How bad has Karen Bass's performance been as mayor of Los Angeles? Bad enough that even an MS NOW host and a successful Democrat strategist are acknowledging it. On Tuesday's Morning Joe, host Willie Geist noted that Bass has been "justifiably criticized" for her handling of the Palisades fire. He asked Jim Messina, Obama's 2012 campaign manager: "How worried should Karen Bass be?" Messina's response couldn't have been blunter: "Very worried." Referring to Bass's "mistakes," Messina said that people are "very angry."   Messina also had surprising praise for Spencer Pratt’s campaign tactics: "I know a lot of people watching this morning [in MS NOW's largely liberal audience] are a little freaked out about another reality star rising in American politics. But if you look at Spencer Pratt's social media, Willie, it's the best I've ever seen." Karen Bass Should Be 'Very Worried’ — Obama Campaign Manager Jim Messina pic.twitter.com/6QmsfB8gM6 — Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) June 2, 2026 Messina tried to preserve some liberal street cred, injecting, "I'm not saying he would be a good mayor, I'm not saying he's a great candidate," but then delivered this bad news for Democrats:  "He's really taken over this race with some really inventive AI outreach that I think all campaigns on both sides of the aisle can learn from." He concluded: "Pratt has really made his own luck, and he did it using social media and not a lot of money." Let's review: a MS NOW host acknowledges that [Gone-to-Ghana] Karen Bass has been "justifiably criticized" for her mishandling of the Palisades fire. Messina says that Bass should be "very worried," that Spencer Pratt's social media is "the best I've ever seen," and that Pratt has "taken over the race." Messina praises Pratt for having "made his own luck," doing so without a lot of money.  Yikes! Even on Morning Joe, the failures of blue-city governance are becoming impossible for the left to spin away. Here's the transcript. MS NOW Morning Joe 6/2/26 6:26 am EDT Willie Geist: Jim, in the mayor's race, Mayor Karen Bass looking to be reelected, obviously has been justifiably criticized for handling of the Palisades fire last year, and chiefly by Spencer Pratt, who's a name people may know and a face they might recognize from reality TV. How serious a contender do you believe he is, and how worried should Karen Bass be? JIM MESSINA: Well, she should be very worried. No matter who's in the runoff right now. There are people very angry. She's acknowledged those mistakes. She's got to prove to people that this election is about the future, not the past. When I run campaigns, I say to people all the time, "These voters want to know where you're gonna take 'em, not where you've been." And she's having a lot of problems with that. I know a lot of people watching this morning are a little freaked out about another reality star rising in American politics. But if you look at Spencer Pratt's social media, Willie, it's the best I've ever seen.  I'm not saying he would be a good mayor, I'm not saying he's a great candidate, but he's really taken over this race with some really inventive AI outreach that I think all campaigns on both sides of the aisle can learn from. We'll find out tonight if it's enough to get him to the runoff.  . . .  And so, money is really important in some of these down-ballot races that Barnicle and I stay up until, you know, the wee hours of the night following, and especially in governors or mayors races.  When you look at tonight in L.A., Pratt has really made his own luck, and he did it using social media and not a lot of money, and it is proof that a little anger still drives American politics. GEIST: Jim, if Barnicle's telling you he stays up late to watch down-ballot races, he's lying to you. He's watching the A's Mariners in extra innings, that's why he's up late.