"Does Bill Clinton want his wife to win this thing?" Chris Matthews teased as he opened the December 17 "Hardball." After all, the former president, Matthews added later, was full of "chutzpah" and "a total card shark" in his December 14 interview with Charlie Rose.
Clinton told Rose essentially that Barack Obama should take a page from his decision not to run for president in 1988. The former president told Rose he concluded an '88 run was unwise due to his lack of political experience. Neither Matthews, nor guests Howard Fineman of Newsweek and Linda Douglass of National Journal were buying it.
Video (1:25): Windows Media (2.66 MB) and MP3 audio (664 kB).
Here's the transcript:
LINDA DOUGLASS, National Journal: One of the things he said on that program [the December 14 "Charlie Rose"] that was really interesting was when he was going after Barack Obama's experience saying, "Look, this guy's only barely been in the Senate. You have the least experienced person ever. I myself, Bill Clinton, didn't run in 1988 because I decided I wasn't ready." Well, remember, in 1988 what really happened was, yes, he did have a young daughter, but he also was confronted by accusations about womanizing -
CHRIS MATTHEWS, "Hardball" host: He had his own person down there do the bimbo eruption check and discovered there were just too many bimbos to stop from erupting, so he decided not to run. And now to spin this around, Howard, and say "this is a [sic] object lesson from my wife." Isn't there any limit to the decency factor here?
HOWARD FINEMAN, Newsweek: You have to be born without the gene that produces the emotion of shame in the human soul, and that's Bill Clinton.
MATTHEWS: Did they go to the Jerry Lewis school of chutzpah here? I mean, where do you learn not to be embarrassed by your own paper trail?
FINEMAN: He got out the phrase that they wanted to get out which is voting for Barack Obama is a roll of the dice.
MATTHEWS: Right. They wanted that out.
FINEMAN: That's what they want.
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters
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Comments Policy
How one can equate being
December 17, 2007 - 20:04 ET by BlazerHow one can equate being a "card shark" with attacking someone is beyond me, I guess only His-Salivaness know's.
Chris does realize that no one actually watches Charlie Rose doesn't he? I mean Charlie's been puttin' me to sleep with his monotonous drone since 91'.
He's better than having the dryer or the dishwasher on.
"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. "
- Ben Kenobi on Liberals, and the MSM.
""Does Bill Clinton want
December 17, 2007 - 20:18 ET by Khyris""Does Bill Clinton want his wife to win this thing?" Bill Clinton teased as he opened the December 17 "Hardball.""
I think you meant Chris Matthews, and not Bill referring to himself in the third person.
I'm glad I'm not the only
December 17, 2007 - 20:35 ET by motherbeltI'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that odd. I PM'd Ken about it.
Only Bob Dole talked about
December 17, 2007 - 20:40 ET by Chris NormanOnly Bob Dole talked about Bob Dole in the third person. :)
LOL... good memory my
December 17, 2007 - 20:53 ET by Jack BauerLOL... good memory my man!
Good memory!
December 17, 2007 - 20:56 ET by motherbeltmotherbelt remembers that!
and Nixon.
December 17, 2007 - 22:53 ET by Jerand Nixon.
Jer
BTW, when asked during his campaign why he often spoke in the third person, the quick-witted Dole quipped "always good to get the name out there as much as possible".
corrected
December 17, 2007 - 22:51 ET by Ken ShepherdSorry, long day, I suppose.
Ken, the staff here does an
December 18, 2007 - 10:32 ET by KarmaKen, the staff here does an excellent job on this site. However, an over-extended staff is not conducive to good performance and security. Timely breaks are warranted, and if you would just give me a set of "keys" for this place, I will volunteer to be a firm and sometimes fair "corrections" officer. Thank you in advance for putting your trust in me.
Breaking News Reid is
December 17, 2007 - 20:48 ET by Right2thePointBreaking News
Reid is pulling the FISA bill till next year with the realization it
was going to take up to much time with a number of other bills that
HAVE to get done before the Xmas recess
The more things change the more they stay the same!
December 17, 2007 - 21:10 ET by PawpawN'LINDA DOUGLASS, National Journal: One of the things he said on that program [the December 14 "Charlie Rose"] that was really interesting was when he was going after Barack Obama's experience saying, "Look, this guy's only barely been in the Senate. You have the least experienced person ever. I myself, Bill Clinton, didn't run in 1988 because I decided I wasn't ready." Well, remember, in 1988 what really happened was, yes, he did have a young daughter, but he also was confronted by accusations about womanizing '- GUESS SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE!! How come his are always accusations about womanizing!! For some reason FREE SPEECH taken away from all these women!
Definition
December 17, 2007 - 22:14 ET by ThisnThat"You have to be born without the gene that produces the emotion of shame in the human soul, and that's Bill Clinton".
Wrong -- this describes Democrats in general. None of them have shame. They all believe that lower-class Americans (i.e., everybody but them, the elites) not only don't have memory of past events, we're all so gratefull for small bones thrown at us that we'll lick their boots forever and give thanks for the small, Government-fundend benefits they droll out "for free". That's why every last one of them flip-flop, because the only important thing to them is to pander to today's audience, and get the MSM to conveniently forget all past sins and remarks they have made to the contrary.
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Talking about being a "card
December 18, 2007 - 07:00 ET by motherbeltTalking about being a "card shark." Mr. former President says the first thing his wife will do as President is send him and former President Bush 41 abroad as ambassadors, to let the world know America is open for business again....
I don't know about you, but I think Mr. Clinton ought to refrain from using the words "open for business" in regard to the government. But I'm sure the irony is lost on him.