Chris Matthews Says Hillary's No 'Lefty,' Reports Dems Will 'Win Easily' in '08

There’s some funny items sitting around on the transcript shelf here. On Monday’s Today, Matt Lauer and Chris Matthews briefly discussed the hard-left Yearly Kos convention, and Matthews insisted that the junior Senator who adopted New York didn’t really belong to the bloggers: "Hillary’s not one of them. Hillary’s not a lefty in this campaign and she’s pro-corporation."

Sunday’s Chris Matthews Show began with Matthews wondering "Is there anything that’ll stop the Democrats?" He said no: "We put it to the Matthews Meter, 12 of our regular panelists. ‘Is the ‘08 election the Democrats’ to lose?’ It’s a wipe out. Rarely do we see this perfection. Twelve to zip. Everyone says yes, it’s the Democrats’ to lose. In other words they’re probably gonna win easily."

During the Yearly Kos chat, Matt Lauer couldn't even apply those words to the event. He stayed vague:  

Lauer: "What, what about this other idea? They're, they're out there in Chicago, the Democrats, they're meeting with bloggers, okay?"

Matthews: "Right, well."

Lauer: "You are, you are a well-seasoned political warhorse, Chris."

Matthews: "Thank you."

Lauer: "At what point in your career did you think that bloggers would carry this much clout in a presidential election?"

Matthews: "Well I'm not sure they will, in the end, but clearly they are part of the base, they make a lot of noise and anyone who's in politics has to put up with them. In fact, on the Democratic side, they're incredibly powerful because they just keep talking. They do 24-7, they never stop. And they set a very high standard, on the left, to be anti-corporate, anti-war, the whole shebang. And Hillary's not one of them. Hillary is not a lefty in this campaign and she's pro-corporation. She's pro-interest group. And she's somewhere in the middle on the war and they're not with her. And they're not gonna be with her until she wins the nomination. If she wins it, they'll be with her."

Sunday's Chris Matthews Show began with Matthews announcing: "How can the Democrats lose? Americans don’t like George Bush, they hate the war, they see the country going in the wrong direction and they want change. Is there anything that’ll stop the Democrats?"

Later, Matthews explained: "We put it to the Matthews Meter, 12 of our regular panelists. ‘Is the ‘08 election the Democrats’ to lose?’ It’s a wipe-out. Rarely do we see this perfection. Twelve to zip. Everyone says yes, it’s the Democrats’ to lose. In other words they’re probably gonna win easily."

Mark those words, and we'll see if they pan out for Matthews.