Mon, Jul 7, 2008 6:47pm ET

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Matthews: "Can Obama now win over the regular folks, white folks, against John McCain?"

On the July 7 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews teased anupcoming segment by saying: "They're the working-class white votersHillary Clinton won and Barack didn't. Can Obama now win over the regularfolks, white folks, against John McCain? We'll ask thestrategists." On the June 30 edition of Hardball,Matthews similarly teased a segment byasserting: "Up next: They're the working-class white voters Hillary wonand Barack didn't. Can Obama win over the regular folks against JohnMcCain?"
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Posted by IRONY 101

WHAT MATTHEWS MEANT: Can a darkie win the presidency?

Say what you want, Chris...it's your microphone.

Posted by DeminTX in reply to IRONY 101

I'm about as "regular white" as you can get, whatever that means, and I'd never consider voting for McCain.

Posted by snoopy in reply to DeminTX

I thought regular white folks drank prune juice.

Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to snoopy

Regular white folks wear Hushpuppies and cardigan sweaters, drink milk and read Reader's Digest.  ;>)  

Posted by Timmee in reply to IRONY 101

and they bowl and take coffee when its offered to them!

Posted by Easy to refute wingnuts in reply to Timmee

Bowling and coffee are about as relevant to qualifications for the Presidency as riding in a plane and getting shot down.

Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to IRONY 101

...and they vote Republican, unless the Republican candidate has just been caught in bed with a teenage boy...or is, you know, a Muslim...

Posted by wzwriter in reply to snoopy

I thought regular white folks drank prune juice.

Only when they're NOT regular....  :-)

Posted by wzwriter in reply to IRONY 101

Say what you want, Chris...it's your microphone.

Actually, it's General Electric's microphone.....

Posted by Easy to refute wingnuts in reply to wzwriter

Chris belongs to GE, also.

Posted by see it real in reply to Easy to refute wingnuts

Yeah, and GE, along with GOP-GE-NBC, want Liar McCain to get elected.

Chris Matthews' right wing racism and white supremacy is just fine with them.

Posted by open_mind

Hilarious! 

Considering the following - 1:Black folks are a minority in this country. 2:Barack Obama wins nearly every poll by double-digits right now.

Why is this even a question at this point?  It just seems Matthews himself either can't  or won't accept it.

Posted by vysotsky in reply to open_mind

Oh come on, everyone, cut Chris some slack.  He obviously just misspoke.  He probably meant to ask if Obama could win over normal people... no, wait, that's not what I meant.  What I meant is, he probably wanted to ask if Obama could persuade voters of pure blood... oh, sheesh, this isn't coming out right.  Um...

Maybe the relevant question is whether Chris' show will be able to attract any regular non-bigots?  (Pardon me, bigots, for suggesting you are not regular people.)

Posted by wolf kotenberg

Mathews lost it.

Posted by wzwriter in reply to wolf kotenberg

Mathews lost it.

You have to initially HAVE it before you can lose it.   :-)

Posted by Dem02020

This guy chris matthews is a racist. He continuously and unnecessarily invokes the race color or heritage of the candidates: it's all that he seems to see... it's not news though: we all know, for more than a year now: we get it, we don't need to keep hearing chris matthews tell us what we have long known, and isn't news and doesn't matter anyway.

chris matthews is a racist for continuously and unnecessarily invoking the race of the candidates.

Posted by August Heat in reply to Dem02020

I know I may get bombarded with opposing view points, but I just don't get that racisty vibe from Chris.  A snobby elitist, maybe, but not racist.  Imo. 

That said, "regular folks" is exclusive and basically suggest Hispanics, Muslims, African-Americans, Asians, Africans, Hindu, Buddhist, and many more aren't considered true Americans. 

Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to August Heat

That said, "regular folks" is exclusive and basically suggest Hispanics, Muslims, African-Americans, Asians, Africans, Hindu, Buddhist, and many more aren't considered true Americans. 

Exactly...the embodiment of Republican philosophy.

Posted by August Heat in reply to IRONY 101

No, the embodiment of Republican philosophy is "Let's make money at everyone else's expense and make sure they keep our damn guns legal!!  Whoo-hoo!! Saddle up cowboys!! We got to go protect our family from them pro-choice, gay-loving socialist/marxist libs that want to run our country, then go to church and pray.

