Chris Matthews: Republicans 'Don't Have a Thrill Up Their Leg' for Mitt Romney

By Noel Sheppard | October 23, 2011 | 12:04

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Chris Matthews this weekend made a somewhat self-deprecating comment about presidential candidate Mitt Romney telling the guests on the syndicated program bearing his name that Republicans "don't have a thrill up their leg about this guy."

After some laughter, they agreed (video follows with transcript and commentary):

CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST. This week's Associated Press poll has Romney at his highest so far: thirty percent. But you see there Herman Cain and Rick Perry still have a total 39 percent. Mike, it looks like they don't have a thrill up their leg about this guy. They're not excited about this guy, nobody is on the Right. But he looks like he's creeping up to it seems inevitability.

MIKE DUFFY, TIME: This may be the one year when likability just doesn't matter. With housing starts slowing down, with unemployment still above 9 percent and likely to remain there. Consumer confidence is worse than it was when Reagan took on Carter in 1980. With those kind of forces in place, likability really doesn’t have anything to do with how the Republican Party is feeling. They'll just, they’re going to go with the guy, the guy they got.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN: You know, I compare him to the guy your parents always tried to fix you up with, and at first you said, “No, no, no, no,” but then after you dated for a while, you're, like, “That guy looks pretty good." So, I think that’s the way Republicans are feeling.

MATTHEWS: So it's more about his prospects than your love affair with him?

BORGER: Well, probably in the case of Romney.

MATTHEWS: Well, this is very dull. This is dull politics.

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For those possibly missing the joke, Matthews in February 2008 talked about how then candidate Barack Obama's speeches gave him a thrill up his leg.

Wouldn't it be interesting if this becomes a common way for pundits to quantify support for a candidate?

As for this being "dull politics," maybe emotions like being thrilled were indeed part of the problem in 2008 and that's why the nation ended up with a totally unqualified president way over his head.

If folks would use their brains rather than their hearts to gauge competence in their candidates, we might have a more respected Congress and executive branch.

I'm just saying.

As for Matthews et al's views on Romney, this is still only October with the first primaries and caucuses still ahead of us. It therefore could be far too soon to assess what Republicans do or don't love.

Unfortunately, this "no thrill" meme is likely going to be the order of the day with the media no matter who wins the nomination.

For people like Matthews, the goal will be to characterize Obama's opponent whoever it ends up being as not the Republicans' first choice thereby diminishing his candidacy.

This kind of talk merely lays the groundwork.

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Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Click here to follow Noel Sheppard on Twitter.

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Comments

The deranged buffoon

Submitted by zenman1661 on Sun, 10/23/2011 - 1:57pm.

does have a point. If Romney gets the nomination, it will be by default.

This is why the media wants

Submitted by MrSnuggles on Sun, 10/23/2011 - 12:19pm.

This is why the media wants Romney and why they havent laid a finger on him yet.

An Associated Press poll....?

Submitted by NeoKong on Sun, 10/23/2011 - 12:42pm.

Pfffftt....
Oh sure...that's credible.

Follow me on Twitter

Matthews is the perfect representative of liberal blather!

Submitted by chazzy-kc on Sun, 10/23/2011 - 12:45pm.

He is irrationally emotional about issues requiring rational cognitive thinking.....something that he appears to be incapable of. He has become a caricature of his own persona.

As a drunken diabetic ....

Submitted by jmigyanka@msn.com on Sun, 10/23/2011 - 2:38pm.

...he is slowly losing it.

JMigyanka

(A)bsolutley (P)athetic poll numbers..... or wishcasting?

Submitted by wizardjr on Sun, 10/23/2011 - 12:45pm.

So AP interviews a couple thousand people then throws out all but fity registered Republicans and then presents the "results". As if anything AP publishes is actual objective truth... except by accident of course.

Chris& his electile dysfunction

Submitted by Cool Arrow on Sun, 10/23/2011 - 2:04pm.

That guy really does put politics into terms only he and Little Willie understand.

Depends on which republicans

Submitted by Reaver on Sun, 10/23/2011 - 2:13pm.

Depends on which republicans you mean, the leadership wants to cancel the primary and run Romney by acclimation. It’s the base that says can’t we do better than the guy who lost to McCain last time?

“Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.” ~ William F. Buckley, Jr.

Your point is

Submitted by DC2280 on Sun, 10/23/2011 - 11:25pm.

well taken, but who is the republican other then Rommey who has a ghost of a chance of winning a national election ?

Note to Chris Matthews -

Submitted by Captain Repus on Sun, 10/23/2011 - 2:23pm.

Note to Chris Matthews - Republican men don't get thrills up their legs over other men (other than maybe David Brooks) - so Chris, take your collection of Time magazines with Barry on the cover back to the bathroom and work up a lather.

Did you know Doug has Mesothelioma? We'll deal with the government. You have enough to worry about.

In all fairness

Submitted by StarAZ on Sun, 10/23/2011 - 2:56pm.

I think Brooks was swooning of the pants crease, not the er...contents.

REPUBLICANS AND ROMNEY

Submitted by NVRAT on Sun, 10/23/2011 - 2:28pm.

You might be right Little Chrissie. But, we will vote for him if he makes the ballot. Anything to get rid of the Master Muslim and destroyer if the US. Maybe we can talk Comcast in to getting rid of you and all your little Pecker Puffer friends.

NVRAT

Our goal

Submitted by StarAZ on Sun, 10/23/2011 - 2:55pm.

Our objective is to stop the slide of this country--not find a date.

anyone but Obama

Submitted by TerryWest on Sun, 10/23/2011 - 4:49pm.

Come election day it may well be a choice between the lack of thrill up our legs or 4 more years of the chill down our spines.

Obama losing will be a thrilling jump start for the econemy, I'll take my chances on a winner by default over a defaulting failure anyday.

The roughly 1/4 section of

Submitted by Ashrak on Sun, 10/23/2011 - 5:32pm.

The roughly 1/4 section of "support" Romney has had, where he has been stuck, demonstrates or all to see that the clear MINORITY of the Republican Party is "party faithful", is "Establishment" is, well "progressive".

This is the same bunch who tells the rest of us that WE will "split the vote" if we do not vote the way they tell us to. When it comes down to it, they offer much the same kind of projection that Democrats offer daily.

It is time that section of the party decide to vote with Conservatives, before the are left with a party, a dysfunctional party, that is effectively dead.

On second thought, I hope they keep bullying the majority of voters who have carried them this far. Maybe then the Establishment parties will both implode, and Americans can remove the barrier that exists between us and out government. The barrier know as organized political faction - which George Washington warned us all to turn away from.

That an individual right exists requires that some policy positions be removed from the table of debate.

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