Matthews to Axelrod: Awesome, awesome job picking fights with “crazies” like Rush
posted at 8:25 pm on May 26, 2009 by Allahpundit
“Leg thrills galore,” as Hengler says. This one’s worth watching if only to see how long it takes Axelrod to get a word in edgewise, but on the merits, I don’t really get Matthews’s point about limiting attacks to Republicans who aren’t in government. The idea, I suppose, is to further weaken the GOP leadership in Congress by acting like Democrats are the only game in town — except that Democrats are the only game in town right now. The reason the White House goes after Rush, Newt, and Cheney isn’t because they’re out of power, it’s because they’re unpopular, something Matthews knows (or should know) better than anyone given his network’s obsession with trumpeting Limbaugh’s pronouncements as a foil to Obama.
Actually, the most interesting line from this interview came not from Matthews but from Ax himself during a rare moment when he was allowed to speak. Hengler’s got must-see video of that, too.
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No, I think the real reason is because no one in Congress can find the gonads to stand on principle and oppose Obama. So it falls to Rush Limbaugh and other commentators not cowering in fear of the MSM’s hard opinions to voice conservative views that should in large part be taken up by elected officials.
ddrintn on May 26, 2009 at 9:52 PM
Gotcha. It was just so perfectly worded and all…
ladyingray on May 26, 2009 at 9:52 PM
No, I am just odd.
Cindy Munford on May 26, 2009 at 9:54 PM
What say you, PercyB?
blatantblue on May 26, 2009 at 9:57 PM
He talked about his 30% popularity on today’s show. I can’t remember his exact words.
Cindy Munford on May 26, 2009 at 9:58 PM
They try to get you to donate money to the DCCC.
Joe Caps on May 26, 2009 at 9:58 PM
Kool Aid.
Joe Caps on May 26, 2009 at 10:01 PM
If you’re a big Rush fan, I’m surprised you’ve never heard him say that his #1 objective is to increase his audience size. I’ve heard it at least a few times.
jgapinoy on May 26, 2009 at 10:05 PM
Yup. The unFairness Doctrine would be a dagger in the heart of the Bill of Rights.
jgapinoy on May 26, 2009 at 10:07 PM
And that is wrong…because?
AUINSC on May 26, 2009 at 10:07 PM
…he does it at the expense of his conservative allies.
jgapinoy on May 26, 2009 at 10:17 PM
I don’t buy it..but thanks for the link..which serves to increase your audience size.
AUINSC on May 26, 2009 at 10:19 PM
I think Rush wants to increase audience so he can make them all conservative.
T’ain’t bout money. He’s got enough
blatantblue on May 26, 2009 at 10:20 PM
Correction – he said that among the GOP, he and Powell were in a statistical deadheat, according to the CNN//Opinion Research Corporation poll:
RUSH:
So in the Republican Party, my poll numbers — this is hysterical to even say — my poll numbers are tied statically with General Powell. I’ve been evil incarnate for a long time and General Powell has been messiah number two for a long time. I have been evil incarnate for a long time; 62% approval in the Republican Party and Cheney just four points ahead of me at 66%. This poll was conducted “May 14-17, with 1,010 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey’s sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.” So I’m in a statistical dead heat with General Powell in the Republican Party.
disa on May 26, 2009 at 10:33 PM
Not at all – conservatives have to stop being the “me too, only not that much” party. They’ve got to stop their silly strategies – the ones “moderates” like Powell and McCain keep trying to foist on us. We need to clearly deliniate the differences between the two parties. First and foremost, blow the notion that the liberals are the “nice kind” people right out of the water.
disa on May 26, 2009 at 10:36 PM
You are such a phony. Show me the link. He posts the transcripts of his show every day. His #1 objective is the well-being of this country, as anyone who has listened to him knows, you troll.
disa on May 26, 2009 at 10:39 PM
please, don’t degrade butt hole road
falderal on May 26, 2009 at 10:45 PM
Funny AP, if Hotair had tens of millions of readers everyday, like Rush has listeners, would that make it unpopular?
StevefromMKE on May 26, 2009 at 10:46 PM
LOL, you illustrate the “reflexive adoration of Maha Rushie” that I was telling Cindy about.