Posted by philib in reply to August Heat

   And, the embodiment of democratic philosophy is "Let's have sex with anything that moves and send to jail anyone who opposses our doing it in the street!! Whoo-hoo!! Saddle up cowboys!! We got to go destroy family values of those knee jerk conservatives that won't allow us to free all the mass murderers while brain-scrambling children that aren't capable of performing in prostitution rings. Don't bogart that joint."

Posted by August Heat in reply to philib

Morning Phil.  I knew I could count on you.

Posted by philib in reply to August Heat

  Morning, August.   Just doing my duty.  ;)  Hope you don't take it personally, I don't.

Posted by August Heat in reply to philib

I don't take it personal, I just think sometimes you say insensitive things because of your personal experiences and you aren't as tolerant as you could be.  I know I'm guilty of this myself sometimes.  Which goes along with the point of this thread.  Matthews continues to disrespect everyone who isn't a white American when he labels them "regular folks".  I don't feel irregular and last I checke the pledge of allegiance says "one nation".  Now we can argue the "under God" part (I won't because I have no issue with it) but one nation means just that.  When that jazz singer sang the black national anthem instead of the national anthem it should have been an issue for everyone because this is "one nation".  Whe the confederate flag flies near state property, it should be offensive to everyone because this is "one nation".  So why the hell does the media keep playing up divisions of race and referring to this group as regular folk and that group, or person as "exotic"?

Posted by philib in reply to August Heat

"I just think sometimes you say insensitive things because of your personal experiences and you aren't as tolerant as you could be.  I know I'm guilty of this myself sometimes."

   Have you ever read the posts by those who belong to this site? You have a real hard time finding posts that don't say insensitive things. I thought I'd fit right in with this group. But, apparently, I need to fall in lock-step with everyone else's intolerance of differing opinion before I'm accepted.

   Thanks for the post, though. It was appreciated.  I also agree with the 'one nation' part. We'll leave the 'under God' discussion for another time.  ;)

Posted by BottleBlonde in reply to philib

Compare the previous posts. One poster accurately depicted the Republican way of governing and you inaccurately depicted the Democrat's platforms.

Posted by Col. Harlan Sanders in reply to BottleBlonde

You seem to have forgotten, Bottleblond. Truth & Lies are just two different and equal sides of an issue in Dittoville.

Posted by Easy to refute wingnuts in reply to philib

Hope you don't take it personally

No one should, as your description fit no one on the planet.

Posted by dbeden4153 in reply to philib

Hmm, Phil, that sounds more like the Libertarian philosophy than anything.

Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to philib

PHILIB: We got to go destroy family values...

Now, Phil, tell me again which candidate has been divorced and remarried. Which candidate has a wife who was a thieving drug addict? Which candidate spent such little time with his wife that he had "no idea" of his wife's narcotics addiction? Which candidate has had a reputation in Washington as a... ahem, "player"? Which candidate has a reputation in Washington as having a crazy volcanic temper such that his colleagues worry about his temperament and sanity? Which candidate has been reprimanded by his colleagues in Washington? 

I guess you can define  "family values" whichever way it suits you, but IMO the Republican candidate certainly has not demonstrated an adherence to family values.

Posted by wzwriter in reply to IRONY 101

I notice that Philib has not responded to any of your excellent questions.  Typical...

Posted by philib in reply to wzwriter

"I notice that Philib has not responded to any of your excellent questions.  Typical..."

   Sorry, wz... conservatives have to work to pay for these high gas prices the dems promised to provide us when they took control. I wonder how many dems are fully vested in oil stocks? http://minx.cc/?post=266439 , an oldy but goody: http://republicanleader.house.gov/brokenpromises/p_energy.html

   As for irony's questions. Who? Don't forget to provide proof. I'm sure no one thinks you'll make any of that opinion up.

Posted by eddy3957 reregistered in reply to August Heat

Mathews is trying to include at the same he is excluding.  That is to say he wants to have ALL Whites, including non-WASPS, seen as real Americans.  He is knowingly trying to get this “into the bloodstream”, as Mathews himself would put it.

Posted by Dem02020 in reply to August Heat

I understand what you mean when you say matthews does not emit a "racisty vibe"... the man doesn't use "hate speech" or racial slurs (nor do I think he ever would)... and I made no mention of the "regular folks" thing, because that doesn't matter to me: that's evidence of nothing in particular, in the mind of the man.

It's the unnecessary references to the race color or heritage of the candidates at this advanced stage of the campaign, that's what looks and smells and sounds enough like racism, to call it racism.

