Howard Dean to Matthews: 'Oh, thanks for taking me out of context, Chris.'
By John Amato Wednesday Mar 05, 2008 11:50am
As the head of the DNC, Howard Dean suffered through another Tweety interview that is not meant to be informative, but destructive.
Download | play 
Download | play (h/t Karen)
Dean: Chris, four years ago, my opponents got together and had a political action committee, all four of which, uh, contributors contributed to the thing, which morphed me into Osama bin Laden, so this is patty cake. This is a tough campaign between two well- well-spoken, smart people, either of whom are capable of being president of the United States. But this is not, by and large, out of bounds.
Find the hidden meanings in Matthews questions unfold before your eyes....(Full transcript below the fold)
C&Ler Karen wrote in via email:
{This is where my fury began to bubble. I've highlighted the sentence where Dean acknowledges that he'd like to have a nominee, because Matthews will consistently ignore it. It's not quite the answer that he wants. He wants to hear that Dean will intervene to stop the elections. So here, although Dean has said that he would like to have a nominee, thereby implying that there would be an advantage to having a clear winner now, Matthews follows up with a question that pretends Dean said something else.
Dean handles the situation nicely, injecting some self deprecating humor. And he notes again that there would, indeed, be an advantage to knowing who the nominee is before the convention.}
Matthews: Let me ask you, Governor, did you meet this past week with Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, and the Senate Democratic leader about terms of ending this campaign?
Dean: No. We did meet, and we talked about how to keep the Democratic Party together. [ ] I know that was reported by somebody who leaked it, but that is not the tone. The tone of the meeting was, "How do we keep this party together as we go forward?"
Matthews: Well, how do you do that if Senator Clinton loses the delegate fight, but decides to stay in this race, just to hope that something breaks her way or because she wants to get closer to the convention or because she doesn't want Barack Obama to win the general -- we can't get into motive here, we have no idea why she might want to stay in the race -- but isn't it up to her?
Dean: Well, you know, Chris, I---- No, actually I think it's up to the voters. Consistently, I think the voters have a lot of wisdom, and I think they're going to make a decision. You know, there's a lot of angst about this partly to fill cable shows, and the truth is John Kerry clinched the nomination on March second, four years ago, and today it's March fourth. So, it's not like this is some interminable campaign. You've got two very, very strong candidates; we've been in front of twenty million voters so far -- now, of course Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont -- our turnout is fifty percent higher than the Republicans. Look, I think we're in very good shape. I really do. Would I like a nominee? Yes. But the voters are going to have to make up their own mind about what they want to do, and the voters control this process.
Matthews: So, you don't think there's any advantage to the Democrats' finishing this up?
This is where my fury began to bubble. I've highlighted the sentence where Dean acknowledges that he'd like to have a nominee, because Matthews will consistently ignore it. It's not quite the answer that he wants. He wants to hear that Dean will intervene to stop the elections. So here, although Dean has said that he would like to have a nominee, thereby implying that there would be an advantage to having a clear winner now, Matthews follows up with a question that pretends Dean said something else.
Dean handles the situation nicely, injecting some self deprecating humor. And he notes again that there would, indeed, be an advantage to knowing who the nominee is before the convention.
Dean: I think there's an advantage to knowing who the nominee is before we get into the convention, but it's not finished for a while. After this, we've got Mississippi next week. Then we've got Pennsylvania. Nor-- we've got North Carolina. [smiles] I'm gonna sound like my speech four years ago.
Matthews: Sure.
Dean: South Dakota too, and all that kind of stuff [smiles, laughs, laughter heard in background]. There's a long way to go here.
Matthews: But you know, Senator Clinton has been tagging her rival pretty hard. She's going after him on who do you trust at three o'clock in the morning, which certainly will be reused in the general. She's even given sort of a hesitant, sort of a hiccup answer to the question, "Is he a Muslim or not?" A little slow on the draw on that one. She's going after him on his initial speech back in 2002 opposing the war in Iraq, undermining his credibility in that regard. Isn't all this useful fodder for John McCain?