He has said repeatedly that his #1 objective is to grow his audience.
jgapinoy on May 26, 2009 at 10:48 PM
Matthews couldn’t even carry Rush’s jock. [But you know he would love a shot at Obama's jock.]
RandyChandler on May 26, 2009 at 10:49 PM
Looks like a picture of two guys discussing which bathhouse to meet in.
Matthews’ career peaked when he was Tip O’Neil’s favorite catamite. Now he’s just the kneepad boy for Democrats, at least then he got a reacharound.
NoDonkey on May 26, 2009 at 10:53 PM
BTW, that ‘Maha Rushie’ shtick you are doing is lame…very lame. Is that some kind of minstrel show politics you are pulling?
AUINSC on May 26, 2009 at 10:54 PM
Rush, Newt, and Cheney are not technically “in power,” but all that means is that they don’t hold elective office. But if holding elective office were a measure of power, then attacking Rush et al would be a waste of time. But real power resides where influence and philosophy come together, and you won’t find that on Capitol Hill.
The DNC has nothing comparable to this, even though the sycophantic media pretends to this type of power. The impotent attacks on Rush, Newt, and Cheney serve no more than to delude the Left into thinking that it is taking action on its antagonists.
The truth is that Rush & Co. are truly free. They do not need to worry about voters, stockholders, focus groups, fundraisers, special interest groups, career politicians, academics, aesthetes, and any and all elitists. These men are free to speak their minds, unencumbered by the constraints that hold politicians and press people in check.
And the Left detests that….
EMD on May 26, 2009 at 10:55 PM
WHAT???
That’s what he calls himself!
We’ve got at least two Rush worshipers who don’t even know what he says.
jgapinoy on May 26, 2009 at 10:58 PM
If you don’t like him, you can decrease his audience size by one listener. Not everyone who fails to despise the guy is a worshiper.
ddrintn on May 26, 2009 at 11:02 PM
Which is a meaningless apples-and-oranges comparison anyway. Limbaugh’s not a politician or retired bureaucrat. It would be more meaningful to compare his approval numbers to those of the MSM. We don’t hear about that very often.
ddrintn on May 26, 2009 at 11:04 PM
Your right. I don’t listen to him (work hours, ya know). I read bits and what I’ve read, I agree with. I agree with him here, for instance. I don’t consider myself a ‘worshiper’ either…I know what I believe and when someone says something I agree with, then I defend that position…as if I had said it myself.
So bottom line..you’ve proved I don’t listen to him regularly…so that makes me a worshiper how again?
AUINSC on May 26, 2009 at 11:10 PM
I don’t despise Rush. I just wish he’d be less mean & less egocentric when he delivers his usually right-on analysis.
Sorry. You’re not a worshiper. I get frustrated at trying to get people to agree that Rush isn’t entirely above criticism.
jgapinoy on May 26, 2009 at 11:15 PM
Sorry, phony – no reflexive adoration. You, on the other hand, portray yourself as a conservative yet always manage to squeeze out an ugly lie about Rush like the one you’ve chosen today. A true conservative understands exactly what Rush is saying and would have no need to hold himself apart from the man or his message.
disa on May 26, 2009 at 11:20 PM
Thanks. You and I agree that he is right. We disagree about criticism of his tone then. Fair enough.
AUINSC on May 26, 2009 at 11:24 PM
Who said he’s above criticism? It should be legitimate criticism and not your cynical claptrap codswaddle, though.
disa on May 26, 2009 at 11:26 PM
jgapinoy is no troll. He is critical of Limbaugh and that’s ok. Rush has a big ego but he does try to bring humor to his schtick. His love for the USA and conservative credentials are above reproach however.
Vince on May 26, 2009 at 11:34 PM
“I don’t despise Rush. I just wish he’d be less mean & less egocentric when he delivers his usually right-on analysis.”
It’s just that the pundits lousy analysis are so sweet and humble, and this makes them more appealing. Maybe Rush should take some lessons from Campbell Brown? You know, the pundit without any bias.
Vera71 on May 26, 2009 at 11:34 PM
I found your 3rd label for my opinions interesting, so I did a search. According to the Urban Dictionary, you probably shouldn’t use that word any more…
jgapinoy on May 26, 2009 at 11:47 PM
Actually, he’s said that his #1 objective is to get everyone to agree with him.