It's not necessary: we already know: everybody knows: it's not news: we get it: we accept it: we understand, and it doesn't make any difference anyway, does it...

Why keep invoking the race color or heritage of any person in this world, if it's already long established and understood and known and accepted... why do that?

Is it important? Does it make a difference? Are there thoughts feelings and National Policy opinions specific and distinct to one or another person, due to his race color or heritage? (That is a loaded question, be careful how you handle it: a racist would answer it "yes, there is a difference in the thoughts feelings and National Policy opinions of men, due to their race color or heritage": that's the seed of racism right there.)

And if you would answer that at this stage of the campaign, the race color or heritage of the candidates doesn't truly make a difference (and maybe never did), then why keep invoking the race color and heritage of the candidates?

As I said, it's not necessary: we already know: it's not news: we get it: we accept it, and it doesn't make any difference anyway...

 

chris matthews is nothing like don imus or any of the other overt racists who regularly entertain and amuse us with their opinions on race and color... opinions they must voice at any and all references to any person who is a different race color or heritage than they are... because it is all they see, and it is all that matters, and they can't get over it, and so they make a reference to race color or heritage continuously, and unnecessarily...

But chris matthews does exactly that same thing: he makes constant and unnecessary references to the candidates race color and heritage, long past it being news to anybody on the planet, and long past it making any difference...

Or am I wrong: does it make a difference?

And yes, I agree, his style is that of a "snobby elitist"... they're the ones who can't get past it, and can't help but note racial differences continuously, and comment on them unnecessarily.

 

Posted by Wonderkitty in reply to August Heat

"Racisty vibe" is just as misleading and, pardon me for saying so, small-minded as people who get a "danger vibe" when they see 15 - 26 year old black males in a city.

Racists do not all wear trucker hats, have blue-collar jobs and drink cheap domestic beer.  They don't all use chewing tobacco, spit excessively and grab themselves in public.  Not all misogynists whistle at girls on the street and beat their wives.  Matthews & others have all very helpfully demonstrated these facts to us.

Posted by August Heat in reply to Dem02020

I agree with your points Dem, it's just that with Matthews I think he's caught in his media world and really doesn't identify with "regular folks". I (being an African-American) have more in common with "regular folk" because of my economic status alone.  The problem is race is still an issue for most people.  I know most may be a stretch, but I truly believe most Americans in 2008 still view their associations with people through racial lenses.  "I have a black friend who fixes cars." "White boy got a nice jump shot."  "The Spanish lady up the street sells clothes."  Nothing is wrong with these descriptions, but there is a very strong force, that has pervaded our country (and world for that matter) that is invested in keeping "regular folks" divided and at each other's throats.  Race shouldn't be an issue.  I totally agree.  But it is because we have been brainwashed to believe that me being black and someone else being white makes us sooooooo different, when in fact, the rich white guy being filthy stinking rich and the poor white guy juggling two jobs to feed his kids are sooooo different.  I have more in common with the latter.  But fear works and constantly being bombarded with these people are dumb, or these people have no morals or etc . . . causes divisions.  Racism is a learned thought process.  You take 5 children of different races and put them in a room full of toys they will play with each other.  The world teaches them division. 

Matthews is subtly racist in his comments, but I believe it comes from being on a financial level  some of us will never reach.  When Oprah wasn't alllowed to shop in whatever store in France, that was racism.  They didn't care how much money she made.  When Bill O'Reilly was surprised black folks didn't order food without saying "m-fer", that was racist.  Matthews is an intelligent man, so maybe he in fact does know what he's saying and doing, but to me it seems like he's the product of an elitist society.

Posted by skipp2989

Wow, he just keeps saying it.  Isn't there anybody on his staff that tells him, "Excuse me Mr. Matthews, Ixnay on the egularay,itewhay otervays. You sound like a acistray."

 

Posted by eddy3957 reregistered in reply to skipp2989

Someone MUST have.   The alternative is that they all want him to look bad and I don't think he's likely that unsympathetic a character in real life as to engender such disloyalty.  Plus he doesn't just reflect poorly on himself.  His network also suffers.

I beleive his choice of words is a conscious decision which he, his staff, and management are all very well aware of. 

Posted by steeve

The world's dumbest man would be demoted if he worked in any other profession.

Posted by mikerhyner8202 in reply to steeve

At least he "fits" perfectly on his network.

Posted by wzwriter in reply to steeve

The world's dumbest man would be demoted if he worked in any other profession.

Actually, there were people stupid enough to vote for the World's Dumbest Man.  Twice.

