Chris Matthews: Who is he REALLY???

[polichick]

I've watched Hardball for years and I'm still not sure what to think of this guy. Sometimes he seems to lean left, sometimes right ~ sometimes he asks great questions, sometimes he gets all hot and bothered over nothing.

I don't get him ~ perhaps some of you can enlighten me.

[Colobo]

1. I think he is a lefty that tries to do balanced interviews

And I'm glad he does most of the time. I don't want cheerleaders for the left or the right, I want balance.

[liberal N proud]

6. I don't know, it seems on the Chris Matthews show he always loads up with right wing pundits

Anytime I try watching it, I just get mad and have to turn the TV off.

[Colobo]

8. He plays Devil's Advocate many times

I wouldn't watch him if he only cheered for the left. That's not informative.

[Cosmocat]

15. He is in love with being "in" ... and a BIG part of the problem ...

that is what I see with him more than anything ...

With a pretty healthy does of latent homoerotic underpinnings ...

He was early in breaking in talking about the "bad" things with Bushco, but I think that just stems from him having more of a sense of who really is in power, and what he needs to do to be in the clique ...

The best example, I think is how he operated with Tom Delay ... They have that infamous clip of him talking to Delay last summer, off camera between sets, before Delay bailed from Congress ... He sucked Delays' rear end during that timeout more than I thought could be humanly possible ... Told Delay he "owed him" a couple times for coming on air with him that day, shared some polling data that painted Hillary in a negative manner - and it was the tone when he talked about that, real breathless ... Delay was being the smug piece of garbage he is, and was looking down on Mathews and Mathews was CLEARLY trying to cater Delays favor by sharing some negative polling on Hillary ...

Today, he acts like he was against the Iraq disaster all the way ... Back then, he asked some questions, but hammered at the Ds like people are supposed to ... THAT is his gig, he gives NO credit whatsoever to the Ds, and keeps the talking points going, "the mommy party" and all that other crape ... THAT is how a guy in the MSM can get away with airing the republican dirty laundry, they HAVE to bash the Ds ...

He followed EVERYONE elses lead after the initial stages of the Iraq occupation ... He did the "can the liberals just get over it and admit that George Bush is the greatest president since George Washington" ... He darn near came across like a school girl talking about Bushco in the flight suit during "mission accomplished" ... Has the same little man erotic facination with Rudy, too ...

Sorry, he is NO lefty, not even a self loathing lefty ... He probably isn't a rightie, but I would NOT call him a centrist by any means ... He is a self promoter, in love with being "in" and he knows the key to doing it having the "hardball reputation" while making sure he keeps the Ds down ... It is all fine and well that he takes the legit shots at Bushco, but he is a HUGE part of the program having reputation as a straight shooter, but who, while not directly carrying water by spouting supportive propoganda, he MOST ASSUREDLY carries water for the right by actively working to support the negative images they paint of the left ...

[chimpymustgo]

35. You nailed Tweety, Cosmocat. Politically he appears to be all over the place,

but at the end of the day, he's pushing Tweety, and the appearance that he's out in front of the "conventional wisdom".

[KoKo]

42. He was a Goldwater Repug who supposedly got disillusioned with him and

became a Democrat. But, those are his roots.

[ElizabethDC]

2. I feel the same way you do

he's kind of all over the place from what I can tell.

[Doctor_J]

3. Someone to be aggressively ignored

just like everyone on Cabal "News" except Olbermann

[Taverner]

4. Most in the biz say he's a Centrist Dem

[Totally Committed]

5. "I'm more conservative than people think I am. ... I voted for George W. Bush in 2000."

Matthews has worked for four Democratic politicians. He was a presidential speechwriter for four years during the administration of Jimmy Carter. Matthews hosts a nightly, hour long talk show called Hardball with Chris Matthews on the American cable television channel MSNBC, and a syndicated NBC News produced panel program called The Chris Matthews Show on weekends. He makes frequent appearances as a consultant and observer on many NBC News programs.

