Appearing on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports Thursday afternoon as Nancy Pelosi was reelected Speaker of the House, lefty historian Doris Kearns Goodwin hailed the Democratic leader as “the right person at the right time in the right place.” She went on to describe how “thrilling” it was to see Democrats regain control of the congressional chamber and bring “joy” back to Washington.

After welcoming Goodwin to the show, anchor Andrea Mitchell fawned: “First to you, Doris, the significance of Nancy Pelosi now, the most powerful woman in government?” Goodwin proclaimed: “You know, I think for all the angst that people felt about who the speaker should be, between the election and today, there’s no question she’s the right person at the right time in the right place.”

Commenting on the new crop of far-left members of Congress taking office, Goodwin marveled: “It’s an incredible thing to see this diverse House. I must say, I’m ever-optimistic when I watch them. A lot of young people must be feeling, ‘I can be one of them.’ So it’s a pretty exciting thing.” She provided another enthusiastic endorsement of Pelosi as their leader: “And she knows procedure, she knows strategy, she knows politics, and she’s confident as hell.”

Minutes later, Goodwin lectured:

You know, it’s about time. It’s about time that the House of Representatives, the peoples’ house, begins to look more like the people of the United States. And I think it’s thrilling, I felt that at the time of the midterms.

She imagined how “some 20 years from now, 30 years from now, there’ll be a young Doris Kearns Goodwin writing about one of these characters as an historic figure. So I’m ever-optimistic when I see these moments of change, I think it’s pretty grand.”

Returning to the coverage for a third time just before the end of the show, Goodwin added some final celebratory remarks:

We’ve had so little joy in politics in these last months. I mean, there seems to me so little joy in President Trump as a person, you know, except when he’s fighting against something. So to see families together at this moment, to see the joy of new people thinking that maybe things will be different, you know, that maybe something will change and this fever will break, we just have to celebrate that moment. And it’s a great thing.

She advised viewers to “just take this moment and feel good about it,” adding, “I just have a little bit better feeling about things right now, as of this moment.”

Mitchell happily agreed: “Well, we love to have your optimism...”

The moment Democrats are back in power, liberal journalists and pundits suddenly get a “better feeling” about politics and see “joy” return to the nation’s capital. It’s funny how their emotional state is dependent upon who’s in power in Washington.

Here are excerpts of Goodwin’s January 3 commentary to Mitchell: