Matthews Mocks Mention of Tightening Polls

Matthews Mocks Mention of Tightening Polls

By Mark Finkelstein (Bio | Archive)
October 29, 2008 - 07:20 ET

If Obama wins on Tuesday night, Chris Matthews's mocking this morning of the notion that the polls are tightening will be soon forgotten. But if McCain pulls off the upset, Matthews's smirking triumphalism will take its place in the halls of journalistic hubris near the famous photo of Harry Truman holding up the Dewey Defeats Truman front page.

Just before Matthews came on, Andrea Mitchell ended her set-up segment by mentioning that the McCain campaign had released internal polls showing the race tied in the battleground states. When Meredith Vieira opened the Matthews interview by asking him to comment, the Hardball host went into full mock mode.

MEREDITH VIEIRA: Let's talk of those internal polls that the McCain camp is putting out that say that this race is much closer than being predicted by the independent polls. Is it possible that—you're smirking—is it possible the independent polls are wrong?

CHRIS MATTHEWS: I'm laughing.

VIEIRA: They've been wrong before.

MATTHEWS: No, I think the polls are right, I think they're right. There are very close elections in places like North Carolina and Indiana, yeah. If you call those battleground states, it's a close election. If you call Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado, New Mexico, Iowa—those battleground states—well, they're all for Obama.

So the states that Obama needs to win to win about a 340-vote electoral victory, he's in good shape on. Yes, if he goes beyond that, it will take some victories in those really close states like North Carolina and Indiana.

Duly noted.

Question: Had Matthews had seen Drudge before he went on the air?

—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.

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Chris Matthews Vote

October 29, 2008 - 07:30 ET by P.J. Gladnick

Gee. I wonder who Chris Matthews is going to vote for. I mean he plays it so even-handed that one has absolutely no clue as to whom Matthews secretly supports.

Matthews is part of the

October 29, 2008 - 14:19 ET by dark_ds

Matthews is part of the Main Vein Media

truth

October 29, 2008 - 07:44 ET by sawing batta

when Democrats tell people what they actually believe (biden: oops, i let slip the $150,000 number, raise capital gains taxes - not because it raises revenue for the govt, but because it's 'fair', the list goes on, and on...) Americans dont like it.

They have to couch their policies in populism: Look at all the free stuff you get if you vote for me....and only that guy in a different zip code gets hit with the bill. (that's "fair")

Americans are waking up to obama's very liberal policies...despite the best efforts of Chris and his manhattan cronies in the media to laugh it off.

Chris, you should be ashamed of your coverage of this campaign. not even close to balanced.

After looking at the polls,

October 29, 2008 - 07:52 ET by Gedge

After looking at the polls, and the way the media has supported BHO. The tingle up his leg is feeling like gold. Nov 5 he will have a serious limp from that golden leg turning into lead. Its amazing he put all his eggs in one basket, and can call himself a journalist.

vrwc13's After The Election Poll...

October 29, 2008 - 08:31 ET by vrwc13

Obama lost because:

the USA is racist
the Repubicans cheated more than the Dems
the VRWC is alive and well and did this to us
the truth that money can't buy everything
the MSM wasn't influential enough
all of the above

btw: don't miss this on the "black" vote:

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/kerry-picket/2008/10/28/ny-daily-news-hamill-implies-democrats-defecting-mccain-are-racist#comment-761811

Ahhh, The Classics

October 29, 2008 - 13:57 ET by stratman

Don't forget that old chestnut - Karl Rove!

Karl Rove!

October 29, 2008 - 14:18 ET by vrwc13

...kind of think he rolls up into #3 the VRWC!

another

October 29, 2008 - 14:01 ET by LionKing

Never underestimate the Clintons

If conservatives are RIGHT, then liberals must be WRONG.

"Never underestimate the Clintons"

October 29, 2008 - 14:17 ET by vrwc13

...a woman scorned?

And I suppose Biden could be covertly involved too? Or is he just being himself?

Discipline

October 29, 2008 - 08:58 ET by KC Mulville

I'm probably mistaken, but my reading of these polls is that when McCain tries to do anything, his numbers go down. To be blunt, when McCain gives the media something to talk about, he provokes bad coverage, and his numbers drop.

