On Sunday's "The Chris Matthews Show," Mitchell, who last week felt Palin was not a good choice, told Matthews and his panel that the Alaska Governor gave an "A-plus" speech on Wednesday night, under extreme pressure, and that has led her to now view this decision by McCain as a good "tactical move for this campaign in broadening its appeal, reaching out to women, reaching out to men, and reaching out to average, middle class swing voters."
This from a woman who in the past couple of months has oftentimes looked just as in the tank for Barack Obama as her colleagues at MSNBC. Yet, Obama-sycophancy wasn't her modus operandi Sunday as the money interaction between Mitchell and Matthews demonstrated:
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Smart pick? Well, we asked the Matthews Meter, twelve of our regulars, last week we asked them if Palin is a smart pick for McCain. Well, back then, the meter split six to six. So, we asked it again this week, now that we've seen her perform at the convention. Now the meter says, "Yes, smart pick." Eight to four. Andrea, you're part of the shift. You now think that she's a smart one.
ANDREA MITCHELL, NBC CHIEF FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I switched. Just in watching her perform in her debut. The pressure that was on her to perform, even ignoring the Internet rumors and all the horrible blogosphere stuff that was out against her. But, she came out there, and her performance was absolutely you know, A-plus as a convention moment, as a speech, and as a tactical move for this campaign in broadening its appeal, reaching out to women, reaching out to men, and reaching out to average, middle class swing voters.
Wow. I guess a star really was born Wednesday evening.
Kudos to Mitchell for not only changing her mind, but admitting it in front of the camera.
