Chris Matthews: 'I Voted For Michael Steele'

Tonight on Hardball, Chris Matthews admitted to John Heilemann and Michael Scherer that he voted for newly-minted RNC Chairman Michael Steele when Steele ran for the U.S. Senate seat in Maryland against Ben Cardin in 2006.

Nothing wrong with that, of course. Steele's enjoyed broader-than-average appeal throughout his political career, and media people, like everyone else, have to vote for someone.

Still, is it not notable that Matthews just nonchalantly tossed out that he had voted for the new chairman of the Republican Party? Would he not draw a fresh round of castigation from the right if he just up and talked about voting for Obama?

Of course, right before this admission, Matthews was all but begging the GOP to cast Sarah Palin as their standard-bearer, so it's not like he didn't try to boost the Democratic party's future electoral chances.

[WATCH.]

Comments

[rodnacious]

If Chris Matthews voted for Mr. Steele as Senator from the good State of Maryland, then I have little doubt that he voted for the Ehrlich-Steele ticket that took over the State for one brief horrible term.

The biggest gaff with the Ehrlich-Steele ticket was the de-regulation (oops! there is that word again) of electricity in Maryland. The electrical bills of Marylanders rose over 100% saddling the people of Maryland with utility bills that some were pressed to pay. Next to that was the unrestricted disregard for balancing the budget - they never did.

Steele's duties within that administration were minuscule. His duties were ribbon cuttings at the openings of new Malls and such as that. I am sorry, but the Republicans have but one use for Mr. Steele, and that is -tokenism!

The more things change, the more they remain the same!

[vegas9999]

I live in Md. Horrible is what we have now.

[Decipherer]

I think Matthews increasingly is becoming bark-at-the-moon mad, as in insane. First, who cares how ie voted and second, why would he mention it? Then, there's all that weird nonsense he -- literally -- spews every night along with great gobs of saliva, and his incessant interrupting of the other gasbags he's talking to and supposedly "interviewing."

Every now and again he will surprise you with fleeting moments of lucidity, like a patient with advanced Alzheimer's will do.

Otherwise, he's a waste. Chris, it's time to give it up and move to the home. Don't forget your drool cup.

[Dwjackson]

N/S....lol !!

[sheaftosser]

IWTF? People don't vote for candidates they think might lose? That would mean I should have voted for Bush in 2004 because I thought Kerry was a big loser? Wild horses tied to my t*sticles and trying to separate them from my body would not have made me vote for little Prince Georgie.

[iwgagolf]

Chris Matthews is such a jerk , who cares if he voted for Steele. What this means is- Chris Matthews is not pro-choice and not supportive of womens rights - which is only one of the many reasons Steele lost the Maryland election.

[FdeBear]

So?

[adelacy]

Chris Matthews is a jerk! No matter what he says, he going to run for the senate. Admitting he voted for Michael Steele is his way of appealing to the Republicans.

[gisellestwocents]

Well Chris, no one's perfect. I'm still a fan anyway.

[the964kid]

Well, as an MD voter I DIDN'T vote for Steele and fortunately enough of us Dems made that choice and made sure Steele wasn't another one of Bush's congressional cronies. Mathews is a faux-republican anyway; I haven't forgotten Mathews' extremely pro Iraq War coverage at the time.

[Dwjackson]

Chris Matthews is a first-class d ick/horses a ss who's made a living out of masquerading as a juournalist but, in reality, is nothing more than a combo of Larry King and Tom Snyder who incessently interrupts people. He's essentially made himself a Washington "insider" by obnoxiously
gladhanding, a sskissing, and name dropping as much as humanly possible.

[Knowitall]

Since people don't vote for people they think are going to lose, I guess this goes to show that Chris Matthews knows about as much about politics as the average person. He really means some of those strange things he says on that show. For example, he keeps saying the Sarah Palin has a shot at being President, and everybody on the globe knows that will never happen.

[RoseHussein]

I forgive you Chris. Just don't let it happen again!

[raker]

Note to Lesley Stahl: Chris Matthews, your idea of a liberal Democrat, voted for Michael Steele, proud holder of Lee Atwater's baton.

[Dwjackson]

Great comment....just a great comment. MSM needs a housecleaning, i.e., Matthews, Stahl, et al., as much as our House and Senate

[joceeco]

Michael Steele is nothing but another "yes" man for a divisive republican party. I'd rather see Sarah Palin as leader of the republican party than that token, at least she's the real deal!

[jill2468]

Here it comes again. Anytime a black american is elected or appointed to anything in the Republican Party they are labled a "token" or an Uncle Sam. Shame on you. I am going to go against my own policy and call you an IDIOT. What makes you think that black americans can only be Dem's? There are many black amereicans that are Republicans. Many. Many out there who are against abortions. This is the kind of talk that just gets me burned up!! When Condi Rice was appointed Sec of State your type said the same thing. When Colin Powel was appointed, the same was said about him. And by the way, now that he supported Obmama, he is the bee's knees. Think about hypocrisy!!

[bennofs]

Frankly, my dear, the comparison with Colin or Condi to mr Steele is way off the mark.

[Decipherer]

Huh? If you think that Sarah Palin is "the real deal," you are sadly mistaken. She's is a clueless self-promoter who is willing to sell her state down and anyone else in her way the river for her political career.

Some might even call her a sociopath. Not being a clinical psychologist I am no qualified to make a diagnosis, but her behavior during and after the campaign might suggest that is what she is.

As for Steele, he's a GOP placeholder, little more than a Stepin Fetchit character while the "brain" trust of the party, whoever they are, decide on what comes next in the 2010 mid-term elections, and then, of course, selecting the 2012 GOP presidential nominee.

You can bet it won't be Palin!

[Dwjackson]

here here

[Dwjackson]

The "real deal"!?!?! What brand of crack have you been smoking this morning? There is simply no such thing as the "real deal" w/ the Rethuglican party. Calling and of them the "real deal" is oxymoronic

[Cinnamonape]

I pointed out in the other section about this selection of Steele that he is in a hopeless position. It's a position in which he is surrounded by a riverful of crocodiles. The GOP Chairmanship has been held by 8 different people in 9 years. Tenure is about 13 months. The longest is three years...Ken "Closet" Melman. Rumors are he was bounced because the confirmation he was gay was about to emerge about the time of the pedophilia scandal.

They tried to reach out to Hispanics with Mel Martinez. FAIL! He was eaten alive by the anti-immigration forces. The last guy had to deal with the revelation that much of the parties money had been embezzled by the Chief Financial officer over the last decade...who was skimming off contributions to "closed" campaign funds of right-wing candidates.

I give Steele a year...but he does serve a purpose...he can make racist statements about Obama and hide behind his own pigmentation.

[joceeco]

You are so right cinnamonape!!! Steele and his republican idiots will soon find that his skin color is not enough to bring African Americans into the republican party. The republicans insulted women in the same way, when they ran Palin for VP. They will never learn.

[jill2468]

A lot of the black americans who voted for Obama for President will soon learn that they made a big mistake and go back to the Republican Party. They will realize that Obama does not care much about all of the American people. You are making the assumption that all black american people want a hand out and maybe not just a hand up. BIG MISTAKE, BIG MISTAKE. There are many more black americans out there with values that run closer to the Republican agenda than you think.

[Cinnamonape]

Of course, Chris could say ~

"Okay, I did vote for Steele. But that's because I got this leaflet that said "Steele...Democrat for Senate" with his picture on it. It kind of fooled me."