Matthews has worked for four Democratic politicians. He was a presidential speechwriter for four years during the administration of Jimmy Carter. Among his efforts was Carter's infamous "malaise" speech, though the word "malaise" did not actually appear in the official transcript. He served as a top aide to long-time Speaker of the House of Representatives Tip O'Neill for six years. He worked in the U.S. Senate for five years on the staffs of Senators Frank Moss and Edmund Muskie before losing to Pennsylvania Congressman Joshua Eilberg in a U.S. House of Representatives Democratic primary in 1974.

Matthews was raised in a conservative Irish Catholic household. As a young man he was a Goldwater Republican who was inspired to become a Democrat by Eugene McCarthy's pro-civil rights and anti-Vietnam war platforms. Despite having worked for Democrats, Matthews has said, "I'm more conservative than people think I am. ... I voted for George W. Bush in 2000."

Much more at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Matthews

TC

[Stinky The Clown]

13. I recall, after the last Maryland Senate primary, he had Kweisi Mfume on the day he conceded ......

.... the Senate primary to Ben Cardin. Matthews said to Mfume, at the end of the segment, something to the effect of "I'm still glad I voted for you."

I happened to see this live. Cardin's a liberal. Mfume is even more liberal.

Tweety's good when he's on his meds.

[babylonsister]

7. I think he tries to play devil's advocate, with ofttimes limited success. nt

[JoePhilly]

34. Too frequently he doesn't respond to GOP talking points with ...

real follow-up questions.

Mushroom clouds
Cut and Run
Fighting them over there
Follow us home
Support the troops
Iraq is part of the war on terror

It has been only recently that he started to push back on some of these ridiculous phrases. But for a long time, he let them slide ... or even used them in his questions to Dems.

I think he's a weathervane.

[movonne]

9. A jerk...

[Kingofalldems]

10. One thing he is consistent about

He hates the Clintons.

[Colobo]

12. Sometimes he roots for Hillary big time

[oasis]

27. Tweety would love to claim that he was the person most responsible for Hillary's defeat.

He's consumed with hate for the Clintons.

[SoonerPride]

11. Didn't he work for Tip O'Neil ??

I think he did.

Matthews has worked for four Democratic politicians. He was a presidential speechwriter for four years during the administration of Jimmy Carter. Among his efforts was Carter's infamous "malaise" speech, though the word "malaise" did not actually appear in the official transcript. He served as a top aide to long-time Speaker of the House of Representatives Tip O'Neill for six years. He worked in the U.S. Senate for five years on the staffs of Senators Frank Moss and Edmund Muskie before losing to Pennsylvania Congressman Joshua Eilberg in a U.S. House of Representatives Democratic primary in 1974.

Matthews was raised in a conservative Irish Catholic household. As a young man he was a Goldwater Republican who was inspired to become a Democrat by Eugene McCarthy's pro-civil rights and anti-Vietnam war platforms. Despite having worked for Democrats, Matthews has said, "I'm more conservative than people think I am. ... I voted for George W. Bush in 2000."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Matthews

[ShortnFiery]

14. He's one of the Ultra-Media Elites who attends almost every soiree in the Beltway.

He FUNCTIONS as the *most prized* Disinformation Minister for the Wealthy Elites. As long as he can "stir the pot" at whatever angle, both the Republicans and Democrats IN POWER love him. Why? After all, it's all about the investor classes and corporate wealth, isn't it?

As long as they can divide the populace with bullshit issues so they are able to distract from "the killing" of our soldiers and our tax dollars, Chris Mathews reigns supreme. :puke:

Goebbels is rolling over in his grave screeching, "Chris Mathews you beautiful bastard!"

[Cosmocat]

19. That is what I see, too ...

A serious "insider" who has a better sense of the direction that crape is flowing than most ...

MOST disinformation is slanted to taint the left, so that is where his disinformation most often is aimed ... People get confused ... People have just been so desensitized by it, they just don't get that because he isn't a blatent water carrier by DIRECTLY supporting the cons, he isn't carrying out their mission ...

[blm]

31. Yep - He plays Smeogol and Gollum for his corporate masters.

.

[Writer]

16. WHY DOES HE HAVE TO HAVE A POLITICAL LEANING AT ALL?????????

:shrug:

[LSparkle]

17. He's a frequent attendee at the Bohemian Grove retreats ...

That's enough for me to doubt his sincerity about ANYTHING other than a "ruling class" agenda.

