Appearing on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports Thursday afternoon, nervous Hardball host Chris Matthews lectured Democrats to “sober up” about the 2020 presidential race and not just have “a lot of fun” following far-left “flavor-of-the-month” candidates. He said all of this in the context of applauding Joe Biden officially launching his campaign, calling it “thrilling.”
“But in the primary race, Chris Matthews, how does he fit into this progressive, diverse, young, female campaign group of contenders? How does Joe Biden, you know, make a mark in that?,” anchor Andrea Mitchell wondered early in the discussion. “Well, it’s tough,” Matthews admitted, before hailing Biden’s announcement video: “I thought that message today was very – very thrilling to me. I thought it was very American....a powerful message.”
He then scolded Democrats for getting swept up with left-wing candidates:
I think the message to Democrats is don’t blow this one. You blew it in 2016. You lost to Trump. Nobody should have ever lost to Trump. You could do it again. So don’t go with having a lot of fun in next year and a half, following the flavor-of-the-month stuff. Don’t enjoy yourself. Sober up. Pick the best candidate to beat Trump. Because nobody wants to be around the Democratic Party the day after losing to Trump twice. Nobody’s gonna be forgiven for that. So shake yourselves up, sober up, and pick the guy that can prevent this guy from staying in the White House for, as he put it, eight years.
Minutes later, Matthews continued to sound the alarm, fearing President Trump could win reelection:
And they can easily lose. I talked to somebody in Pennsylvania yesterday, you know him. He’s a Republican in Montgomery county. And they’re talking 45 states if it’s Bernie. The Democrats can lose this war next time. And they live in a bubble. And that’s been their big problem. A lot of people up in Pennsylvania, and places like that, think the Democrats have been having one hell of party the last few years and they weren’t invited.
Turning back to Matthews minutes after that, Mitchell started to share his anxiety about the 2020 contest: “What do you think about the shape of the Democratic primary now?...There is a real possibility that this larger field, with so much money swirling around, can stay in it....And how does this thing ever get sorted out?”
It was then that Matthews recalled the disastrous presidential campaign of Democratic South Dakota Senator George McGovern in 1972 against Richard Nixon:
You know, I have a political memory which disturbs me sometimes, but it is disturbing. I remember being at the Miami convention in 1972 as a volunteer for the DNC, I was working in press relations and I watched a group of people giddily dancing in a circle. Literally dancing with happiness because George McGovern was gonna be the nominee. They were so thrilled....They were gonna enjoy this. But they weren’t thinking about November even then. They thought winning the convention was the whole game.
He told fellow Democrats: “November is when it counts. And having all the fun – all the joyful fun of knocking off the center-left of the Democratic Party, knocking off the establishment, winning the primaries, is not the name of the game. The name of the game is who’s gonna knock off Trump?”
Matthews wrapped up his commentary by repeating: “Because in the end, eight years of Trump is hell to pay. And I think the Democrats will never be forgiven if they lose it, again.”
When even someone as normally unhinged as Chris Matthews is telling Democrats to “sober up,” it means the liberal media are truly worried about the outcome of the 2020 election.
Here are excerpts of Matthews from Mitchell’s April 25 show:
12:05 PM ET
(...)
ANDREA MITCHELL: But in the primary race, Chris Matthews, how does he fit into this progressive, diverse, young, female campaign group of contenders? How does Joe Biden, you know, make a mark in that?
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Well, it’s tough. And I think he showed the need to be tough himself. I thought that message today was very – very thrilling to me. I thought it was very American. I thought it was great, in fact. Ending up with Dr. King, Normandy, the whole thing. Putting us together was a powerful message.
But I think the message to Democrats is don’t blow this one. You blew it in 2016. You lost to Trump. Nobody should have ever lost to Trump. You could do it again. So don’t go with having a lot of fun in next year and a half, following the flavor-of-the-month stuff. Don’t enjoy yourself. Sober up. Pick the best candidate to beat Trump. Because nobody wants to be around the Democratic Party the day after losing to Trump twice. Nobody’s gonna be forgiven for that. So shake yourselves up, sober up, and pick the guy that can prevent this guy from staying in the White House for, as he put it, eight years.
(...)
12:14 PM ET
MATTHEWS: I think we’re end up, if Biden wins the nomination, with a very New York-style Democratic ticket. I expect that he would team up with someone of color, probably a woman. Of course that means Kamala Harris is leading the fight there. B Biden-Harris ticket makes perfect sense, it’s a transitional ticket. It would appeal to a lot of people.
And as John Kenneth Galbraith once said, “Every new idea has to be two-thirds old.” Joe would be the two-thirds old part. And I really think that’s the way America transitions. It doesn’t make these crazy jumps. Even Franklin Roosevelt ran as a moderate when he ran the first time he ran in ’32. And I think the Democrats’ face is gonna be a mix of Biden and someone else, if they win.
And they can easily lose. I talked to somebody in Pennsylvania yesterday, you know him. He’s a Republican in Montgomery county. And they’re talking 45 states if it’s Bernie. The Democrats can lose this war next time. And they live in a bubble. And that’s been their big problem. A lot of people up in Pennsylvania, and places like that, think the Democrats have been having one hell of party the last few years and they weren’t invited. That’s my thought.
(...)
12:21 PM ET
MITCHELL: Chris Matthews, what do you think about the shape of the Democratic primary now? Are these candidates – I mean, you suggested it a bit earlier. There is a real possibility that this larger field, with so much money swirling around, can stay in it. They’ve all got great digital campaigns. All except Joe Biden, coming into it. And how does this thing ever get sorted out?
MATTHEWS: You know, I have a political memory which disturbs me sometimes, but it is disturbing. I remember being at the Miami convention in 1972 as a volunteer for the DNC, I was working in press relations and I watched a group of people giddily dancing in a circle. Literally dancing with happiness because George McGovern was gonna be the nominee. They were so thrilled. John Kenneth Galbraith was in there, all these intellectuals, all these liberals, highly educated ivy league people, thrilled that they’d finally taken over the Democratic Party and beaten the people like Tip O’Neill and Dick Daley and Ed Muskie. They were gonna enjoy this. But they weren’t thinking about November even then. They thought winning the convention was the whole game.
And I think sometimes – the people used to say NDC, means “November doesn’t count.” Well November does count. And I think that’s the message Biden’s gonna put out from now until next November. Which is November is when it counts. And having all the fun – all the joyful fun of knocking off the center-left of the Democratic Party, knocking off the establishment, winning the primaries, is not the name of the game. The name of the game is who’s gonna knock off Trump? And who’s the best to do that? Because in the end, eight years of Trump is hell to pay. And I think the Democrats will never be forgiven if they lose it, again.
(...)
