Joe
ON THE BOOKSHELF
Each week, the “Morning Joe” family hosts several authors to discuss their latest books. We hear from quite a few readers that you’d love to see more books featured in our newsletter! Take a look at our picks from the week.
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Next week, we’ll have Sen. John Fetterman on the show to discuss his new book, “Unfettered.” Want to ask a question? Send it over, and we will pick our favorite to ask on the show!
Former Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-Fla., is co-host of MS NOW's "Morning Joe" alongside Mika Brzezinski — a show that Time magazine calls "revolutionary." In addition to his career in television, Joe is a two-time New York Times best-selling author. His most recent book is "The Right Path: From Ike to Reagan, How Republicans Once Mastered Politics — and Can Again."