Then, he will retire.
kakypat on May 26, 2009 at 11:50 PM
“Ugly lie”?
I lost track–
Are you the one who didn’t know Rush’s repeatedly stated #1 goal is to build his audience?
Or the one who didn’t know he calls himself Maha Rushie?
Because they’re both true.
I’ve listened to him several hours every week for about 15 years. And I enjoy him most of the time. And I’ve learned a lot from him.
jgapinoy on May 26, 2009 at 11:51 PM
Yes, I’ve heard him say that repeatedly as well.
But he specifically says, when challenged to do what’s best for the GOP or for this or that candidate, that his #1 goal is to build his audience.
jgapinoy on May 26, 2009 at 11:54 PM
Actually what I remember from my days as a regular listener is that he says he wants every person in America to agree with him. Of course, that’s tongue-in-cheek which can be taken for yet more egomania. I actually believe the man has some core beliefs that he wishes to express, and when he first came on the national scene in the late 80s, no one was doing that. If Limbaugh were so horrible and off-putting, he’d have no audience. Or an audience the size of Olbermann’s or Matthews’.
The thing is, Limbaugh has been demonized for years now because his views didn’t accord with the prevailing groupthink. The demonization has worked as far as public opinion goes; iot’s the most unfashionable thing in the world to say “Hey, I like Rush Limbaugh”.
ddrintn on May 27, 2009 at 12:01 AM
What’s wrong with that, anyway? It’s not his job to do what’s best for the GOP. That’s Michael Steele’s job.
ddrintn on May 27, 2009 at 12:06 AM
I’ve listened to him for many years but if he’s said that his #1 goal is to build his audience, it is only so that he can teach conservative principles to more people and convert more people. That’s his real thing. And I don’t find him mean. He tells the truth, which we don’t get on MSM. Sometimes the truth hurts but he isn’t shrill or mean-spirited, he’s just passionate about the country. What comes across mean spirited is when the MSM takes a clip out of context and doctors it and makes it seem like Rush is a hater. It just ain’t so.
If you want to criticize Rush, fine, go ahead. But I find him to be more right more of the time than anyone else on the radio (or on TV). And he speaks my opinions more than anyone else. Guess I’m a dittohead — not because I am a mind-numbed robot, but because Rush is speaking what I believe, and wish I could say to a bigger audience.
Now one thing I’ve noticed about Rush lately, is that being on Hot Air in the morning is definitely a precursor to his show. He is obviously coming here for show prep. Good going Ed and “Oddball” pundit.
Christian Conservative on May 27, 2009 at 1:24 AM
Uhm, if their not popular, why go after them?
It makes no sense
DSchoen on May 27, 2009 at 5:17 AM
To control the message. Discredit the messengers.
Opportunity Costs on May 27, 2009 at 6:43 AM
And to think Media Matters for America often complains that Chris Matthews is too conservative…
ynot4tony2 on May 27, 2009 at 7:13 AM
Mr. Matthews you are a practicing imbecile. Your audience is the product of your party’s education and welfare system, who only still only have 13 channels on their TV.
Your party only won because 9,545,999 rational voters were too busy paying the exorbitant taxation, suffering from the health care system you have levied on U.S. to vote. Yes, that would give U.S. the one more popular vote than the 69,492,376 who voted while dead, twice, illegal, etc. and allowed your side to win.
It is interesting that when President Bush was wining the popular vote your side did everything to insure that the public understood that it was the the electoral collage that decided the winner. While, in this election it was an overwhelming electoral collage vote that produced the winner.
Therefore, U.S. crazies think the popular vote matters more than the electoral collage that the left devised when they found they could not win the popular vote because their ideas are not popular.
MSGTAS on May 27, 2009 at 10:50 AM
I’m just curious as to which executive Chris services on a weekly basis to keep his job. He’s getting absolutely destroyed in the ratings by Glenn Beck. Mathews really has nothing going for him. Hell he’s about as credible as Maureen Dowd in an essay writing contest these days.
Stickeehands on May 27, 2009 at 12:00 PM
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