Shades of Chris Matthews' infamous thrill up his leg when listening to Barack Obama in 2008 . . . Fast forward to 2016, and we have ostensible Republican Nicolle Wallace getting the good kind of "chills" up her arm when listening to . . . Hillary Clinton talk about gun control.
Morning Joe today played a clip of Hillary saying that many of the guns used to commit crimes in New York come from Bernie Sanders' home state of Vermont. For once, Clinton eschewed the grating tone that sends so many of us scrambling for the mute button. And that was enough to have Wallace, gesturing to her arm, say: "that -- that attack on the guns is so, you know, I got chills. This is the third time I have heard it."
Note: Whereas Mika Brzezinski has made a virtual cottage industry out of mocking Ted Cruz's less-than-smooth delivery, notice how Nicolle and others tip-toe around stating the obvious: that Hillary's typical harsh delivery is borderline unbearable.
Note Dos: Notice how Hillary frames the gun issue "guns that end up committing crimes." No, guns don't commit crimes, any more than knives, baseball bats or bricks do. People commit crimes, Secretary Clinton.
HILLARY CLINTON: When challenged on his gun stances, he frequently says, well, you know, I represent Vermont. It's a small, rural state. We have no gun laws. Here's what I want you to know. Most of the guns that are used in crimes and violence and killings in New York come from out of state. And the state that has the highest per capita number of those guns that end up committing crimes in New York come from Vermont.
JOE SCARBOROUGHl I think Hillary is -- you take the -- the answers -- those two clips right there, I think that's Hillary Clinton at her best.
NICOLLE WALLACE: Yeah. And a lot of people -- you know, I -- we watch her speeches on the nights of the primaries live, and sometimes they sound -- you know, that's an intense environment. Those are huge crowds. I think that she's so policy focused that she's so effective and powerful in these settings. She seems to have sort of -- I don't know. She's pulled back a little bit. That -- that attack on the guns is so, you know, I got chills. This is the third time I have heard it. And you know, I think when she makes an argument like that, in sort of a more serious tone, it's deadly.
