Hardball Turns Into DNC-TV

Chris Matthews, presumably away on vacation, handed the reigns of MSNBC's Hardball to Democratic activist Reverend Al Sharpton. The first two guests, in the first half-hour, of the Sharpton hosted July 2 episode, were Democrats - Howard Dean and Terry McAuliffe. The hot topic of the discussion with Dean was about how the John McCain campaign and the GOP, overall, were suffering in their fundraising efforts. The following "hardball" segment, with McAuliffe, featured the Hillary Clinton campaign chairman crowing about her fundraising success.

After the McAuliffe segment, Sharpton, actually interviewed a Republican. Predictably, Sharpton's questions to presidential candidate, Representative Duncan Hunter, were tougher than the ones to his Democratic colleagues. Following the Hunter segment, Sharpton quickly returned to his Democratic friends, as he invited on Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Chris Dodd.

In the "Hardball Debate" segment, Sharpton asked his guests if the Supreme Court has moved "too far to the right." Sharpton was joined, in the discussion, by a conservative, the American Spectator's R. Emmett Tyrrell and, yet another Democrat, strategist Jenny Backus. That left the final guest tally, including Sharpton, at five liberals to just two conservatives.