Chris Matthews Calls Obama a Progressive and Asks if He Can 'Pretend to be a Centrist' (VIDEO)

[jefferson_dem]

I found this exchange to be humerous, especially in light of the conventional DU narrative about Obama.

Chris Matthews Calls Obama a Progressive and Asks if He Can 'Pretend to be a Centrist'
By Heather Saturday Mar 13, 2010 6:00pm

Here we go again with that magical, mythical political "center" that the TV talking heads love to chatter endlessly about. Chris Matthews asks his panel what the next move should be for President Obama and of course in the world of the D.C. Villagers, he needs to move to the center, as though he’s not there already. Matthews actually has the gall to call him a progressive and ask if he can “pretend to be a centrist”. Way to push that phony right-wing talking point Chris.

Matthews: Let’s go to the bottom line, we took it to the Matthews Meter—twelve of our regulars—what’s the smartest political move for Obama right now; play to the center or to the left? Well no contest here, eleven say play to the center. Just one said go left. Joe and Katy you’re both in the meter and both of your are in the eleven.

Kay: It is a bit different from Bill Clinton who moved to the center and that benefited him and clearly you know everyone in Washington is talking about that and is that the way the President should go if he has such a drubbing in the mid-term elections.

Matthews: Yeah.

Kay: But I am… I do think he’s got to keep the base happy in order to keep the base stimulated, particularly in these mid-term elections.

Matthews: Do you think he’s as good at faking it as Bill Clinton was? Can he pretend to be a centrist?

Kay: This is the other reason… I also think he’s not an angry populist and this is the other reason for him not to try and play that card because when he did try to do it and started railing against the banks, it isn’t something that sits easy with him.

Matthews: Okay.

Kay: He is a fundamentally, kind of reasonable, rational, lawyerly type guy…

Matthews: But he is a progressive?

Kay: …and taking on the… I think he is a progressive… but taking on that mantle of populism is not something that’s suited to him.

Matthews: Can he sell himself as a non-transformative, regular guy president who just goes with the flow like Bill Clinton did?

Rather: No. First of all, he isn’t Bill Clinton—totally different kind of political candidate and political leader. He’s got to be true to himself. Listen, particularly in this era, two most important things are authenticity. You’ve got to be authentic. In the television age if you aren’t authentic and you aren’t very often it’s going to show through. The second thing is to have a conversation with people. He may be in his speeches a little too speechifying, preachifying in his speeches; authenticity, having a conversation with the constituency, the broad constituency of the country are the most important things going. And I come back to he has to show some guts and some steel—he’s got to.

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/chris-matthews-calls-obama-progressive-and

[DebbieCDC]

1. Can Tweety pretend to be an intelligent journalist?

Nah.

[Supersedeas]

22. his focus on tie color, poll numbers, polisci labels & other superficialities will not allow it

[Armstead]

2. Someday I'd like to meet this Center....He's so mythical

[Cha]

3. Sometimes..ya just gotta wonder..

On second thought..President Obama has made a lot of Progress .."pretend to be centrist"?

I'll just take Obama the pragmatist doing his repair work on the bushcheney orwellian nightmare.

[Bozita]

4. Tweety was a late convert to the anti-invade-Iraq crowd.

He had a big man-crush on * in that flightsuit with the codpiece.

I didn't trust him then. I don't trust him now.

[defendandprotect]

5. Why are you watching Chris Matthews?

[denimgirly]

6. So Progressive today means Center-Right cuz Obama clearly leans Center-Right

Obama without question obsessively makes decisions in the center or center-right....NEVER far-left and progressive. But it seems consistently clear that the MSM views the real center as somewhere far right. Its really sad because the more they play this up the more right Obama will go and the less will get done in America.

[Bozita]

8. Just look at his family income over the last decade or so. That'll tell you what moves his compass.

He loved the Bush taxcuts.

But it wasn't personal.

[democracy1st]

18. Corporate America owns this admin

[TCJ70]

7. I still don't see where Obama is so far to the left.

Where does this line of thinking come from? Can anyone using it back it up with facts?

[cascadiance]

12. I guess the 60-70% of Americans that want a PO are communists then!

[whathehell]

13. That's because he's not...He's center-right, center at best and

that line of thinking comes from The Corporate Right who are piss poor judges of what is "progressive" or "left".

[Chakab]

19. Who needs facts when you've got

Beltway conventional wisdom?

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. You really have to go out of your way to fit Chris Matthew's comfort zone, don't you?

[rocktivity]

10. I thought that pretending to be centrist

IS what Tweety does...

:eyes:
rocktivity

[VMI Dem]

11. Its progressive to oppose civil rights?

Maybe to a bigot.

[old mark]

14. Mathews has been smoking pot again. Obama is what a Moderate Republican

was about 40 years ago, certainly has done almost nothing remotely progressive except getting elected in the first place.


mark

[RaleighNCDUer]

15. He's nothing but a windsock.

He was a dem until the repukes took over, then he was a repuke. He loved bush until Obama won, then he loved Obama. He sees the puke propaganda working, turning the public against Obama, so now he's against Obama.

Rather talks of authenticity, and he says "Wha..??"

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. Obama is the best Republican president since Reagan

His role model.

Chris Matthews is a delusional hack.

[Jennicut]

21. Wrong Republican. Obama is more like Eisenhower or Ford. Reagan is the precursor to the neocons.

It IS telling though that the media thinks Obama is progressive. If he is a progressive, what is the RW typical Repuke? That is the middle? Hilarious. The country clearly shifted to the right under Reagan but the reality is Obama is trying to move it to the center right and center and the media labels that as "progressive". LMAO on that one.

[boppers]

17. "as good at faking it as Bill Clinton"???

Yeah, because Clinton was really a regular Che?

[Vinca]

20. If Obama's a progressive, call me Twiggy and pass the chocolates.

[Lord Helmet]

23. It's easier to oppose someone accused of taking a "hard left."

We wish.