Chris Matthews Shocker: Bush Better Than Obama At Conveying Message
Chris Matthews must be seriously concerned about Barack Obama's reelection chances.
On the syndicated program bearing his name this weekend, the man who used to get a thrill up his leg whenever a certain junior senator from Illinois spoke said that George W. Bush did a better job of using television to convey his message than the current White House resident has (video follows with transcript and commentary):
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: I want to pose this again, the Reagan standard. Maybe it's too high a standard. Every cab driver, if you will, in D.C. may not vote for Ronald Reagan, but everyone knew where he stood. “I want to beat the Soviets in the Cold War, I want to reduce the size of government, I want to cut taxes.” Does everybody know in shorthand after all of this television exposure what Obama’s for?
MAJOR GARRETT, NATIONAL JOURNAL: Do they know the 3x5 card Barack Obama as a president? No, they don't. But let's not romanticize Reagan. You go back and look at some of those press conferences. He had some horrific presidential press conference performances. He was not [unintelligible].
MATTHEWS: Okay, Clinton?
JOE KLEIN, TIME MAGAZINE: And they got worse as it went on.
GARRETT: He was a great communicator, but he had fumbles. He dropped the ball.
MATTHEWS: Okay, I’ll lower the bar all the way. George Bush took this country to war, not an ingenious presidency there. He was able to use the tube to convince this country hat to go to war. I would say that’s more successful than Obama’s been.
What makes Matthews' point even more amazing is that no president has probably ever had as much assistance from the media in conveying his message as Obama.
If the people don't understand what it is, that means it just flat doesn't make sense to them.
Unfortunately, Matthews and his panel didn't address that for such an examination would have required them to come to grips with why they not only agree with but also support policies the public doesn't even get.
Methinks that would have been far too close to home.
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Comments
Don't be too pleased....
Submitted by motherbelt on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 3:15pm.
I'm sure that eventually Chrissie will come to the conclusion that it's because TV is a product of the ignorant masses and Obama just can't get down to that level, whereas Bush was right at home.
Obama has had more screen time than any President in history.
Submitted by drsamherman on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 3:23pm.
The problem is not that he can't get the message out. The problem is that the message is hopeless, changeless and brainless and no one wants to hear a POTUS who can only complain, whine and blame others for his own incompetence.
Doc Sam
Submitted by Blonde on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 3:39pm.
Check your pm.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
Just did.
Submitted by drsamherman on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 7:16pm.
Responded.
Just one word: WOW.
Show everybody, Blonde...
Submitted by Jer on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 7:19pm.
I hate reading about secret, juicy PMs.
Jer
Yeah, it's easy to blame
Submitted by rbosque on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 3:46pm.
Yeah, it's easy to blame Obama's inablity to convey his message. The problem is that HE DID. Not all of us are mindless socialist robots Matthews, not all of us want to swallow his tripe.
Pop used to tell us...
Submitted by North Wind on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 3:53pm.
"it's easier to tell the truth then have to remeber every lie you told..."
Pop used to tell us...
Submitted by North Wind on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 3:54pm.
"it's easier to tell the truth then have to remember every lie you told..."
Does everybody know in shorthand after all of this television
Submitted by upcountrywater on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 4:06pm.
exposure what Obama’s for?
Photo, bow to the world...
Oh can't find it...
He dropped something...
Chris, the message is Loud and Clear.
You Didn't Build That.
let me be clear
Submitted by Franksam on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 4:22pm.
Small words and short sentences do not hide meaning well. Even my liberal friends (an oxymoron, I know) admit that by the time Obama has reached the end of a sentence, they've misplaced the beginning. They always knew what W meant, even if they didn't like it.
The CPU in the perisylvian
Submitted by celator on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 6:01pm.
The CPU in the perisylvian area of Obama's brain is outdated (it's the old model TK381-B) and his handlers have been waiting for the right time to replace it with the new TK381-C. They inserted the other TKs through the huge triangular insertion port on the right side of his head (you'll see the port near his right ear when the light is just right). His bizarre speech patterns should clear up after that.
The reason that Obama has
Submitted by ThePickle on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 4:25pm.
The reason that Obama has such trouble conveying his "message" is that it difficult to make the case that his socialistic policies and executive power grabs are something "necessary" or "good for everyone" rather than what they really are; his attempt to forge yet another Socialist Dictatorship with himself cast in the role of Supreme Leader.
Remember this is the guy that admires Castro and Chavez and thinks that the Constitution, the document that protects the right of citizens, is to "restrictive", not on the citizens for whom it was written, but on the Federal Government.
"MATTHEWS: Okay, I’ll lower
Submitted by helomech on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 5:29pm.
"MATTHEWS: Okay, I’ll lower the bar all the way. George Bush took this country to war, not an ingenious presidency there. He was able to use the tube to convince this country hat to go to war. I would say that’s more successful than Obama’s been..."
What the f is up with this guy? "He took this country to war..." These dirtbags known as Islamo-fascists fundamentalist dicktards, brought the war to us. But it is amusing to see someone like Matthews say outloud that Reagan said what he meant and followed through with it. Which is the opposite of the current dirtbag in office.............
Somebody must have slipped Chirssy his meds
Submitted by kch50428 on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 6:06pm.
Or the powers that be told him to act a bit sane once in a while.
Communication is easy ...
Submitted by metaphorsbwithu on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 8:32pm.
if you're communicating the truth.
Actually, the real reason Obama can't communicate intelligently is because, like all liberals, they CAN'T say what they really think and mean and want to do because they must hide that from the majority of people listening to them.
In the campaign, Obama was able to give generic and vague responses to issues so that anyone listening could draw what he or she wanted to from what they heard.
In the face of REALITY, this doesn't work ... as the media well know since they censor, scrub, slant and interpret facts and events to advance their own agenda and people are staying away from them in droves.
Well, metaphorsbwithu...there's also that pesky "terms of use"
Submitted by Jer on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 10:46pm.
"...like all liberals, they CAN'T say what they really think and mean and want to do because they must hide that from the majority of people listening to them...."
thing that's pretty strictly enforced against NB libs. :-)
Jer
and pretty much anything else
Submitted by wizardjr on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 9:05pm.
.