Chris Matthews must be really getting concerned that the man that gives him a thrill up his leg is in serious jeopardy of losing in November.
On this weekend's syndicated Chris Matthews Show, the host asked his panel of perilously liberal journalists, "Can the president make Mitt Romney scary?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Can he make, with all we know about his allies like Donald Trump and all those connections of the past and cultural conservatism, can the president make Mitt Romney scary?
That's some question for a so-called journalist to ask.
Are we at the stage where all pretense of impartiality has been dropped and the media are now just flat going to campaign for their guy without even trying to appear neutral?
Apparently so.
And wouldn't it have been nice if Matthews were as concerned in 2008 about Barack Obama's "allies" and "connections of the past" such as the America-hating Rev. Jeremiah Wright, convicted real estate developer Tony Rezko, and domestic terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn?
That would have been too much like journalism for the likes of Chris Matthews.
Let's hear what his colleagues had to say:
MATTHEWS: Katty can he do that, can he make him scary?
KATTY KAY, BBC: I think he could make the vision of what America might be under President Romney seem scary to Hispanics and women, and that would help him a lot in certain sects.
SULLIVAN: Especially because Republicans control the Congress.
And what has Obama done for Hispanics and women since taking office? That never seems to be an issue with these folks:
MATTHEWS: Andrea?
ANDREA MITCHELL, NBC: I do think that Mitt Romney is concerned about being portrayed scarily because that’s why they came out this past week with a new video showing, and it was talking about his wife and her illness and the really touching effectively, you know, emotional parts of him.
Why shouldn't Romney be "concerned about being portrayed scarily?" The media have been doing that for over a year. Shouldn't he defend himself by presenting evidence to the contrary?
Apparently not:
JOHN HEILEMANN, NEW YORK MAGAZINE NATIONAL AFFAIRS EDITOR: In the middle of the electorate, people are, if you look at under the independent swing voters in swing states, they think that they are to the right of Barack Obama. They think they are closer to Mitt Romney than are ideologically to Barack Obama, but they think their furthest away from Republican trickledown, the Republican social issues, all of that stuff. So if you can make Mitt Romney own the Republican brand…
MATTHEWS: You think they can do that? Make him a scary right-winger on culture, economics and everything?
KAY: Look at what he did to himself during the primaries.
HEILEMANN: You look at the positions he took during the primaries, they're going to try to freeze him like a bug in amber.
MATTHEWS: I guess they think he can do it.
I guess they do - especially with the help of "journalists" like these.
