The night before the New Hampshire primary, MSNBC's Chris Matthews was giving Hillary Clinton “a lot of personal credit” for having achieved her political goals, but the morning after her win he spewed out this asinine bit of commentary:
“I think the Hillary appeal has always been about the mix of toughness and sympathy. Let's not forget, and I'll be brutal, the reason she's a US Senator, the reason she's a candidate for President, the reason she may be a front runner, is that her husband messed around…That's how she got to be a Senator from New York. We keep forgetting it. She didn't win it on her merit, she won because everybody felt, ‘My God, this woman stood up under humiliation,' right? That's what happened. That's how it happened. In 1998, she went to NY and campaigned for Chuck Schumer as almost like the grieving widow of absurdity, and she did it so well and courageously. But it was about the humilation of Bill Clinton.”
Chris Matthews [talking points memo]
Chris Matthews Outdoes Himself [daily kos]
Matthews: Hillary's succeeding because Bill ‘messed around.' [think progress]