Chris Matthews Show panel agreed Sen. Clinton is not an "authentic person"

Summary: On The Chris Matthews Show, CBS News contributor and U.S. News & World Report contributing editor Gloria Borger stated that former Sen. John Edwards might be able to defeat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination because "he's a more authentic person than Hillary Clinton." Borger's comment met with agreement from the panel.

On the July 30 edition of the NBC-syndicated Chris Matthews Show, CBS News contributor and U.S. News & World Report contributing editor Gloria Borger stated that former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) might be able to defeat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination because "he's a more authentic person than Hillary Clinton." Matthews then elaborated on Borger's statement, saying: "He [Edwards] honestly says what he feels and thinks. He doesn't go to his calculating consultants. So, in other words, he's a more sincere candidate than Hillary Clinton." Other panelists on the show concurred with the assessment of Clinton; Time columnist Andrew Sullivan asked, "Who is less authentic than Hillary? I mean, isn't she the least authentic person in America?" Newsweek chief political correspondent Howard Fineman replied: "She's authentically unauthentic."

From the July 30 edition of The Chris Matthews Show, syndicated by NBC:

FINEMAN: And everybody's looking -- look, the race is Hillary against somebody. Whenever you talk to Democratic strategists, they always use the word "she." They don't even say Hillary. It's not just that Hillary is a one-word person now --

KELLY O'DONNELL [NBC News White House correspondent]: She's a pronoun.

FINEMAN: She's just a pronoun.

MATTHEWS: It's now like that Elvis Costello song, "She," right?

FINEMAN: It's a pronoun against somebody, and Edwards looks like he benefits from this.

MATTHEWS: Gloria, the other word on the street among the great mentioners, whoever they are, including Howard and you --

BORGER: We're all the mentioners, yeah.

MATTHEWS: -- is that it'll always be -- she's got to be challenged, ultimately, by one person. Three guys aren't going to beat her, one has to beat her. Is John Edwards now get the advantage -- he's leading in the Iowa poll, the most recent Des Moines Register poll.

BORGER: Came in second in Iowa last time around.

MATTHEWS: He's also got -- apparently, there's labor support out there in Nevada. If he can make it to South Carolina, can he beat Hillary Clinton?

BORGER: I think that's a possibility, and it's not just because he's talking an awful lot about poverty now. It's not just because South Carolina is his home turf. But what it really is is that, Chris, I think he's a more authentic person than Hillary Clinton. On that likability scale we all talk about --

MATTHEWS: No, no, no -- don't step back from what you just said.

BORGER: No, no, no.

MATTHEWS: No, no, Gloria, you said "genuine person," meaning --

BORGER: Genuine.

MATTHEWS: -- he honestly says what he feels and thinks. He doesn't go to his calculating consultants. So, in other words, he's a more sincere candidate than Hillary Clinton. That's a strong statement by you.

BORGER: It is a strong statement, but I meant it.

O'DONNELL: It's a powerful narrative.

SULLIVAN: Who is less authentic than Hillary? I mean, isn't she the least authentic person in America?

MATTHEWS: Kelly.

FINEMAN: She's authentically unauthentic.

—R.M.