Texas Senator Kirk Watson: "MSNBC and Me"

[NYCGirl]

Tweety-ambushed Watson speaks on his blog:

So . . . That really happened.

On Tuesday night, after an important and historic victory in the Wisconsin Presidential Primary by Senator Barack Obama, I appeared on the MSNBC post-election program. “Hardball” host Chris Matthews (who is, it turns out, as ferocious as they say), began grilling me on Senator Obama’s legislative record.

And my mind went blank. I expected to be asked about the primary that night, or the big one coming up in Texas on March 4, or just about anything else in the news. When the subject changed so emphatically, I reached for information that millions of my fellow Obama supporters could recite by heart, and I couldn’t summon it.

My most unfortunate gaffe is not, in any way, a comment on Senator Obama, his substantial record, or the great opportunity we all share to elect him President of the United States.

Had I not lost my mind, here are the accomplishments I would have mentioned:

* Senator Obama’s fight for universal children’s health care in Illinois.
* His success bringing Republicans and Democrats together (a huge selling point for me in general) on bills such as the one in Illinois requiring police interrogations and confessions to be videotaped.
* His leadership on ethics reform in Washington (the bill that lobbyists and special interests are complaining about right now has his name on it).
* His bill to make the federal budget far more transparent and accessible to Americans via the Internet – we could use that openness in Texas.
* And his vital work with Republicans to lock down nuclear weapons around the world.

AND THERE'S MORE AT THIS LINK:

http://www.kirkwatson.com/media/whats-new/2008/02/20/msnbc-and-me/

[redqueen]

1. Nicely done.

[FrenchieCat]

2. Poor Guy.........

I bet no one will ask him that question now! :(

Hope he sends this letter to Chris Matthews and asks him to read it on the air.

[DJ13]

3. That WAS a cheap shot by Mathews

I cant recall him EVER pulling a stunt like that on a Hillary supporter.

[damntexdem]

13. Mathews was a total jerk. And he didn't ask the same question of the Hillary supporter.

Nor did she name any HRC successes in the Senate, only piled on Mathews' question.

K.O. weakly tried to call Mathews on the bullying, but that had little effect. K.O. asked whether there had been ANY Senate successes.

I suspect that Mathews had his marching orders from MSNBC that he had been too hard on Hillary so had to bully an Obama supporter.

[VolcanoJen]

25. He's a self-satisfied smug little asshat who did that for his own personal amusement...

... at the expense of the guy. It wasn't pretty, and I wish for his sake it didn't happen, but watching Tweety smirk about it and gloat and revel in it this morning on "Morning Joe" made me sick.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

14. Olbermann to Matthews: ‘This isn’t Hardball, we’re doing election results.’

See Crooks and Liars, they applauded Keith for hoisting Tweetie on his own petard.

Olbermann to Matthews: ‘This isn’t Hardball, we’re doing election results.’
By: John Amato on Wednesday, February 20th, 2008 at 9:01 AM - PST

Well, it looks like Matthews has picked his candidate and his name is John McCain. Olbermann pokes Tweety in the eye because Matthews went off on State Sen. Kirk Watson, an Obama supporter, who was unprepared for this type of treatment on election coverage.


http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/02/20/draft-olbermann-to-matthews-but-this-isnt-hardball-were-doing-election-results/

[adabfree]

24. Ha Ha that was a KO by KO..priceless it was..and Tweety just

sat there after KO said it.. he knew he staged that shit...

[City Lights]

30. Watching KO give Chrissy the "Tweety" treatment was priceless!

:bounce: One of the highlights of the evening!

[gateley]

23. Agree - I was surprised by his behavior. It made me really uneasy. nt

[City Lights]

29. Chrissy is a washed-up, unprofessional hack who loves the sound of his

own voice.

I'm guessing he felt the fervor in his leg again last night when he refused to let Watson answer anything other than his narrowly focused question. :puke:

He's an embarrassment to journalism.

