Say it IS so.
It is your time.
Do you watch the Sunday morning political shows?
No. We do shows three hours a day, five days a week, so whatever guests are on, we've already had them.
Do your youngest kids, Kate, 7, and Jack, 2, watch the show?
Kate will watch me occasionally, but the show's not on in our house in the morning when they're getting ready for school. They'd rather see Scooby Doo or Spongebob than Daddy talking about the latest Wall Street Journal editorial. You do what you have to do to get your kids ready for school.
In November, you were suspended for two days after it was discovered you'd donated money to candidates in Florida, which NBC employees can't do without permission. What did you do during those days?
I got to do something I never do, which is go to Starbucks and read The New York Times until 7 a.m. I took my daughter to school on the East Side, which was a lot of fun. And I admit I played Call of Duty, one of those war video games.
What's your advice to incoming Congressional freshmen?
Move your family to Washington, Do not listen to consultants who tell you to keep them down in the district for PR purposes. Do not miss your children's childhood. Do not be away 200 nights a year as I was. Do not put strains on your marriage or family.
Have there been moments--say, during the tax debate in December--when you wished you were back in Congress?
Not yet. I think I may at some point. We have more influence doing the show. There are 435 members of Congress. There's one Morning Joe show. Hopefully, we can keep hammering the argument that you can disagree with other people and have debates but remain civil.
"At some point"? How seriously are you considering a return to politics?
My wife always tells people, "He's not going to be able run to for anything because I'm not going to let him start a campaign." Look what's happened to Barack Obama over the last two years or George Bush for eight. It's a blood sport. But at some point I may feel the need to run for office again.
What would make you?
An absence of leadership. The same thing that had me run the first time, in 1994, when I felt the country was veering off dangerously in the wrong direction. If Washington continues to fumble issues like taking care of the debt, getting the troops home, and rebuilding our economy, my wife and I may sit down and say, "These are critical things and maybe we need to get back in the ball."
Might that ticket be you and New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, as the rumors say?
If someone could figure out which one of us has the capacity to be vice president, I'd like that person to explain it. I've been around Mayor Bloomberg, and people who've been around me would laugh at the notion that either of us [could settle for being second-in-command].
You and Joe Biden have both let expletives slip on air, so you're already prepared.
So I've got that! Okay!
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