Picking the Next President (Hardball)

[kentuck]

Chris Matthews, according to latest ad run on MSNBC, is hosting a roundtable of possible Republican candidates for President. Here it is, 8 months from midterm congressional elections, and Hardball is having a show of Republican Presidential contenders? Isnt it a little early? Or is this a payback of some sort? Makes one wonder?

[WI_DEM]

1. My ? is he going to have a show with Democrats called

"Picking the Next President" or has he decided the next president will be a Republican?

[Skidmore]

4. He's already picked the Dem candidate....

and it's Hillary. He never speaks of anyone else in the Democratic party as a possible candidate exect for her, and he runs her against every conceivable R out there.

[Norquist Nemesis]

6. And apparently, the Dem candidate's already lost

"picking the president" sounds like a done deal to me. They might as well call it "Who Will Beat Hillary?" and be honest about the abuse they're salivating for.

[Virginian]

7. Matthews seems more obsessed with Hillary than Rove is.

IMHO.

I think she can and should continue to deflect the smears. Then, out of the blue, the party makes Matthews a liar by choosing someone else.

I'm not saying Hillary shouldn't run, I would support her if she did, but I would like to see all the GOP supporters eat their predictions.

He would be sitting there perched on the edge of his seat waiting for her to announce. It would be like waiting for Fitzmas, only the announcement would never come.

It would make all of Rove's efforts to defeat her a waste of his time and evil energies.

[MadMaddie]

2. I can't wait until they expose tweety...

he's getting some money in this....

[tridim]

3. It's going to seem just a bit suspicious with the breaking news

on Rawstory.

"Report suggests Chris Matthews took money from myriad conservative groups; Hardball star won't say if paid: Soon..."

I predict Tweety calls in sick the rest of the week.

[Virginian]

5. The story basically says:

Matthews has spoken to a lot of Conservative groups and no Democratic or Liberal groups.

He is listed with a speakers bureau whose clients frequently make up to $50,000 per event.

"Howard Kurtz reported in 2002 that NBC had banned the practice of journalists accepting speaking fees." NBC will not confirm this.

It is unlikely Matthews spoke to so many groups for free.

"The MSNBC icon has remained largely immune to liberal attacks because of his record of employment by Democratic politicians. According to the report, Matthews was a presidential speechwriter for Jimmy Carter and server as a top aide to the onetime Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill."