The following are the elaborated transcripts of Matthews' Obama-gasms from the March 31 edition of "Hardball":
CHRIS MATTHEWS OPENING THE SHOW: Our American president and the First Lady go to Europe. Let's play "Hardball!" Leading off tonight, he is the new us! That's right, President Obama is in London tonight as the new emblem of the American people. He is us, just as to the consternation of our allies and the often cringey-ness of his country men George W. Bush was us for eight years.
...
MATTHEWS: But first here's a clip from the great movie Love Actually where the British Prime Minister, played by Hugh Grant, publicly calls out the President of the United States, played by Billy Bob Thornton, after the President bullies the British in a meeting and is caught making a move on Hugh Grant's secretary in a way that reminds most of us, of our last two presidents at their worst.
(Clip from Love Actually)
MATTHEWS: I love that scene! Anyway let's go to Chuck Todd. I hope we don't see that scene again, I think we've seen the last as Billy Bob Thornton as our president. Anyway we've got Barack Obama as our president and Michelle Obama as our First Lady. We're all immensely proud. I'm looking at a new poll from CNN tonight, Chuck Todd. It's got the wind at our back as a country actually. 86 percent of the American people love the fact that these two people are representing our country on the world stage today. What's it feel like over there in London?
...
MATTHEWS: What do you think, what do you think our guy is gonna show? What rabbit is he gonna pull out of his pocket?
EUGENE ROBINSON, WASHINGTON POST: Well he, he's gonna go and be Barack Obama. He will be, he will be charming. He will be intelligent. He will be someone the Europeans can talk to on, on, on the plane that they, that they believe they inhabit.
MATTHEWS: Right.
ROBINSON: So, you know, in that sense I think there will be real communication there. I'm just not sure-
MATTHEWS OVER VIDEO OF OBAMAS EMERGING FROM AIR FORCE ONE: There they are, there they are arriving, by the way. That's a great scene.
ROBINSON: Yeah it is.
MATTHEWS: I thought about that scene for months, the first time they get to come as our American couple. To represent us, really in a new way. A kind of a sophisticated new leadership.
ROBINSON: There will also be this atmosphere around the meeting of, of excitement-
MATTHEWS: Yeah!
ROBINSON: -that, that the Obamas come, that this is something really new. And, and, and the opportunity is for him to capitalize on that as much possible.
MATTHEWS: He must know, he must know that every word he speaks – you know talk about being hounded by Youtube – every word this guy speaks gets picked up on. He's got to be brilliant all the time.