[Akbar]

18. He's a Lot of Things

He worked for Dems, but he supports repubs.

He really likes John McCain. "Likes" in the creepy sense. McCain sort of gives him the vapors. The same way Bush in the flight suit did.

He hates the Clintons and is guaranteed to go negative on the Democratic candidate no matter who it is. His approach is that dems are not to be taken seriously.

He likes to bring up speculation and inuendo and then have his panel conduct a discussion in which they pretend that they are talking about actual facts. This week, for example, they discussed "what if" the Clintons had made an agreement where he would be president first and then she'd get her turn. The discussion then turned to how creepy the Clintons are for having done that. Those discussing this included "notable" "non-partisan" "intellectual" Andy Sullivan.

I know someone who knows Matthews and says he's a man who is extremely into politics, but, for someone to whom the topic is an obsession (not to mention his profession), has very limited and shallow knowledge of the subject. He likes to pick up on the conventional wisdom of the moment and run with it, but he doesn't seem to think there is any topic that requires more than 20 seconds of actual thought to arrive at a conclusion.

[Cosmocat]

21. BINGO ...

He hates the Clintons and is guaranteed to go negative on the Democratic candidate no matter who it is. His approach is that dems are not to be taken seriously.

As such, maintaing his "insider" status ...

[grasswire]

32. this is precisely the essence of Tweety

"has very limited and shallow knowledge of the subject. He likes to pick up on the conventional wisdom of the moment and run with it, but he doesn't seem to think there is any topic that requires more than 20 seconds of actual thought to arrive at a conclusion."

He will have an opinion about something based on a shallow understanding, and then will be like a dog with a bone trying to get people to say things that support his shallow understanding.

He is lazy. He doesn't really do the prep work to understand issues.

[Awsi Dooger]

36. I think that's the best summary

Matthews gets an idea in his head and you can't shake it with any amount of contrary evidence. Last week he scolded a pundit for saying right wing voters didn't know enough about Guiliani, and when they did his polling would continue to fall. Matthews jumped all over her for saying that, and I agree with him on that point. But the subsequent exchange demonstrated how shallow his knowledge is and that he doesn't do his homework. The woman tried to back up her opinion by saying Guiliani's numbers have gone down recently, which is absolutely correct. But he got smug and said, "No they haven't. They are going straight up."

This from a guy who has claimed all year he has been following the betting odds. He's tried to use that as a wise guy trump card in many segments. Meanwhile, Guilani's odds have plunged the past few weeks. He was trading at more than 40% to win the GOP nomination and lately it's below 30%. I guarantee Matthews is totally clueless to that reality.

He despises the Clintons and will rip them unmercifully with only minor lapses of praise. If Hillary gets the nomination, Hardball will be unbearable for the rest of the campaign.

[AX10]

20. A power obsessed bimbo...

who has a perverted lusting affair with "manliness". Also, he likes to be on the winning side all the time.

[partylessinOhio]

22. Slobbering is not manly. I don't understand how he can sit there drool

running off his chin pretending that his audience doesn't see it.

[Arugula Latte]

23. Mr. Schizo. nt

[FrenchieCat]

24. He's whatever they decide that he should be......

in other words, a real honest to goodness media ho.

He will diseminate whatever "news of the day" he has been ordered to.

Here's one of his programs in where swiftboating John Kerry became...well, "Fair Game".....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5765243/

[polichick]

25. Thanks for the great comments!

To host his shows it doesn't really matter which way he leans, but it's hard for me to understand how someone who worked for Carter and O'Neill can then vote for Bush. Guess it makes sense though, if he's someone who is desperate to be an "insider" and on the winning team ~ as shallow as it seems. That portrait sort of explains the silly grudge against the Clintons over a job he didn't get too. Pretty juvenile stuff.

I was horrified during his "drumbeat to war" period and fired off a bunch of emails. Later he seemed to be sorry for his faulty journalism and attempted to make amends. The thing I really do like about him is his enthusiasm for the subject of politics!

[orleans]

26. he has said he was a democrat! HAHAHAHA!

