Chris Matthews' affinity for Bill Clinton is well known. But on Wednesday's Hardball, Mathews argued that the Democrat would be the best lobbyist to get one into heaven. [See video below. MP3 audio here.] Talking to journalist Joe Klein and GOP strategist David Winston, Matthews lauded the former president's campaigning for Barack Obama.
The liberal host enthused, "...I have to tell you, who would you rather have make your case to Saint Peter than this guy?" Clinton, of course, was accused of rape by Juanita Broaddrick, of sexual assault by Kathleen Willey and by Paula Jones of exposing himself.
"This guy can sell," marveled Matthews.
Although he famously told the world that an Obama speech gave him a "thrill up" his leg, the host has also gushed over Clinton, praising him as "president of the world."
A transcript of the December 5 exchange, which aired at 5:21pm EST, is below:
5:21
CHRIS MATTHEWS: One of the other players in this, besides the two candidates, was of course Bill Clinton, the former president. I don't think anybody -- and we agree on this -- did a better case of making the case for Obama than Bill Clinton. Listen to this. Here he is at the convention at a critical moment when he explained the arithmetic of what Obama inherited.
BILL CLINTON: In Tampa, the Republican argument against the President's reelection was actually pretty simple, pretty snappy. It went something like this. We left him a total mess. He hadn't cleaned it up fast enough. So fire him and put us back in. When President Barack Obama took office, the economy was in free fall. It had just shrunk nine full percent of GDP. We were losing 750,000 jobs a month. Are we doing better than that today? The answer is yes.
MATTHEWS: You know, David [Winston former Gingrich adviser], I don't know you at all, but I have to tell you, who would you rather have make your case to Saint Peter than this guy?
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: This Bill Clinton, this guy can sell.