Dean: My job is to go after John McCain, and talk about his ethics. Just today we found out that he withheld some information that would have affected the Alabama governor's race so he could get his endorsement. A couple years later, in the Abramoff case, we find that he's violating campaign finance laws; that he took a hundred thousand dollars in campaign contributions in vacations to the Bahamas, during the Keating schedule; that he's totally out of touch with America on Iraq, on the economy, on children's health care. That's my job is to make sure that John McCain is out of the race, not worry about what the voters want to do with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Matthews: Okay, you're on offense, but you don't believe that the Republicans are picking up useful material in these weeks of combat between Clinton and Obama?
Dean: I can't imagine that what we're seeing now between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is anything but a tea party compared to what the general election's going to be like in the fall.
Matthews: Well, since you hesitate to call this a quit, here's the ABC poll and the Washington Post poll that's come out, and shows that two thirds of the voters basically believe that the race should continue on, so I guess you're with the voters. I thought you wanted this thing to end. I was misinformed.
Dean: [Smiles] It's always better to be with the voters. And I want---
Matthews: I'm being sarcastic governor. This is---
Dean: All right---
Matthews: When I get sarcastic, I smile. [Dean laughs] Because I do think you want this thing to end, to clean it up, to have a nominee, to move on, and attack McCain, which is what you're already doing.
Dean: If we're--- Well, we're certainly going to do that. But if we could have a nominee before the convention, that would be helpful, but we got a long way to go between now and the convention.
Matthews: Is there any rules that are being broken? The Republicans have this Eleventh Commandment that Reagan sort of codified. Is there anything that's improper in the way you've watched this campaign? Is either side, Clinton or Obama getting a little too dirty for you?
Dean: Chris, four years ago, my opponents got together and had a political action committee, all four of which, uh, contributors contributed to the thing, which morphed me into Osama bin Laden, so this is patty cake. This is a tough campaign between two well- well-spoken, smart people, either of whom are capable of being president of the United States. But this is not, by and large, out of bounds.
Matthews: Are you a big enough ref to blow the whistle when you think it's time for this to end? Are you going to wait for Senator Clinton or Senator Obama to say when it's over? In other words, as the referee, as the party chair, can't you just say, "Lady and gentleman, it's over," or don't you have that authority?
Dean: Uh, well, look. I think the voters have that authority. And---
Matthews: Well, wait a minute, the numbers suggest that one person will win by the end of tonight, won't they? Won't the numbers be the way the people speak? By how they vote?
Dean: I don't think that one person is necessarily going to win by the end of the night. It would be nice to have a nominee, but as long as we have one by Denver, we're fine.
Matthews: Ok, you finally said what I thought you believed, which is it would be nice to have a nominee. [Smiles] Governor, thank you so much, sir. It's always nice to have candor.
Dean: Oh, thanks for taking me out of context, Chris. [Smiles back]
Matthews: No! It's called a clear, simple statement with an active verb.
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And?
Well, it's true - Tweety's an ass.
Dean was lucky Tweety didn't ask him to do the Dean scream again, when he referred to it.
Watching Tweety self-destruct is almost amusing. Watching Oberman try to stop Tweety from putting his foot in his mouth is just down right sad. It must kill Matthews to have to share the stage with Keith. He probably would rather share the spot light with his heroTom Delay.
Chris Matthews-Republican right wing
I've seen Howard in quite a few interviews lately. He knows exactly how to take the Republics to task for all their disasters of this administration. All Democrats could learn from him. He stays unerringly on message and doesn't let the interview get him entangled in superfluous minutiae.
Makes me long for what could have been in 2004
Hey Blue Lensman:
I think you are missing the "whole" when describing Tweety!!!
Matthews definately gets bent on certain democratic members.
It is like he is auditioning for FOX news sometimes. He wasn't as determined and goofy as normal. But I would like to see Chris be that same irratant questioner on real issues with the right as well.
He does have free passes he gives out.
Example of Chris hard on McCain, " So Senator McCain is it true your tougher than Hillary "?
"Senator McCain you do seem to show affection for your wife".