(but only on the days he's not sucking on the republic party--so that would be maybe five out of a year!)

[Cleita]

28. He's an opportunistic ass.

Years ago before he was on TV, I used to read his column in the San Francisco Chronicle and he was left of Phil Donahue back then. When Clinton became President, I guess he pissed on Matthews cornflakes because when he went on TV first on CNBC, he started having all these right wing guests on that bashed Clinton contantly with Matthews agreeing with them and not allowing anyone who disagreed with them to get a word in edgewise.

Of course when the Monica scandal broke it was a non-stop bash Clinton fest with all the usual RW pundits we know today but were barely emerging from under their rocks back then, you know Coulter et al. At one time there were so many they were called the Clinton hating blondes.

Of course now that Matthews has drunk the Kool-Aid it's really hard to know where he's coming from. I doubt he does either. It's probably what sounded good that day.

[TreasonousBastard]

29. I just wish he'd shut up once in a while and...

stop stepping on the answers whhen he asks questions.

I don't care what his personal politics are if he can get an issue properly talked about, but he's too much of a motormouth to hold any kind of discussion.

[Uncle Joe]

30. He's a Howdy Doody Puppet used by his masters to enable Bush to power,

by slandering Al Gore for the better part of two years while overlooking Bush's obvious shortcomings, lies and mistakes prior to the selection of 2000. For details click on Daily Howler website link I have provided below and google "War Against Gore" or "2000 debates".


http://dailyhowler.com/

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

33. When I used to watch him regularly, he seemed horribly unprepared to me

Doesn't do his homework, doesn't read the books of the people he interviews and doesn't know that much about the world or history in general. And he frequently covers up his ignorance by interrupting his guests and changing the subject. I happened to tune in briefly the other day and he mentioned "Waiting for Godette or Gooday or something like that". This is just one example among very many I have noted, but how can someone with a major national TV program and someone who supposedly received a university education not know the name of this famous play?

He may know quite a few people in Washington, but he doesn't impress me as being a particularly deep thinker. He's probably not alone among TV hosts, but then I don't understand why he gets more attention than the average idiotic talking head. Is it that most Americans want a "personality" interviewing top political figures instead of a knowledgeable intellectual?

[mitchum]

37. He's Tip O'Neill's former bag carrier and coffee fetcher

[jillan]

38. I think he is a pundit that truly loves politics.

All of it.

I see him somewhere in the center...can't quite figure out if he's left or right.

He pisses me off alot, but I watch.

[truedelphi]

39. I'm glad you asked this - I wonder the same things

I only seem to catch him on days when he is so right on that my teeth almost drop out (Right after 9/11 when Bush was whining about how "now well have to get the perps," Matthews said, "What gives with that? They're toast!")

And also early this season he has beens supporting Edwards quite a lot.

But he clearly is weird - I mean - he did come out and give support to the war for awhile.

[mitchtv]

40. Twit, I am getting ral tired , real fast

Still sniffing the Clintons' underwear. Trying to make a story out of nothing. I am not a HRC supporter either, but he just got me pissed off this is the second or third day he's been working on this non story.

[LittleClarkie]

41. Hello and welcome to that which is Sybil

Yes he changes. That is the only constant.

[chieftain]

43. In his heart of hearts, he is a Republican.

His book on Kennedy and Nixon reveals his basic Republican orientation. His status as one of the very few Irish Catholics who preferred Milhous to JFK is conclusive proof of where his sentiments are. I give him credit for being one of the very few pundits who had and expressed reservations about Iraq. You don't have to be a liberal to have had that opinion, only a functioning brain.Although he may zig zag from night to night in his comments about various political personages, but the overwhelming arc of his commentary is pro Republican and anti Democrat.One of the most galling aspects of his schtick is his constant derision of Liberals. He and Howard Fineman sounded like a couple of junior high schoolers laughing at Al Gore. This belittling of our party is not limited to Gore or only of past tense. Last Sunday he indulged in a large laugh at the thought of Nancy Pelosi touring a thawing glacier. Mathews is a constant purveyor of the RW caricature of Democrats being loopy, laughable and not capable of the manliness that Republicans exude with such swagger.