Posted by donaldmaddog5642

Once AGAIN, a jaw-dropping idiotic comment from Crisp Matt. He is one of the most foolish people on the screen. I have lived for 73 years and never met a "regular" person. Who in HELL is he talking about? If he means HIM, I have been lucky for 7 decades. O.K., maybe he means "regular" in a medical sense.

Old man goes to the doctor. "Doctor, I want you should regulate my bodily functions."

"I don't know what your mean," replies the doctor. "How old are you?" "I'll be 83 next month." "Let me ask you some questions," says the doctor. "When do you have a bowel movement?" "Every morning, 8 o'clock, every morning for the past 80 years."

"O.K., that's good for a man of your age. Now, when do you urinate?" "Every morning at 9 o'clock, for years and years," he replied. "So, what's your problem?" asked the doctor. "I don't wake up 'til 10!"

Posted by tman418

I have no problem with Matthews asking "Can Obama win ENOUGH white people to win the presidency" (which it seems like he is currently doing right now). But to not count in black people as regular folks is blatantly racist.

Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to tman418

Maybe where Chris is from black folks are considered IRREGULAR...  ;>)

Posted by pete592 in reply to IRONY 101

Or "exotic."

Posted by Easy to refute wingnuts in reply to pete592

Or factory seconds...

Posted by see it real in reply to Easy to refute wingnuts

Or all 3.

Posted by wolf kotenberg in reply to IRONY 101

Snoopy posted a picture here recently that would actually prove your point.  Hopefully that picture will be posted again right here.

Posted by snoopy in reply to wolf kotenberg

Not me, it was gov. But here it is again!

Posted by Governor in reply to snoopy

Ooooooo.... I could only do a link.

Posted by vysotsky in reply to IRONY 101

Irony: "Maybe where Chris is from black folks are considered IRREGULAR...  ;>)"

I always  suspected that Chris hailed from the planet Bigotron.

Posted by bip84124092

I just watched Matthews and rushed to my computer.  I was glad to see  you are already on top of it.  I'm sick to death of this man.  How offensive his remarks are to both blacks  and whites.  It was bad enough during the primaries when he was so proud being from Pensylvania and knowing  "his people", you know regular  (white) people would pick Hillary over Obama.  For obvious reasons.  Even his guests were clearly uncomfortable.  Is no one at MSNBC able to stop this fool?  I am furious.  He's got to be called out in public and it has to stop.

 I also want to comment that both Hardball and Race for The Whitehouse seemed to be consumed with Obama's Iraq comments, which were clearly blown out of porportion.  Somehow not one person mentioned any "flip flops" by McCain.  What's wrong with this picture?

Posted by cavjam

..."connect with regular people" or if he appeals "only" to African-Americans and the well-educated.

 Apparently, not only are African-Americans not "regular," neither are the well-educated. Is Prissy saying he's not well-educated, or not "regular?"

 

Posted by see it real in reply to cavjam

"..."connect with regular people" or if he appeals "only" to African-Americans and the well-educated.

Apparently, not only are African-Americans not "regular," neither are the well-educated. Is Prissy saying he's not well-educated, or not "regular?"

Knowing the right wing racist Republican Matthews, he's saying both.

Posted by skipp2989

I have my doubts that Mr. Matthews would know regular folks if they came up and bit him on the butt.  Of course its not as though regular folks are likely to bit him on the butt.  That would be pretty darn irregular.  I'm not very regular myself but even so I would never do that to Mr. Matthews. Ahh, but I digress. Why does he have a TV show?

Posted by laughinglefty in reply to skipp2989

You're right, Tweety consorts exclusively with the white elite, when he even sees "regular folks" it's from the back of a stretch Limo.

Posted by penalcolony

Matthews hails from Nicetown, a Philadelphia neighborhood that no longer has many "regular folk" due to white flight during the years when when he was growing up. Somebody sometime ought to ask him how he feels about that.

Posted by see it real in reply to penalcolony

Yeah, I'd like to see "The Black Eagle" Joe Madison or Roland S. Martin, 2 African-American talk radio hosts, ask Matthews those exact same questions, among many others, on black talk radio.  Not that Matthews will even CONSIDER appearing on a black talk radio station to repeat those comments.

Posted by skipp2989

Whenever we have these little discussions about regular folks, I think of my former father in law who was an Osteopath in Iowa.  He had a little gift, a coaster, from a drug company that advertized, "Take Doxidan in the PM for a BM in the AM."  Doesn't that say it all.

