Matthews Compares Obama to a Clunker: Would You Buy This 'Lousy' Car Again Next Year?

October 6th, 2011 7:19 PM

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, HOST: Let me tell you the problem with Obama. If you bought a car this year, a Ford or a Chevy, whatever you bought, and it was lousy. It turned out to be a clinker, a clunker. Are you going to buy one next year?

JENNIFER DONAHUE, HUFFINGTON POST: No.

MATTHEWS: Okay, that's the problem. Thank you, Jennifer Donahue, and thank you, Mark McKinnon. That is the problem, he's got to win the argument. “My heart next year, my model next year is going to be so good. Let me show it to you,” and convince us that what he's telling us about the next four years is so compelling, so winning, that we say, “Okay, we know we got a bad model this year, but we’re going to get a good one next year.” I’m just looking at it. He's got to really make this case to win this campaign. It's up to him to do it. He can do it, but what a challenge.

As Matthews would say, wow!

Even more surprising, the host wasn't the only liberal on Thursday's program expressing doubt about Obama.

In an earlier segment, New York magazine's John Heilemann and the Huffington Post's Howard Fineman discussed how the president during Thursday's press conference looked like a man that's really not interested in getting reelected.

Later, the Washington Post's Dana Milbank observed that if this is the kind of fire Obama's got in his belly, it looks like he's taking too much antacid.

Add it up, and on Thursday's show, four Obama-loving liberals were quite unenthusiastic about the object of their affection.

Once again, wow!