Jennifer Donahue

MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Monday's Hardball said what conservatives have been saying for many months. Barack Obama would much rather debate Mitt Romney than Newt Gingrich (video follows with transcript):

MSNBC's Chris Matthews used to get a thrill up his leg when he heard Barack Obama speak. After Thursday's pathetic presidential press conference, the "Hardball" host compared Obama to a "lousy" new car that ended up being  a "clunker," and then asked the Huffington Post's Jennifer Donahue, "Are you going to buy one next year?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Chris Matthews can't get enough of John Edwards' brutal-but-funny anti-Hillary ad, playing it twice during this evening's "Hardball." Set to the Blue Danube Waltz and based on clips from last week's debate, the theme is Hillary's double-talk on Iraq, Social Security and immigration [her triple-toe loop on driver's licenses for illegal immigrants].But in the three-cushion game that is presidential…