Chris Matthews Wants Gingrich in Race Long Time: 'It Will Create Mishegas for the Tea Party'

MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Monday's Hardball comically used a little known Yiddish term to bash Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich.

"I'm rooting for Newt of course to stay in this thing. It will create mishegas for the Tea Party world and a compelling political spectacle for us" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Back to HARDBALL. Now to the "Sideshow." First up: resorting to nursery rhymes. Newt Gingrich may be saying he will carry on in the Republican race until the Republican Convention this summer regardless of how he fares in tomorrow`s primary. Well, that will make for a more exciting spring and summer for us, of course, but it's certainly rattling the world of the Republican establishment.

Here's George F. Will yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THIS WEEK")

GEORGE WILL, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Time is not Newt Gingrich's friend, because the more time he has, the more he talks, and the more he talks, the more he says things, as he just did here this morning. He said, I would love to be civil, but I'm running against a maniacal liar.

Now, that's pretty strong language. I don't know if you have ever told Longfellow`s nursery rhyme to your 4-year-old daughter, Alice.

JAKE TAPPER, ABC NEWS: No, not yet.

WILL: There is a little girl, who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, she was very good, indeed, and when she was bad, she was horrid. And we're at the horrid stage with Newt Gingrich.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEWS: Well, that's the GOP establishment talking. And I'm rooting for Newt of course to stay in this thing. It will create mishegas for the Tea Party world and a compelling political spectacle for us.

For the Yiddishly-handicapped amongst you - aka goyim - mishegas means craziness or insanity.

That said, this sounded a bit meshugga coming from a Roman Catholic shmendrik that attended Holy Cross.

For those familiar with their Seinfeld, this didn't offend me as a Jew - it offended me as a writer.

So pass me a schtickle of flouride to rinse my mouth out with.

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