One thing Dean does not do is hesitate. He's one of the more forthright speakers in politics.
whore for the gop.
I'm just a citizen of soviet Canukistan, but I can't stand Chris Matthews. If he were working here in Canada, he'd have to be in a different line of work.
Matthews: No! It’s called a clear, simple statement with an active verb.
There is no active verb in "it would be nice to have a nominee." Matthews is another guy who, by all reason, ought to be in another line of work. I think he would make a wonderful janitor, even though I have known dozens of janitors who would do Matthews' job better than he does it.
Jesus Christ, Matthews's whole point in donig an interview is to get someone to say what he thinks they mean.
That'd be pathetic enough if he did it to McCain. It's worse that his weird obsessions are selective.
Dean refused to let this monkey put words in his mouth. At the end Tweety does and shuts down the interview. Nice job, dickhead.
Flori-DUH @ 7:
Technically speaking, the hole is nothing. All the nasty stuff that surrounds it - that's Tweety.
Tape this and send this to every democratic who is unlucky enough to have to deal with the talking heads. Dean is a real gem.
One sentence said it all
"a lot of angst about this partly to fill cable shows"
Cable is on 24/7 and they feel like they have to fill every minute of it with this crap.
Dr. Dean would have been a brilliant and strong president. *sigh*
Howard Dean is perfect for the conservative pundit shows.
He's intelligent and fast-thinking enough to not let them steer interviews in the direction they want.
I often hear interviews with Democrats and I think, " Why did he or she let that go?"
If somebody tries to slip something by Howard, he'll call them out on it.
His sense of humor's a good thing.
I love how Dean turned it around and started going after McCain.
It wasn't Bill wagging his finger at Wallace on Fox and saying' "Shame on You!", but it was cool.
Repubs are waiting for Hillary.
If she doesn't run they'll have to throw away the boatloads of ready to go trash Hillary media they've been generating for the election.
It'll cost them a fortune.
As Nelson would say,"Heh hah."
Matthews is a lot like other journalists who lazily do their job... they'll write the subtext of the story (either literally or in their head) and they go forth to find the quotes and information that fits within that subtext.
I do this to a degree myself (but I cover sports so the subtext almost writes itself) thus I can recognize it when it happens. I just never thought others would do it on more important events or issues than some local high school game.
This sort of hackery is why I never watch TV "News" channels, listen to talk shows on the radio, and consistently ignore whatever opinions are presented by unelected TV personalities.
I always get this feeling that Tweety isn't listening to the person he is interviewing.
He is always thinking about his next question.
I hate Tweety's interviews. He is such a tool!
Dean just keeps getting better. In 2004, I really wanted him for the Dem nominee, but I have to admit, he was a bit of a stiff in media appearances, nowhere near as good as he was at firing up the crowds. (Hmmm, does this remind me of anyone lately...?)
His call-in to Colbert on Tuesday night was brilliant. He clearly gets the Colbert show, and his sing-songy "Byeeee" at the end had me in stitches.
Tweety will always be a shithead. But it's nice to see Dean stick the knife in just a little bit.
This guy is such a fool it is difficult to believe that he is still on the air. He qualifies for "worst person in the world" award but that won't happen since that's another MSNBC show. He can't help himself; fawning, genuflecting, for McCain. I can't take 8 more months of this. The media did their job in crippling the Dean campaign and they are on message again to do the same for Hillary. They know Obama won't win and that is why they are urging her to quit. Like her or not, she is a fighter and can go toe to toe with these idiots. If Obama did not question Rezko (and notice that connection is basically ignored) on his shady dealings in Chicago, how can we expect him to be fully transparent going forward? His "sanctimony" is about to rub off. And that too will run a thrill up Matthews leg.
Dean, in his second response, at the start of the interview, says: "Would I like a nominee? Yes."
Then much later, near the end of the interview, he again says: "It would be nice to have a nominee"
to which Tweety replies: "Ok, you finally said what I thought you believed, which is it would be nice to have a nominee."
Conclusion: Matthews is an idiot.
Funny how that's so often the conclusion from watching him.
