The media’s ability to “crush” people considering to run for political office before they even put their name on the ballot prevents Americans from electing the politicians this country needs, New York City ad man Donny Deutsch said on Thursday.
“I would love more than nothing to run for mayor of New York,” the chairman of Deutsch, Inc., said during the Afternoon Mo Joe roundtable discussion. But the media “will exploit the ridiculous things that don’t matter.”
“Every really talented out-of-the-box thinking person I know could never run for office,” said Deutsch, adding that Americans are forced to vote for “non-exceptional” representatives.
A poll published last month showed Democratic voters’ potential interest in New York’s former Congressman Anthony Weiner as the city’s mayor. He earned 15% of the vote, behind Christine Quinn’s 26%. Quinn is currently the Speaker of the New York City Council.
Deutsch said he wouldn’t put his family through the pain of dealing with the criticisms if he ran for mayor of New York because of the media likely analyzing his entire life, including being active in the party-scene when he was younger.
But still, something much more macro must happen, he said.
“It has to be a new breed of politician, the Chris Christie type, who are brave, who do not line up along party lines,” Deutsch said of New Jersey’s notoriously brazen governor. “They will understand that not only is it the right thing to do, it’s also going to be a way to get elected.”
Also joining Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski at the political roundtable was msnbc Contributor Mike Barnicle and Host of “Way Too Early” Brian Shactman.
Former Maine Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe was on Morning Joe earlier this week to discuss her new book, Fighting for Common Ground, where she suggests reforms to fix a dysfunctional Congress. Watch her exclusive greenroom interview with msnbc’s Louis Burgdorf on her decision to engage in Congress’ fight outside the Capitol doors.
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Michele Richinick