[ShortnFiery]

43. Yes, and Chris Mathews, the shameless asshole is also continuing to beat up on Michelle Obama.

Does anyone truly believe that this intelligent and elegant woman (Obama's Rock) does NOT love her country?

Chris Matthews is morphing into a sick-minded Cindy McCain clown. He's IMO, VOMIT! :puke:

[Alhena]

4. Sounds like he's a lot classier than Tweety- state senators are easy pickings for bullies

[JimGinPA]

5. I Complained To M$NBC About It....

Tweety should be made to apologize at the very least. He is scum.

[DJ13]

10. "I Complained To M$NBC About It...."

Better write them again.

They've been replaying that clip all day.

[NYCGirl]

17. Tweety should have him on "Hardball" tonight and give him another segment.

Alone.

[tridim]

22. And guess which part of the tape MSNBC is playing over and over today.

It's as if KO never even responded.

[City Lights]

31. So did I. eom

[Inuca]

6. It was extremely awkward

I felt sorry for guy, also mad because he should have been able to answer. IMHO Matthews cannot be blamed for asking the question, but he behaved like an ass embarrassing the guy on national TV.

[More Than A Feeling]

7. He sounds like a decent guy, who knows he's fucked up,

but isn't going to let it get him down. Good for him!

[Cha]

19. Exactly! We all fuck up at times and it's

how you handle it that counts!

Make that Lemonaid out little tweety lemons!

[slick8790]

8. I do feel kinda bad now starting a thread calling him an asshole.

But I still do think an appearance like that reflects poorly on the Obama campaign, especially when you let a smug clinton supporter score points of his unpreparedness.

[catgirl]

47. It's easy to freeze up (go blank) in an interview

especially on camera.

[spanone]

9. nice retort....

[bermudat]

11. He recovered nicely.

Class Act.

[grantcart]

12. Well that's nice but the question is irrelevent

I defy anyone to tell me what JFK's legislative accomplishements were as a Senator.

Lyndon Johnson was a brilliant legislator and a terrible president.

They are different leadership skill sets.

Moreover its entirely impossible to tell who is doing great work as a legislator because it is so collegial and the guy that is often trying to take credit is not the guy thats moving the bill along. If you need proof of that just look at Charlie Wilson nobody ever heard of him until a movie comes out and shows how he was the most influential congressman on foreign affairs of the 1990s.

Tweety worked with Tip Oneil and knew all of that. It was a disgusting performance really shameful.

[Cha]

15. Good save, Senator Kirk Watson..

who among us has never had a "blank". Bless, his heart and thank KO for trying to come to his rescue!!

[sandnsea]

16. "stump the chump:

"In the meantime, let’s not lose focus on what’s important in this election. It’s not my stunning televised defeat in “Stump the Chump.” Thankfully, it has nothing at all to do with me.

What’s important is the direction our country is headed. What’s important are the priorities, methods, and, yes, accomplishments of those seeking the highest office in the country."

I think he handled that embarrassing moment quite well. Maybe it'll bring Obama's record to light.

[Cha]

20. Precisely!

I'm very impressed with Senator Kirk Watson with his bouncing back from "stump the chump".

[Kaylee]

18. Awww man.....poor guy.

I can only imagine how he must feel. I have been known to forget my own phone number when someone asks me out of the blue.

Keep your head up Kirk, we understand!:hi:

[ProSense]

21. Very gracious, can't say the same about Tweety! In any case, look at Kirk

Watson on the issues

He's going to be a fine partner in Texas for a Democratic president.

Hillary showed no class in taking advantage of this shameful episode in gotcha journalism.

[ProSense]

33. Hillary's quote

"My good friend Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones from Ohio represented me on one of the TV programs in the last day or two— some of you may have seen her," Clinton said during a speech at Hunter College in New York City Wednesday. "And she was on against someone representing my opponent and for the first time, actually, the host, asked the representative of my opponent to name one accomplishment."