Obnoxious, combative, and wrong, as a glance at the transcript says. Dean answered his question right at the start, and Matthews bases this whole "gotcha" snide premise on pretending that he didn't.
Moron.
Dean consistently does well on the talk shows, despite the idiocy of some of the blather. Matthews trying to get Dean to bash a Dem is really pretty pointless, especially when he invokes Reagan's rule! I know some people think Clinton would like to see Obama lose in the general if she's not the nominee and not on the ticket, but that's a bit much for me.
OT - Someone bombs a recruiting station in NYC and they are quick to say it's NOT terrorism, even when they don't know who did it or why. Since when is bombing a federal building NOT terrorism? What's going on here?
Matthews recently publicly went after Darth Cheney for trying to influence his show.
Took some balls.
Sometimes he says some pretty bizarre stuff.
At least he's entertaining.
It's funny when he's on with Olberman.
Olberman just messes with him.
Definitely worth watching.
Remember that kid in high school that never achieved much, was never a leader, but just followed the pack always talking about some inane crap that only he thought was funny while everyone else just ignored him? That was Tweety.
Olberman will be running MSNBC.
Soon.
Wow. That was difficult to read. I don't have any hair left; otherwise I would have been pulling it out.
I wonder if anyone ever shows these transcripts to Tweety. That may be a place to start.
Libertina @ 27:
When it's domestic it's not "terrorism".
Recently Mathews started talking about how Obama gives him this feeling that goes up his leg when he hears his speeches.
Seriously, he actually said that.
He's just bizarre.
Anyone @ 21:
Ditto.
I can't watch Chris Matthews anymore. Please read my article CHRIS MATTHEWS HAS A LARGE VAGINA at www.yabbadabbahubbado.com
He doesn't play Hardball, he plays with no balls......no balls whatsoever.
Dr. Acula @ 32:
Sure it is. There is a list a mile long of domestic terrorists. Timothy McVey was a domestic terrorist. PETA are considered domestic terrorists by the government. And they don't know who did it. How do they know for sure it wasn't terrorism?
woodguy @ 6:
I'll drink to that...Deans no mere politician, he's a statesman.
Need ALOT more of them in DC.
Did they keep showing that clip of Howard Dean's imitation of Carol Burnett's imitation of Johnny Weismuller's imitation of an ape yell?
Dean should have said: "next time you can tell me what I believe so it will not take so long to get to it, and you can do most of the interview by yourself".
Libertina @ 36:
So are the teacher unions and librarians who resist NSL's.
Clear, simple statement with an active verb:
Matthews is an ass.
I don't think too many people really watch these shows.
We see the clips on blogs.
Election night analysis with Olberman and Matthew is a good watch, though.
Watch what happens when you put an intelligent and verbally articulate progressive on with a conservative.
Liberal media my ass.
I want to see Chris 'man-crush' Matthews treat any Repug like this.
Tweety is a cute nickname for a Re-PIG-lican Hit-man.
He's sludge.
*
He said that one of the Repub candidates "smelled really good."
Can't remember which one it was.
I think it was Romley.
P.D. @ 4:
"MAN-Crush" Matthews would probably rather share a hot-tub with "hot-tub Tom"
*
Oh, thanks for taking me out of context, Chris.
What a beautiful STFU to Tweety. Why can't all Dems be this plain-spoken and strong?
It was Fred Thompson.
This is what he said about Thompson:
MATTHEWS: Gene, do you think there‘s a sex appeal for this guy, this sort of mature, older man, you know? He looks sort of seasoned and in charge of himself. What is this appeal? Because I keep star quality. You were throwing the word out, shining star, Ana Marie, before I checked you on it.
Something is going on here when this is the new Robert Redford here.
I mean I just want to know—or whatever—what‘s his name? Matt Damon.
Go ahead
ROBINSON: Well, he has presence. I‘ll give you that, Chris. The rest of it, you and Ana Marie can decide, as to the sex appeal. You know, the numbers say he is more of a guy‘s candidate. He is doing well. Maybe he is a man‘s man. But, you know, it is interesting, what he said on Leno last night, which was essentially that he never really wanted to go after the presidency, but he kind of would like to have it.
