Chris Matthews Advances 'No Blood For Oil' Agenda in GOP Debate

Chris Matthews couldn't help himself during the GOP debate in Michigan, as he returned to his "No blood for oil," rant, when he essentially asked Republican candidates if they thought the U.S. would have invaded Iraq if it didn't need the oil. On CNBC's live coverage of Tuesday's Republican debate the "Hardball" host asked Ron Paul the following:

"Congressman Paul would you, would we have gone to war in Iraq if we weren't so dependent on Middle East oil?"

Matthews then repeated that same question to Sam Brownback:

"Do you believe that, Senator Brownback, that we would've gone to war in Iraq if we weren't so dependent on Middle East oil?"

For his part, Matthews' co-moderator, CNBC Washington bureau chief, John Harwood, went after Big Oil when he asked John McCain the following question:

"Senator McCain, ExxonMobil, Chevron and Conoco-Phillips this past year earned a combined $72 billion in profits. Is that too much? Should the oil industry pay higher taxes or should it be required to use some of those profits to help solve our energy problems?"