<...>

The Clinton campaign called the interview "Must See TV," and e-mailed a clip of it to reporters Wednesday morning — shortly before the New York Democrat mentioned it in her speech.

more

[gateley]

26. This guy has class. I hope Matthews has him on. nt

[texas_indy]

27. I bet everyone has had the same thing happen to them in their life. Matthews is slim (nt)

[K Gardner]

28. My mind would've gone blank too with Tweety yelling NOW and SIR and YOURE ON TV NOW, in my

ear. Good for Kirk.. how humiliating. Glad he's bounced back.

[Tatiana]

32. What a classy guy! I'm thinking we should email him and show him some love!

Send a message to his campaign office and let him know how classy we think he is:

[e-mail]

On a shallow note, he's a pretty handsome guy ;)

[ShortnFiery]

44. Thanks, I sent him an email. Nobody deserves to be treated like Tweety did on National TV.

Shame on Chris Matthews.

What a mean-spirited asshole. Just now on MSNBC Chris Mathews continues to live the DELUSION that he was on HARDBALL as he bullied this guy, instead of an post election congratulations interview.

Tweety is truly a world class ASSHOLE. :thumbsdown:

[Freddie Stubbs]

34. Does anyone remeber Roger Mudd asking Ted Kennedy:

"Why do you want to be President?"

Kennedy's response was less than impressive.

[Orangepeel]

55. Ted Kennedy himself couldn't answer. This was somebody else.

It's one thing to play gotcha with the candidate and another to do it with a supporter. Watson is a politician and should have been able to handle it. But he's not Obama himself.

[SeattleGirl]

35. Matthews was being a total ass with that guy.

Just kept badgering him with the question, bam, bam, bam! And then he had that fucking smug look on his face. I was so glad that KO smacked him down. Tweety deserved that and more.

[City Lights]

36. Stand tall, Senator Watson!

Don't let Chrissy get you down!

Glad he's addressing his mistake rather than shying away. :thumbsup:

[Gothmog]

37. Kirk is a Class Act

Kirk is a classmate from both law school and undergrad. We were on the same college debate squad and on law review together. He is a class act. Kirk is a top notch plaintiffs litigator and has won a number of big cases. In addition, Texas Monthly ranked him at the best newcomer to the Texas Senate.

I feel sorry for Kirk and am glad to see this post.

[ProSense]

38. "He's considered by some to be an up-and-comer in Texas Democratic politics."

“Stump the Chump"

Meet Kirk Watson.

He's a popular former mayor of Austin, Texas, and currently a Texas state senator.

He's considered by some to be an up-and-comer in Texas Democratic politics.

He's a Barack Obama supporter and surrogate.

He's also the guy that Chris Matthews may have mortally wounded politically last night during MSNBC's primary night coverage. You can watch the brutal exchange here.

Watson has posted a statement on his website which, I have to say, gets points for graciousness in the face of utter humiliation:

more

[ProSense]

42. From the link in the previous comment:

I guess Bill Clinton did recover from his disastrous speech at the 1988 Democratic convention.

Clinton bores his audience

Crowd cheers when Clinton finishes his speech

updated 7:03 p.m. ET, Tues., July. 20, 2004

The 1988 Democratic convention in Atlanta, Georgia was Bill Clinton’s debut on the national stage. Unfortunately, Clinton's speech nominating Michael Dukakis ended up being quite boring.

"He droned on and on, and droned on," remembers Tom Brokaw. "When he finally said 'In conclusion,' people began to cheer."

Clinton quickly realized he didn't give his best performance. "I saw him the next day and I literally slipped out of the way, I didn’t know what to say to him. He knew how he’d done," continues Brokaw. Clinton bounced right back and talked to the media, and even made an appearance on Johnny Carson's show.

"That should have told you something about Bill Clinton at that point. He would make the big mistake, but then he would crawl out of it in his own endearing fashion."

Hence the nickname, “Comeback Kid.”

