The Associated Press’ Bill Kaczor focuses in on MSNBC 10pm host Joe Scarborough in
this Saturday-edition piece. Joe gives a bit of insight in to, if nothing else, the genesis of his program during the “major combat operations” era two years ago:

“They [MSNBC] kept telling me they wanted me to be O’Reilly,” Scarborough said in Pensacola, where he lives and tapes most of the TV shows. “They wanted me to be a mouthpiece for the right and I kept telling them `It’s just not that simple.’ “

And remember all that flack Joe took over the Bush campaign event he hosted last year? The one MSNBC said was OK. MSNBC took the line that Scarborough is a “host” of an opinion program — not a news anchor. He said it almost didn’t happen. But he got encouragement from (on the surface) unlikely source:

“I got cold feet,” Scarborough said. “I asked my wife whether I should do it or not, and she said `Sure, it’s a great honor.’ I said `Yeah, what would you say if Chris Matthews was hosting an event for John Kerry?’ She said `Oh, I see what you mean.’ ”

Scarborough tried to back out, but the White House said it was too late and MSNBC president Rick Kaplan urged him to stick with it.

“I was very uncomfortable doing it and told everybody involved that it’s the last time I would ever be involved in a campaign that I would be reporting on,” Scarborough said.