MSNBC's ‘Morning Joe' Gets Dose of Politics, South Beach-Style

Hosts, guests lampoon area's lack of political knowledge

South Beach is known for many things. Politics is not one of them.

That made the choice of Miami Beach’s Jerry’s Famous Deli an odd one for Monday’s filming of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show ahead of the Florida primary tomorrow.

Filming of the show met with a boisterous crowd of late-night partiers looking to get a bite to eat before heading home from a night of clubbing, according to a report in the Miami Herald.

“Who is Newt Gingrich?’’ asked a woman the Herald identified as a 26-year-old stripper during the broadcast.

The political acumen of the crowd, which co-host Willie Geist estimated was a 70/30 ratio of club kids and strippers to Morning Joe fans, and South Beach in general was not lost on hosts and guests, including humor columnist Dave Barry.

“There is no more politically aware or concerned area in the nation than South Beach,” joked Barry.

“If you were to take a one mile radius of this area you could probably find 10 to 12 people who are planning to vote in this primary, that’s the kind of commitment (they have),” he continued.

“Unfortunately, 11 of them are Democrats,” added host Joe Scarborough.

“And they don’t live in Florida,” chimed Mika Brzezinski, the show’s other host.

Geist put the filming in perspective when he compared it to Morning Joe’s experience in Iowa.

“In Des Moines, there were fewer women wearing skirts where I could see their butts through the fabric,’’ he is quoted as saying in the Herald article.

MSNBC’s website included several twit pics from the filming of the show including shots of strippers in the crowded deli.

The show will also be filmed in the diner on Tuesday morning.
 

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