Or -- heaven forbid -- the Bill Clinton of 1988, who gave a tedious stemwinder in 1988 that has gone down in the books as the worst nominating speech in recent memory?

link

Arkansas governor Bill Clinton gave a widely jeered 32-minute long opening night address that some predicted would ruin his political career, a source of much satisfaction to him 4 years later.

link

Kirk Watson will recover.

The question is can Bill recover his reputation after Hillary's campaign?

[AlertLurker]

39. Shoulda, coulda, woulda, too late. What a DOLT.

He was made to look like a gibbering IDIOT. Everyone in the studio was lauging at him, including Stephanie Jones-Tubbs.

Not good.

Obama is going to have to be a little more careful in his selection of surrogates.

It spoke VOLUMES about the emptiness of the Obama campaign, though. Maybe Obama could attempt to write a little legislation now and then (apart from naming a Post Office), or maybe vote on some bills, some time.

[ProSense]

40. "Everyone in the studio was lauging at him, including Stephanie Jones-Tubbs."

Let's see how Hillary does in Texas! She's already lost a super delegate today!

[ShortnFiery]

45. Good thing Stephanie Jones-Tubbs and Tweety were NOT in the same room ...

their smug arrogance would suck all the oxygen out of it. :nuke:

IMO she's also less than a class act. (understated) :(

[RamboLiberal]

41. I'll say it again - Tweety ought to quit gloating and man up

by inviting this man back and have a civil conversation about him about the candidate he supports. Watson is man enough to own up to his own gaffe and if allowed turn the humor on himself. He and Tweety could share a laugh about this.

MSNBC should man up and show the whole damn clip including the KO smackdown and the laughter from the crew. Too bad KO can't name Tweety in one of his worst person segments cause Tweety would deserve it tonight. I hope someday KO can right a tell all book - WHEW! Be interesting to hear what he thinks about a lot of these clowns he has to work with. You can just see the jealousy from Tweety that KO is now the star of MSNBC and not Tweedledum.

I'm at work so I haven't watched MSNBC all day but I did catch Tweety gloating on Morning Joe. PIG!

[anigbrowl]

46. Kudos to Watson for admitting he failed

I respect a pol much more when they say they screwed up than when they try to spin their way ut of it. He took it square on the chin and I think that says a lot to his constituents.

[Coexist]

48. awwww...

he must've had quite a Hardball Hangover this morning.

I'm glad he wrote that.

[TexasObserver]

49. Tweety unwittingly did Kirk a favor. He's a MADE MAN now.

If Tweety had asked the typical questions, no one would remember or care who Kirk is.

Now, he's SOMEBODY.

This will help Kirk in his home district, will help Obama in his district and the state, and will force all spokespeople in the future to be wood-shedded and ready ahead of time.

Tweety did us a favor, even if he's a raging asshole. His attacks on Hillary helped, not hurt, her, similarly.

What the hell is Tweety doing on election coverage, anyway? They need to dump his ass in hot grease, not because he's pro and anti either candidate, but because he's such a lousy commentator.

[Major Hogwash]

51. I'd prefer people at DU stop quoting Matthews - he's a disgusting asshat.

Matthews was for the war in 2003. He laughed in Phil Donahue's face when he was a guest on Donahue's program when Phil asked him if he didn't have serious doubts about the reasons that were being given by the Bush administration for starting the Iraq War.

Donahue had the highest rated program on MSNBC at the time - and they cancelled his program.

[TexasObserver]

53. I don't care whether people at DU quote Tweety or not, but think he's a total Ass Hat.

I remember when Tweety did that, and when they dumped Phil, the only sane voice on the war on cable news at the time.

[NYCGirl]

50. Kick

[LittleBlue]

52. Jeez, I'm glad I'm not this scrutinized when my boss asks me an

easy question and I blank. I generally try to be competetant, but there are instances where the pressure and stress cloud one's mind. Whether he knew these facts or not at the time, Tweety was implying false suppositions in his questioning.

[Orangepeel]

54. I felt so bad for him, I just donated 25 bucks to Kirt Watson's campaign fund

Classy letter

https://www.kirkwatson.com/donate/