Matthews on Obama's GOP Event: 'I Don`t Know Anyone Else That Could Have Done What The President Did'

It may not qualify as a tingle up the leg, but Chris Matthews gushed and fawned over President Obama's performance in front of House Republicans Friday like a teenybopper in the presence of a rock star.

During MSNBC's two hour special about the event, Matthews told co-hosts Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann, "I don`t know anyone else in the country that could have done what the president did today."

The "Hardball" host unashamedly continued, "All thrown together in this arena of a bit over an hour today showed me that we do produce probably the best candidate and best president we can in this system you can imagine in the world. And so I think our political process has taken to the top the person that ought to be there" (video embedded below the fold with transcript, h/t Story Balloon):

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Whenever you doubt - and I`m sure we all do about the effectiveness of our political process, the ability to take to the top the best people in our country and to see the long primary season, the long battle for the nomination, the long battle for the general election produces the best person.

I don`t know anyone else in the country that could have done what the president did today in simple ability terms. To be able to do what he did in terms of temperament. I don`t have it. Keith, you and me - maybe Rachel, the temperament to put up with those questions which were not really questions.

The ability to put up with adversarial remarks, the snarkiness. The ability to think through and outthink everyone of your challengers. The ability to command - that kind of information, even to the point of knowing how these wars were financed through supplemental appropriations, little of bits of knowledge he displayed tonight.

All thrown together in this arena of a bit over an hour today showed me that we do produce probably the best candidate and best president we can in this system you can imagine in the world. And so I think our political process has taken to the top the person that ought to be there. And that would be my take-away after all this today.

Good grief.

Is this really what qualifies as journalism at MSNBC today?