A few months ago I brought to your attention a Hardball promo which hailed Ted Kennedy as a "great" "leader" and a "lion" who "keep[s] me going non-stop." Well, Matthews is back at it with another promo which hails as "gutsy" liberal icon Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and as "grownup" the anti-gun rights former mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was celebrated as a "pro."
Matthews did praise a few Republicans, including Arizonans Barry Goldwater and John McCain. The latter exhibits the "sheer human spirit of the maverick" while the former was included in a montage of pols who had "fire in their bellies" whom Matthews "can take and cheer non-stop!"
You can read the transcript and watch the video below:
MSNBC
Hardball promo spot
Aired: January 4, 2016; 3:34 p.m. Eastern
[Opening montage of still photos of Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Jeb Bush, Bernie Sanders, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorina, Donald Trump, and Chris Matthews]
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Why? Cuz I love the magic of politics. When the stars align against the odds.
[Photos of Ronald Reagan with Gorbachev, Bill Clinton with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Araft, Jimmy Carter with Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin, and President Lyndon Johnson with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.]
When a leader somehow happens.
[Photos of Gov. Nikki Haley (R-S.C.), Rudy Giuliani on 9/11/2001, and President Barack Obama]
I love the sheer human spirit of the maverick.
[Photo of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)]
The pro.
[Photo of Rep. Nancy Pelosi]
The hero.
[Photos of Robert F. Kennedy and Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.)]
You can have the one-note wonders…
[Photos of Sarah Palin and “rent is too damn high” candidate Jimmy McMillan]
…the flip-floppers…
[Photo of Mitt Romney]
…the hacks…
[Photos of former Rep. Jim Traficant (D-Ohio) and former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.)]
…give me the gutsy…
[Photo of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)]
…the grownups…
[Photo of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg]
… honest…
[Photo of former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.)]
…give me the ones with fire in their bellies the ones who tell you why they’re there.
[Photos of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), former Gov. Howard Dean (D-Vt.), Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Barry Goldwater, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Eugene McCarthy, Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Harry Reid (D-Nevada) with former Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), wide-angle shot of Obama delivering a State of the Union address]
Those I can take and cheer non-stop!
[Closing graphic with Hardball logo]
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