Chris Matthews Admits: "I'm Partial" For Barack Obama, "You Got Me!"

Stop 1 on Chris Matthews' Whirlwind Tour of LA — which will bring him to his reunion with Ellen DeGeneres — was the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Tuesday night Matthews sat down with Leno to discuss the Obama presidency, the possibility of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, the bailout of the auto industry,

Matthews admitted to Leno that he has been, and still is, "partial" to Barack Obama.

"Well, I'm partial," he said. "You got me. You nailed me! I've been watching politics since I was a kid and all the way back to the days of Kennedy and Nixon and I've never seen anything like Barack Obama. No one's ever been as inspiring."

Matthews said that Obama's run was "stunning to [him] from the time it started" and described Obama as "a remarkable political reality."

When Leno brought up the topic of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, Matthews laughed, saying, "Come on, you're setting me up!" Matthews is a frequent Clinton-antagonist who was recently overheard on a train trashing her as a Cabinet pick.

The always-excited "Hardball" host may was also passionate about the auto industry bailout. Matthews told Leno, a well-known car enthusiast, that if the CEOs of the "Big Three" auto companies are going to become government employees through a bailout, they ought to accept government salaries.

"These auto company CEOs have not had a good year, or a good decade, and they're still making hundreds of millions of dollars," Matthews said. "I think we ought to say, if we're going to be in a bailout situation...stop getting paid like capitalists. You didn't do it," he added, suggesting a $400,000/year cap on their salaries (equivalent to what the President makes).

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Comments

[AlexFTW]

I don't get people who give Matthews such hell for being "biased". I mean, do you give Olbermann and Maddow the same treatment? I really think it's just about a popularity contest for you people. Who you personally like better. Give the guy a break already.

[roshni]

i think Mathews means well and is being honest about how inspiring Obama has been to him. He's not as sarcastic as KO or RM (both of whom I like also) - he is not ashamed to communicate that he feels it's a historic moment in time.

[ohiomark]

Apparently, he is the last person in the country to realize how biased he is.

I wonder if he knows that MSNBC was the main headquarters of the Obama campaign?

[JohnShank]

LOL

[BreakfastatTiffanys1]

You think that was funny? Pahlease

Obama campaign headquarters were all over the battleground states. That's why he won.

OOPS!

[BreakfastatTiffanys1]

Stop hating.

[ohiomark]

Pointing out the obvious is not hating. I guess the truth hurts.

[unity08]

While there was bias, especially at the end of the campaign, it was nothing compared to the hateful rhetoric spoken by the likes of Sean Hannity, Greta Von S, Bill O, and over at Fox and Friends.
MSNBC programming probably served as a small counter balance in the early evening and more so later in the night. I think the day time shows were fairly impartial.

[tomfl78]

jpshotwheels Republican Idealogy has destroyed this Country with fear and hate NOT TRUE

[tomfl78]

matthews did not vote for President Bush

[tomfl78]

512 Obama Voters 11/13/08-11/15/08 MOE +/- 4.4 points

97.1% High School Graduate or higher, 55% College Graduates

Results to 12 simple Multiple Choice Questions

57.4% could NOT correctly say which party controls congress (50/50 shot just by guessing)

71.8% could NOT correctly say Joe Biden quit a previous campaign because of plagiarism (25% chance by guessing)

82.6% could NOT correctly say that Barack Obama won his first election by getting opponents kicked off the ballot (25% chance by guessing)

88.4% could NOT correctly say that Obama said his policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry and make energy rates skyrocket (25% chance by guessing)

56.1% could NOT correctly say Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground (25% chance by guessing).

And yet.....

Only 13.7% failed to identify Sarah Palin as the person on which their party spent $150,000 in clothes

Only 6.2% failed to identify Palin as the one with a pregnant teenage daughter

And 86.9 % thought that Palin said that she could see Russia from her "house," even though that was Tina Fey who said that!!

Only 2.4% got at least 11 correct.

Only .5% got all of them correct. (And we "gave" one answer that was technically not Palin, but actually Tina Fey)

[ohiomark]

More proof that the average voter doesn't pay attention to issues. They only heard the "bumper sticker" slogans and platitudes that the Obama campaign was full of. I wonder how many people voted for Obama because he was younger and better looking? It worked for Clinton in 1992.

[Yalegirl03]

I think you got that backwards, Mark. It is more proof that voters paid attention to the issues like healthcare, the economy, the war and education and that they paid less attention to the petty barbs, mud slinging, and fear mongering of the desperate and vision-less McCain campaign.

Your dude lost. Get over it and stop wasting your time on HuffPo spreading your bitterness.

