[More in the cross-post on the MRC's NewsBusters blog.]
MSNBC and CNN zeroed in on the supposed radical right-wing views of Senator-elect Joni Ernst during their live election night coverage. Just after 2 am Eastern on 5 November 2014, MSNBC's Luke Russert played up how Ernst was "able to have these rather extreme Tea Party views; and then, moderate them closer to the election." Just over two hours earlier, CNN's Dana Bash gave the Iowa Republican a similar label, and made a prediction about her political future:
DANA BASH: I can tell you that somebody like Joni Ernst – yes, in her primary, she was conservative – she was. She called for all the things that the most conservative members of Congress did-
GLORIA BORGER (off-camera): Very-
BASH: Here's the but: she's now going to represent a very purple state. So if she goes down that path, she's going to be a one-term senator.
