Saving Freedom

About the author:

Charles Joseph "Joe" Scarborough (born April 9, 1963) is an American cable news and talk radio host, lawyer, author, and former politician. He is currently the host of Morning Joe on MSNBC, and previously hosted Scarborough Country on the same channel. Scarborough served in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001 as a Republican from the 1st district of Florida. He was named in the 2011 Time 100 as one of the most influential people in the world.

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, he is the son of George F. Scarborough, a businessman, and has two other siblings. When his father died in May 2011, his life story appeared in the Congressional Record and in Politico's Playbook. Scarborough even wrote a eulogy op-ed online.

Joe Scarborough graduated from Pensacola Catholic High School in Pensacola, Florida. He received a B.A. from the University of Alabama in 1985 and a J.D. from the University of Florida College of Law in 1990. During this time he wrote and produced CDs with his band, Dixon Mills, and taught high school. He was admitted to the The Florida Bar in 1991, and practiced law in Pensacola.

Scarborough's most famous case was representing Michael F. Griffin, the accused killer of abortion doctor David Gunn, in early to mid-1993. He made several court appearances for Griffin. "There was 'no way in hell I could sit in at a civil trial, let alone a capital trial,' he claims now, referring to the prospect of prosecutors seeking the death penalty against Griffin." Scarborough assisted Griffin in choosing a trial lawyer from the many who offered their services, and he also shielded the family from the media exposure, pro bono.

Scarborough also helped to raise his political profile and made numerous contacts by assisting with a petition drive in late 1993 to oppose a 65 percent increase in the City of Pensacola's property taxes.

In 1994, Scarborough won the Republican Party primary for Florida's 1st congressional district, which came open after eight-term Democratic incumbent Earl Hutto announced his retirement. In the general election he defeated the Democratic candidate, Pensacola attorney Vinnie Whibbs, with 61 percent of the vote. Whibbs was the son of well respected, former Pensacola mayor, Vince Whibbs. The win was not considered an upset, since the 1st was traditionally a conservative district. The district had not supported a Democratic candidate for U.S. president since 1960. While Democratic candidates continued to win most local offices well into the 1990s, they tended to be conservative even, by Southern Democratic standards. It had been widely believed that Hutto would be succeeded by a Republican once he retired.

Scarborough was reelected with 72 percent of the vote in 1996. In 1998 and 2000, he was opposed by only a write-in candidate.

Scarborough supported a number of pro-life positions while in Congress, including the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, that made it a crime to harm a fetus during the commission of other crimes, though he did not vote for the passage of the final bill.

Scarborough sponsored a bill to force the U.S. to withdraw from the United Nations after a four-year transition and voted to make the Corporation for Public Broadcasting "self-sufficient" by eliminating federal funding. He also voted for the "Medicare Preservation act of 1995," which cut the projected growth of Medicare by $270 billion over ten years, and against the "Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996," which raised the minimum wage to $5.15. Scarborough had a conservative voting record on economic, social, and foreign policy issues, but was seen as moderate on environmental issues and human rights causes, including closing the School of the Americas and Lori Berenson.

While in Congress, Scarborough received a number of awards, including the "Friend of the Taxpayer Award" from Americans for Tax Reform; the "Guardian of Small Business Award" from the National Federation of Independent Busine