Posted by SueEld

When Matthews says filth like this, it just makes me believe him and his network really did not learn from the Imus debacle. Matthews is saying African Americans are not regular folks. Disgusting and borderline racist.

Posted by doggone-ga in reply to SueEld

or Asian Americans; or native Americans; or Latino Americans; or Greek Americans; or Spanish Americans; or Middle Eastern Americans; or or or

He's made it clear: only European descended "Americans" need apply to be considered "regular" Americans.

Posted by Governor

MSNBC maintains that non-white people are irregular.

Posted by JLyons in reply to Governor

Gov, it is a network that continues to amaze me. Why Matthews has so much power and allowed to get away with this is stunning. 

Posted by Governor in reply to JLyons

He's regular.

Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to Governor

That's awfully white of you to say so...  ;>)

Posted by eddy3957 reregistered in reply to JLyons

To be fair to Mathews, we don't know how much of this is the wishes of management to balance other commentary on the network in this regard.  It could be Mathews' peculiar interpretation of his job as presented to him by management.

Posted by see it real in reply to JLyons

"Why Matthews has so much power and allowed to get away with this is stunning."

2 reasons are:

1. Matthews is a right wing Republican.

2. GOP-GE-NBC wants Liar McCain to get elected.

A third reason is that Matthews' bosses are just as or MORE racist than he is.

Posted by werner

Now that Hillary is out, Mathews will no longer be supporting Obama.

Posted by JLyons in reply to werner

Very true, after all Matthews seems to like candidates that appeal to "regular people". I do not like labeling Matthews but I am not convinced he is an AHole, a liar and a phony.

Posted by wolf kotenberg in reply to JLyons

I recal tghe Mathews-Giulliani love fest

Posted by gg

McCain (and Matthews) better worry, I live in Georgia and last time I looked I was white and I think regular, though folks who know me might disagree and yet Obama has won me over.

Posted by eweston8542983

Ward dear, I'm worried about the beaver.

Posted by chamay0

This was so much fun.  Thank you everyone.  I laughed to the point of tears.  Chris Matthews is just a working dolt that reads the script that is presented to him to follow for the days logic (bash Obama).  The media really do have love for Obama (but can't afford to losing ratings with 4 months to go) but is afraid that if McCain wins they will be boycotted or suffer McCain's stupid temper and, also, of course there is the ratings to maintain.  The MSM can not give in to the want of the people.  Or show that they care.  They have to keep the race tight (even if it is not even remotely possible).  When you take on a contract to be a TV personality you have to back the opinion of the corporation that support you.  Chris Matthews is either going along with what he needs to do; or, he really is just a plain jerk!  Whatever his, not having a real spine, case is Thank you, thank you, thank you.  This was rich.

Posted by steeve in reply to chamay0

If McCain had a big lead, the media would suddenly not be interested in a tight race.

Posted by dandrea

Chris, stay away from your folksie regular guy persona. It gets you in alot of trouble. Be the political maven who goes after the Ds AND the Rs.  You can't be beat when you do.

Posted by eniobob2631

All these talking heads make me want to puke.I stopped watching their garbage months ago,and as I have stated in the past,the brick I have by my side is still there and my TV screen is still intact.

What all these arsses  need to do is come and fight the traffic going and coming from work,face the prospect of being laid off,go to a grocery store and do some shopping,face the prospect off having your lights turned off,in otherwords join the real world out here,then see if the "regular" folks are who you think they are.

As I said in the opening these guys and some of the lady talking heads make me want to puke.

Posted by eweston8542983

Com'on,we need to get back to traditional western civ virtues, a hereditary aristocracy,persecutory religious intolerance,cultural particularism, and perpetual war. Anything else is rejecting teh roots.

!-,

Posted by juliajayne in reply to eweston8542983

You forgot patriarchal authoritarianism.

Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to juliajayne

...and witch burning.

Posted by wzwriter in reply to IRONY 101

...and witch burning.

Don't forget the Spanish Inquisision.  No one expects the Spanish Inquisition.

 

Posted by eweston8542983 in reply to wzwriter

Didn't see that coming.

Cardinal Fang has missplaced the dishrack! Would a toaster rack be an acceptable replacement?

Posted by eweston8542983

I'd thought it would be part and parcel of the first three. A lot of our social disconnects come out of the three, the last edges into a protection racket, permanet social divisions, and a chronic drain on the populous.