MATTHEWS: Who wouldn‘t if it is offered to you? How many people get it offered to them.
(CROSS TALK)
MATTHEWS: Can you smell the English leather on this guy, the Aqua Velva, the sort of mature man‘s shaving cream, or whatever, you know, after he shaved? Do you smell that sort of—a little bit of cigar smoke? You know, whatever.
CONTINETTI: Thompson‘s a smooth character. He likes to smoke cigars. There‘s no question about that. People should ignore the “Tonight Show” interview. They should go to Hoover.org, Chris, another interview Thompson gave yesterday, where he was asked, what was the most damaging judicial decision made in the past 30 years. Thompson said Roe v. Wade. There will be a clear choice for Republican voters between the anti-Roe Thompson and the relatively ambivalent, semi pro-Roe Giuliani.
Dude's a freak.
Weaselbit @ 46:
Fredo Thompson.
It's not just Tweety.
O'reilly's a freak as well.
And Rush.
It's like some kind of twisted version of the 3 Stooges.
I would not want Howard Dean mad at me. He's the kind of guy who can verbally cut your throat and you won't know it until you feel the blood. Tweety is insane to try to get the last word with him. He outclasses Tweety by about a hundred miles.
Tweety tries to be this hard nosed in depth reporter ferreting out some as yet unknown thing about his guest. Trouble is, while he's doing that he usually comes across as a perfect ass.
It was Fred Thompson that chris thought would smell good, like some shaving lotion or something.
Anyone @ 21:
If I hadn't turned off our television off completely 16 years ago, I'd probably be insane by now. I just couldn't stand the constant lying they were pulling and getting away with. Thank god for liberal talk radio and liberal blogs like this.
*
Oh I love the deftness with which Dean bitch-slapped him!
Tweety's obsequy towards the GOP is a clear indication that he very deeply wants to be "rotisseried" by John McCain and Ann Coulter (with or without an appliance as may or may not be necessary) or Rudy or Mitt even though they are out of the race.
Well well well. Tweety has gone overboard… again. So what? He’s an asshole and most people know it.
The main thing is that Dean, Howard Dean is one smart cookie.
Dean is all fired up and ready to pounce. It is just to early. Watch out for the general. McCain is going to be way over his head. He thought Rove was difficult in 2000. Just wait.
No Dean wants the voters to decide dickhead.
What the fuck are you saying Tweety? Did you just find god and decide that the voters are going to decide and the time for an end is when the voters say so or at least have had a chance to say so?
Good thing that Tweety ended this because Dean was about ready to chew him up and spit him out!!!
Not only would he chew him up but he'd let out some kind of primal scream afterward that would be really cool.
The guy is really just sort of creepy on top of being dull and dimwitted. HE makes those strange slurping sounds like he's fighting off perpetual drool and then that Hmmmmyummmm murmur. And what's with him getting all hot and bothered over female guests?
It is a little bizarre that he has a job that requires him to be seen by the public.
well said Matt (@ 48),
Love watching Dean bat Tweety around like a cat toy.
p.s. does Tweety remind anyone else of Barney Rubble or is it just me? The wide head, yellow hair, beady eyes...
Weaselbit @ 57:
Just knowing that that primal scream is in there - waiting to jump out - is one of the cool things about having Dean in his job.
*
I never watch Matthews, but sometimes I catch him when I surf pass and I happened to catch this exchange he had with McAluiff (sp). He was talking about the rule that a democratic candidate needs 2025 to be the presidential candidate. And if they don't have that many even tho they have more, they should be the candidate. He kept pushing Terry to say yes but Terry said well those are the rules. What I want to know is in that case how come Gore beat bush by over half a million votes how come he didn't get the presidency.....he didn't because the rule is the one with the most electorial votes get the presidency.....so if the democrats have to break the rules of their committee to give the nomination to the one with the most votes, even if it is not what the Party says, then how come Gore didn't get the presidency when he had the most votes.