Look at the poll numbers. Obama doesn't move very much. He stays within that 51-49 range consistently. That's only two points. The movement is all about McCain.
But when the media has nothing to do, Obama becomes the focus, and the more voters get a look at Obama, the less they like him. That "redistribute the wealth" thing seems to have hurt Obama badly. Keep the focus on Obama.

My advice to McCain would be very simple. Do nothing. Obama will win it for you, with a huge assist from Angry and Over-sensitive Joe Biden. Someone should tell the Maverick to keep the stick steady and not over-fly the plane.

The Head Tank Dweller?

October 29, 2008 - 09:09 ET by SickofLibs

Doesn't NBC EVER learn? Who the hell is making decisions over there?

After all the flak this hack has taken, even from his own associates, why the hell do they have him leading off on the Today Show?

Was there a 0.0001% chance he was going to act other than the way he did? If I ever wanted to smack a smirk off somebody's face, that would have been the pinnacle. Mitchell is bad enough, but c'mon already.

Please God, smite these a-holes on Nov. 4!

S.O.L., As soon

October 29, 2008 - 09:23 ET by marpel

S.O.L.,

As soon as Matthews came on Morning Joe, I changed the channel. I did not want to get upset today so early. As it was there was some jack-ass liberal op-ed writer from the Washington Post (I think) on there. I did not catch his name, nor did I care to catch it. He was so in the tank for Obama that it oozed out of his pores....and of course he was rude in his opinions. It was enough for me. I don't think Joe fought him strong enough.

I am saying a daily Novena that McCain wins, but whatever the outcome, I just want this crap to be over with...

I hope Matthews has his meds

October 29, 2008 - 09:53 ET by HockeyKid

I hope Matthews has his meds ready for the "Dewey Wins" moment on Lardball. I think his leg's going to explode.

Do any of you remember when

October 29, 2008 - 10:12 ET by Seashell

Do any of you remember when Al Gore finally gave his speech conceding the election to Bush? I thought Chrissy was going to cry. In fact, I am pretty sure he had a tear in his eye. Can you imagine the astonished look on his face and the blubbering to ensue if McCain wins? Priceless!!! Must see TV!!

I dont completely understand

October 29, 2008 - 10:15 ET by jcrapes4

I dont completely understand the polling. Which poll is more accurate? For instance the drudge report states the poll was of "traditional voters". Are polls of traditional voters more accurate than likely or registered voters?

Gallup is now using multiple models

October 29, 2008 - 16:23 ET by Josh SN

And there is no way to know, today, whether including only "traditional voters" will yield a better result. In previous elections the "likely" voter model was more accurate than the "registered" voter model.

However, none of this matters. Gallup has been leaning McCain all year, and even if you visit the most right wing of the poll aggregators (that I know of) you can see Obama is +5.9.

No better way......

October 29, 2008 - 10:28 ET by richard

...to say it, only to acknowledge that Chris Matthews is now, and has been forever, a gigantic douche bag.

My List

October 29, 2008 - 10:45 ET by HoosierEm

I have a mental list of media people who I just cannot listen to any longer, especially after I have eaten. It's a tie between Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, and Rachel Maddow.

Democrats never met a tax dollar they didn't like.

Over! Over! Over!

October 29, 2008 - 12:09 ET by Texndoc

Olbermann and Maddow have never been thought of as serious political journalists. Chris Matthews once was. His Obama-man-love has already cost him "Meet the Press" and you can guarantee that if McCain wins, Matthews career is pretty much ov-ah except for the lunatic MSNBC. You won't see him on the Today Show anymore.

Heard early this morning

October 29, 2008 - 14:55 ET by ckc1227

Heard early this morning that polling shows Obama is exactly where Gore was at this time in 2000. We know how that one turned out. Let's hope for a repeat, the victory part anyway.

Obama's Economic plan: more taxes, more spending, more regulation. Prosperity here we come.

The big loser...

October 29, 2008 - 15:14 ET by Graig36

I think Matthews has it clinched that regardless of who wins this election, he will emerge as the biggest loser of all. Himself, Olberman & Maddow have established themselves as the three stooges.... laughing stock of journalistic integrity...

Matthews is Truly Awful

October 29, 2008 - 16:26 ET by Josh SN

The only thing he has to his credit is that there no television journalist in America who did more to question the administrations claims about WMD before we went into Iraq. Did he do enough? Obviously not. But unlike most television stations, he was not in the tank of the Bush administration.

I wish he'd go away. It is definitely not "hard" journalism on "hard" ball.