MSNBC’s Chris Matthews appeared as a panelist on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday and acted as an unofficial campaign strategist for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Speaking in response to Chuck Todd, Matthews argued that Hillary “has to be herself. And this whole thing about positioning is why people hate politicians. If Hillary Clinton is a lefty, I didn't know it, okay. She’s not a lefty. She is a centrist politician, a Democratic, a mainstream Democrat.”
Matthews’ advise for Clinton came after Chuck Todd noted how “Santorum pulled Romney to the right, okay, during the primaries and made it harder to pivot him to the center. Does Bernie Sanders do that to Hillary? Pull her too far to the left and make it harder for her to pivot back to the general?"
The Hardball host advised Hillary to “go with the general election” before he acknowledged that he’s “not her strategist” before he eagerly insisted “I would say go for the big win. Win with 54%, 55% because then you have a shot of bringing the House in.” Matthews continued to tout Hillary’s campaign strategy and even suggested that Democrats could even win the House in 2016:
But possibly bring in the House. If she walks into a Senate that is still Republican and a House that is heavily Republican, she will get nothing done. You’ve got to go to win and rule. And I think she can win with a center left strategy.
In recent days, Matthews has repeatedly sounded like a Hillary surrogate and championed her candidacy. On May 21, the Hardball host rushed to defend her from the e-mail controversy when he argued that like Clinton, FDR was “secretive” and was the best president of the 20th century. A few days later, Matthews again gushed over Hillary after she joked about dying her hair and he proclaimed her the “hair apparent"* to the White House.
See relevant transcript below.
NBC’s Meet the Press
May 31, 2015
CHUCK TODD: Chris [Matthews] I wonder, you know I had Santorum on. Santorum pulled Romney to the right, okay, during the primaries and made it harder to pivot him to the center. Does Bernie Sanders do that to Hillary? Pull her too far to the left and make it harder for her to pivot back to the general?
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Well, that’s her problem. She has to be herself. And this whole thing about positioning is why people hate politicians. If Hillary Clinton is a lefty, I didn't know it, okay. She’s not a lefty. She is a centrist politician, a Democratic, a mainstream Democrat. Most Democrats are not lefties. I think
one in three Democrats would even identify as liberal much less the new term for progressive. So I would say go with the general election. First of all, I'm not her strategist, but If I were, I would say go for the big win. Win with 54%, 55% because then you have a shot of bringing the House in. I know Amy knows more than I know.
SARA FAGAN: It’s not possible.
MATTHEWS: But possibly bring in the House. If she walks into a Senate that is still Republican and a House that is heavily Republican, she will get nothing done. You’ve got to go to win and rule. And I think she can win with a center left strategy.
*Matthews did not directly use the term "hair apparent," but it was the cheeky name for the segment on his program devoted to Hillary's speech before South Carolina Democratic women.
