While MSNBC's Morning Joe panelists had harsh words again for the campaign performance of Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton Tuesday, they had strong praise for the other woman in the 2016 race, Republican businesswoman Carly Fiorina.
Clinton has seen a large downturn in support from Democratic women this summer according to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, going from 71 percent support in July to 42 percent this month, a 29-percent drop in only eight weeks. Meanwhile, Fiorina just launched a new, well-received ad entitled "Faces," in reference to disparaging remarks about her appearance reportedly made by Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.
After watching a clip of Clinton in Iowa Monday attacking Trump for his rhetoric about women, panelists noted she couldn't stop looking down at her notes and wasn't nearly as sharp as socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), who has drawn huge audiences around the country eager to hear his populist message.
"Hillary Clinton's performance there was dismal," host Joe Scarborough said. "She is reading notes every three words while she's attacking Donald Trump—she can't draw these crowds right now."
"It feels like the approach to the campaign is 90s-esque," said co-host Mika Brzezinski said.
MSNBC panelist and Republican strategist Steve Schmidt said it was hard to tell apart Clinton from Saturday Night Live's impersonation of her.
"The performance level is beyond abysmal," Schmidt said. "It's horrendous, and it's completely out of step with the mood of the country right now."
Fiorina, meanwhile, is "making waves," as Brzezinski put it, after her new ad that was an unsubtle response to Trump's comments about her face.
"This is the face of a 61-year-old woman. I am proud of every year and every wrinkle," Fiorina says in the ad.
"Oh my gosh, that would be how you do it," Brzezinski said after watching it. "That would be how you do it."
"I got chills," Scarborough said. "That's how you do it."
"We've been saying for months, she's proved us right at the first debate, she's proved us right again here with this ad," co-host Willie Geist said. "She's running a great campaign ... That's how you turn a moment like that, and without making a cheap attack back at Donald Trump, turn it into something like that ad we see right there."
Scarborough said Fiorina and Ohio Gov. John Kasich both stood out to the most to him when he was in New Hampshire over the weekend for having positive messages and connecting best with the crowd.