[WowJones]

Wonder if you voted for Bush, twice.

[WowJones]

Are you still posting that loaded dum@a@aed poll. There is a whole story behind Obama's first run. I won't bore you Google Alice Palmer. It is a common practice in these parts to challenge the nominating petitions of a rival who jumped in a campaign late, common.

Obama started his campaign by going to the homes of over twenty Hyde Park residents, Ayers was one.

I could go on, but a real test would be to apply similar questions to supporters of McCain or Palin, most of whom are the same Dum.fuks who voted for Bush twice.

[LaFilleEnRose]

I think Chris has taken way too many hits for his being impressed with Obama. Remember Chris is a political speech writer from way back. Being one, and hearing some of Obama's greatest hits, com'on he's only human. Writers are affected by other good writers. And yes, even a tingle will run up one's leg at hearing soaring rhetoric..if that's one's bent.

[JohnShank]

See, that's my problem with Matthews. It's supposed to a chill running down the spine. Not a tingle running up a leg. Unless we are talking about Jennifer Esposito, then it's tingle city... ;D

[tomfl78]

you good old friend tim russert would be ashamed of you Chris

[tomfl78]

chris just wishes his rating could be like Bill O

[JohnShank]

Bill O wishes he could get his legs to tingle with a falafel...

[IslandGyal]

Chris Matthews is a true Independent. He worked for Tip O'Neil a Democrat. He voted for Boooosh in 2004 and Micheal Steele (R) in 2006.

[WowJones]

Doubt if he voted for Bush, since he is a dyed-in-the wool Dem. Don't know how he could have voted for Steele, since he doesn't reside in Maryland.

[MediaTenor]

It's pretty safe to say, that the role of the media for this election will be a subject of a lot of scrutiny in the next months and even years. If you're interested, click here for some results of the research institute Media Tenor concerning the coverage in the days before the election. http://www.mediatenor.com/newsletters.php?id_news=248

[thirteenvirtues]

Are people really ragging on Chris for being excited and supporting a capable and inspiring leader like Obama? Before he is a journalist, he is an American citizen. He has every right to be proud of his nation.

[contemporarymom]

Of course he can. He can be as giddy as he wants but when the camera is on, and your to question both sides of an issue as he is to do, then the people begin to question his slant. That results in ratings and the big dollar sign if folks begin to question his fairness or objectivity they lose viewers, which means ratings.

Why is this so hard for some here to understand? No one is blaming Chris as an individual on being ga-ga over obama but he isn't getting paid to show his mancrush.

[JohnShank]

Exactly. If Matthews told the American people that he would look at both sides of the presidential campaign, then he needs to do so dispassionately. His love ,as a citizen, for Obama is admirable, but not if it compromises his on-air integrity, which it did.

[jtmoney]

i was hoping he would talk about that "excited feeling" Obama gives him up his leg again...

[tallcoolone47]

Olberman, Matthews and Maddow are not journalists they are entertainers, unfortunatley a good portion of their audience still thinks its the news. But hey who cares it is what it is, the death of journalism in this country.

[mirage2008]

Oh shutup.

[JohnShank]

Good, logical argument. What was it again? Oh yeah, "Oh ----- shut--up..."

[jpshotwheels]

Chris Matthews has a good heart, he has a job to do, that he might not always like, but he does have a good heart. I agree with him, we have to make these jobs available for people coming out of high school again. Good factory jobs, where we take pride again in what we make again, quality, not this cheap crap we get from China. Not everyone is cut out for college, they may not always have the means, but people should have good manufacturing jobs avaiilable to them if needed.

When I was 21 years old, I made car batteries, made good money, a single mother, with a good salary, good benefits. Yes, I should have gone to college but circumstances didn't allow that, but I could still support my son. Went on to get some vocational training and ended up in a desk job, one of the best Travel Agents you could find, loved it, at least there were opportunites to make a good living without having to go to college.

This Republican Idealogy has destroyed this Country with fear and hate? Democrats too with NAFTA. Deregulation, both Democrats and Republicans are guilty here. What were they thinking when factories were being sold overseas? What were they thinking when Walmart was given the golden key to destroy manufacturing in this Country? There is blame to go around on both parties and if you don't admit that your only fooling yourself.

[concernvoter]

Chris Matthews changed his views after Obama's Infomercial. Chris was speaking against Obama approximately thirty minutes to an hour before Obama came on. After Obama's presentation Chris was on Countdown Keith O. and stated that he was amaze. Every since that day Chris have been speaking positive about Obama. President elect-Obama has not been sworn in office yet and everybody is trying to put blame on him about Bush's mess up.