Some times I wish you could cut right in and ask the dumb ass Matthews some of those type of questions.
I love how tweety gets all triumphant at the end, "Ok, you finally said what I thought you believed, which is it would be nice to have a nominee." As though he had boxed Dean into a rhetorical corner and forced a truthful statement from his mouth.
Its almost like Dean hadn't said "It would be nice to have a nominee by the convention" five or six times by that point in the interview.
Libertina @ 36:
Shhhhhhh!! Not too loud! You'll make the 30%ers start to doubt the neo-conservatives' fundamental axiom of terrorism: that every terrorist act is carried out by Muslim extremists! You don't want to start a mass identity crisis among all those xenophobic wingnuts, would you?
Marge @ 61:
Yowza! Primaries and caucuses are NOT general elections. McSame has enough delegates for the republic nomination. Neither Shillary nor Nobama have enough yet.
Dr. Acula @ 64:
Hey bloodsucker, just get it overwith, please. I don't deserve to suffer.........
linus bern @ 62:
Exactly!
What Matthews wants is for Dean to say that he will intervene and stop the election process just to have a nominee. I guess he thinks that would make a good story -- if he can make it the story.
But he couldn't. Dean wouldn't say anything of the sort. So Matthews fucking pretended that he had just had a Gotcha! moment.
Chris Matthews should not be on television.
Dr. Acula @ 64:
I don't think that Marge's point was that primaries and caucuses have to follow all the same rules as general elections. I think her point was simply that primaries and caucuses must follow their internal party rules, just as general elections must follow the text of the Constitution. (The Supreme Court's intervention notwithstanding, of course :) )
Her analogy was simply as follows: People might have thought it unfair that Bush ascended to the presidency despite losing the national popular vote. Perhaps they have a point, but we have to follow the rules of the election. Likewise, people might think it unfair that the Florida and Michigan Democratic primaries won't count this year. Perhaps they have a point, but we have to follow the rules of the election.
Captain Kangaroo @ 56:
Yeah, that struck me as insane as well. What the hell was his point? What kind of Gotcha! moment was that?
Dean: It's the voters who will decide.
Matthews: But won't voters decide with their votes?
Dean {thought bubble -- Errrrr, yeah, nitwit, what's your point?}
Karen @ 66:
Corperate shills only understand corperate philosophy. This is problem with COPERATE MEDIA. They do not care about the republic, only THEIR bottom line. Mathewsw shouldn't be hated for trying to keep his job, as opposed to those who fervently advance the fascist agenda (i.e. Beck, carlson, Limbaugh, etc.).
matthews is a useless fuckhead about as stupid as bush
When is Tweety retiring. He is so OLD school (the bad one). I thought he would be gone by now.
Why oh why must we be subjected to Tweety? What a tool.
why do schmucks like tweety still have jobs?
Marge @ 61:
Here's a dumb-assed question, Marge, is that you?
http://www.chicadelatele.com/myfiles/chicadelatele/marge_hot.jpg
sweet jesus, I hate Chris Matthews!
Chris Matthews IS a rightwing tool.
Weaselbit @ 45:
It was Fred! Thompson.
I have completely tuned him out now. Even if I watch the election analysis, whenever Tweety talks I hust hear the adults from Peanuts cartoons. "Waaah-wah wah wwaaaaah"
Tweety is such a partisan hack. Dimwitted. Unprincipled. Sleezy. Intellectually dishonest.
GE/NBC must be happy with him. That tells me everything I need to know about tht company.
I've quit watching him. The transcript perfectly illlustrates why. He takes credit during the last second for getting Dean to say something he already said many times. Does this guy believe himself (basically crazy) and/or is he this dishonest? At any rate, he's nutty old coot who is way to full of himself to bother ones day with!
dadams @ 70:
toldyouso @ 73:
IgnoranceIsNotBliss @ 72:
FunMe @ 71:
Thanks all, for saving me some keystrokes
lrw7 @ 59:
The low IQ....
Dr. Acula @ 32:
Patently False!
Tweety's a fool;DEAN RULES!!
Gmo @ 82: