"Open-minded" Matthews: McCain "deserve[s] the presidency"

On the January 22 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews asked commentator Mike Barnicle if asking Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) what she had "done to deserve" the presidency was a "tough [question] for her." Barnicle replied: "I think it's a tough question for not just her, for perhaps the entire field." Despite claiming earlier in the show "to be completely open-minded," Matthews responded: "Not so much for" Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), and Barnicle agreed: "OK, I'll give you that." Matthews added: "He has deserved the presidency. Whether he should be president or not, it's up to the voters. But he's certainly done a lot."

From the January 22 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:

MATTHEWS: I don't want to be critical here, because I've sworn my oath to God that this -- well, at least to the gods of politics -- that I'm going to be completely open-minded. Did she have a good opening?

[...]

HOWARD FINEMAN (Newsweek senior editor and MSNBC analyst): Too much positioning. But it is going to come down to the question -- in a very strong field, by the way, with a lot of very qualified people -- just because she's a survivor, just because she's tough as nails, what has she done that qualifies her to lead the world in the post-9-11 --

MATTHEWS: And you're going to tell me right now the answer to that question.

FINEMAN: I don't know the answer, exactly. I don't know. I want to hear what her answer -- it's going to depend a lot on what she proposes to do, because people think she's an effective person. Since she doesn't have that much of a record, she's going to have to say --

MATTHEWS: You think that question's a tough one for her? What have you done to deserve this job?

BARNICLE: I think it's a tough question for not just her, for perhaps the entire field. But the --

MATTHEWS: Not so much for McCain.

BARNICLE: Not for John McCain. OK, I'll give you that.

MATTHEWS: He has deserved the presidency. Whether he should be president or not, it's up to the voters. But he's certainly done a lot.

—A.I.