MSNBC’s Chris Matthews went on a Super Tuesday rant about Citizens United and Republican voter ID laws. After Chuck Todd discussed what the primary process should be in years forward, the subject was tossed to Matthews. He rambled, “One thing I do is get rid of Citizens United, completely. I really think it should be back to one person, one vote....I spent a lot of time on the air on Hardball talking against voter suppression, talking about this new Republican love of voter ID cards.”
Shifting back to the Supreme Court’s campaign finance decision, Matthews continued his free association thought: “We should encourage people to vote and we discouraging them with Citizens United, because despite the failure of political advertising this year, they do see a tremendous number of ads, even Trump was right about that.”
He concluded, “So, I would get rid of everything that depresses the vote. Negative advertising by the bushel supported by Citizens United.”
Earlier in the evening, Matthews pushed a bizarre Clinton/Kasich 2016 ticket.
A transcript is below:
MSNBC
3/15/16
11:05pm ET[On the subject of how to reform primaries.]
CHUCK TODD: I like the idea of regional, every month basically one Tuesday a month for four straight months, north, south, east, west, you can essentially break them up into four regions. Primaries only. And you do it that way and each Tuesday create — so that you make it so you're only traveling a certain amount and all that stuff.
...
CHRIS MATTHEWS: One thing I do is get rid of Citizens United, completely. I really think it should be back to one person, one vote. And for years, we lived under a rule that corporations, for example, couldn't give money to political candidates or give money without limits. I think we got to go back to something. That’s up to the courts, obviously. That would have to be decided by them. I think getting rid of caucuses wouldn't be bad. I spent a lot of time on the air on Hardball talking against voter suppression, talking about this new Republican love of voter ID cards, which they even admit in some states like Pennsylvania is aimed at a partisan advantage. I think caucuses are very complicated and they only draw a very small percentage of people to them. They're not democratic. So maybe we should cut a deal. No voter ID cards and no more caucuses. Just vote. And let the people who have always voted vote.
We should encourage people to vote and we are discouraging them with Citizens United, because despite the failure of political advertising this year, they do see a tremendous number of ads, even Trump was right about that. All you see are ads, and they're all negative. They don't help people vote. They simply depress the vote. So, I would get rid of everything that depresses the vote. Negative advertising by the bushel, supported by Citizens United. I would get rid of the caucuses and get rid of these voter ID rules and let everyone vote, or as many as possible.
